Annie lazily lounged on her new patio furniture sipping iced tea and just generally being lazy, while trying to catch some early morning sun. She loved to come out here, especially in the evening. It was such a calm, serene environment, and it was a place she could collect her thoughts, which were almost always her new neighbors down the beach. Brian? Why does he seem so familiar? She was quickly jarred out of her thoughts by someone calling out her name.
"Annie! Annie! Hey Annie, you in there?" Kevin waved a hand over her face, and she quickly registered who it was.
"Hey Kevin. How's the ankle?" she asked, glancing down at his injured foot.
"All better now. I don't know how soon I'll get back to jogging, but that's another story. Um, I just came to say thank you for helping me. I would have never been able to make it back to the house on my own."
"Oh, my pleasure. What was I supposed to do? Just leave you laying there in the sand in pain? Not my style," she grinned at him.
"Well, to say thanks, Nick, the owner of the house is throwing a barbecue, and I'd love for you to come. You haven't met Nick yet, so there's another excuse. Besides, you should really meet your neighbor. He's a bit immature at times, but he's a good kid. Anyways, you wanna come over?"
"Sure. I'm not doing anything, and it would be nice to be social. I haven't talked to anyone except for you guys that night since I've been here. What time?"
"Well, probably around noon. It's gonna be us, meaning the guys and you, probably Nick's family, AJ's mom, and maybe Howie's family. Nothing too major."
"Alrighty, count me in. I'll see you there!"
"Ok, well, I should be getting back. I'll see you around noon, k?"
"You got it." Annie waved as Kevin walked back to Nick's house. Ok, what to wear? Something casual? Maybe a little sexy? UGH!!!! She downed the rest of her iced tea and hastily walked to her room to find something suitable to wear.
Two hours and probably seven outfits later, Annie began her trek down the beach to the barbecue. She settled on a light green baby doll dress, and a pair of white strappy sandals. "Annie!" Kevin ran up to her and gave her a light squeeze, and led her up to the house. "You remember everybody? Oh, Nick's in the kitchen. C'mon, I'll introduce you."
"Ok," Annie said as she followed Kevin to the kitchen.
"Nick, this is Annie. Annie, this is Nick."
Nick turned around from the stove, and about dropped the spoon he was sturring some kind of food with. His eyes got real big and his jaw dropped. "You," he said, barely above a whisper.
"Oh my goodness," Annie said, before she brought a hand up to her mouth. Kevin was totally confused.
"You two know each other?"
"Um, well, when I first got here, Nick ran into me." Then it dawned on her. "That's why I recognized Brian. Nick stopped, turned around, and asked me if I was ok. Then Brian came up and dragged him out of the airport."
"Wow. Small world, eh?" Kevin said, chuckling a bit.
"Well, Annie, do you want something to drink?" Nick politely asked.
"Um, you got Mountain Dew?" she asked hopefully.
"Of course! I need my sugar rush too!" Nick joked, and handed her a Dew.
"Well, Nick, I guess I should say hi to the other guys, just so they don't feel left out." Annie gave Nick a very encouraging smile, and headed out of the kitchen.
"Jesus Kevin, she is amazing!" Nick gushed.
"Yeah, she's pretty special. She took time out to help me when I twisted my ankle."
"That was THE Annie?" Kevin nodded his head. "Wow!" Nick was speechless.
Kevin could tell what was on Nick's mind. "Go for it Kaos. I think she likes you."
"Ya think so? Wait! How did you know I liked her?"
"Just by your face. It lit up when you saw her, as did hers. Trust me on this Frack, she likes you."
"Thanks man, I might just try and ask her out," Nick said, and returned to the stove, not seeing the fallen face on his older "brother."
Table of Contents
Home