Breaking Challenges

Chapter 4

4

It was the longest summer of my life. Tristan and Lexi were inseparable. Their constant togetherness caused both sets of parents to meet and become friends. That left me to entertain Sara.

When I complained to my mom about having to spend all of my time with Lexi’s pesky little sister, Mom told me that I was being selfish. The anger welled inside me, almost to the breaking point, but I managed to hold it in and fume silently. I wasn’t the one being selfish, but no one else seemed to see that.

With each passing day, Tristan weaseled his way further into Lexi’s heart. She already looked at him like he could walk on water, so the prospect of her crush on him growing seemed impossible; yet somehow, he managed to make her dazzling blue eyes light up more every time she saw him. It was nauseating.

I was counting down the days until the end of summer. We lived on the lakeshore year round, but Lexi’s family was only here for the season. As much as I couldn’t stand the thought of her leaving, I didn’t want to witness her ever-growing feelings for Tristan any longer.

When I asked Sara if they would be coming back next summer, the tug of guilt in my stomach over the hopeful look that sprang into her eyes was undeniable.

She answered, “Yes, I think so. I’ll probably grow a lot by then. I might even be as tall as you.”

Knowing that I needed to shut down any hopes she was harboring before she got her heart broken, I said, “You’ll never catch up to your sister.” The devastated look on her face before she masked it made me feel like a total a*s, but I didn’t want her to feel the way I currently did, so I refused to amend my statement.

I knew what it was like to care for someone who only had eyes for my sibling. My intention had been to let her down easily before her feelings for me grew. Instead, I think I ended up making it worse.

Sara covered her mouth and ran off in tears. I cursed and slammed my hand into the outer wall of my dad’s pole-barn where he built his boats. It wasn’t my brightest move, but I blame it on my being an angry, frustrated, horny, and jealous teenager, who wasn’t thinking with the head on his shoulders.

In search of an ice pack for my already-throbbing knuckles, I opened the office door to my dad’s massive, pristine facility. If I live to be a hundred, I’ll never forget the horrendous sight inside the building.

Tristan had my sweet, innocent Lexi backed up against Dad’s latest creation––a one-of-a-kind, handcrafted wooden boat that had been sanded and glazed until it gleamed. I heard Lexi moan as she laced her fingers through Tristan’s hair at the back of his neck. He was kissing her hungrily, like an uncouth monster. Unfortunately, from the sighs and encouraging sounds she was making, there was no doubt that Lexi liked what the ape was doing to her.

Lexi’s shirt was partially unbuttoned and one of my brother’s hands was inside, groping her perky breast underneath her pretty, lace-trimmed b*a. I had imagined my own hand and mouth on that tantalizing mound of flesh so many times. The visual of my brother’s hand––so like my own––doing exactly what I ached to do was almost unbearable. When I saw his other palm begin snaking its way up her leg inside her short, swingy skirt, I couldn’t take it anymore.

I ran outside and retched in the grass.

The sight of him intimately touching the girl of my dreams was etched on my brain. As much as I would have liked to un-see or forget it, I couldn’t. That horrid vision even haunted me during my sleep. I woke up drenched in sweat, shaking, and distraught night after night.

Even though I had figured they probably shared some level of physical intimacy, actually seeing it with my own eyes was traumatizing to my hormonal teen brain. I’m not proud of it, but the idea of finding a way to get rid of Tristan, so that I could be there to comfort Lexi through her heartbreak crossed my mind more than once.

It wasn’t the first time, nor would it probably be the last, that I fantasized about not being a twin. My life would be so much better if Tristan wasn’t always right there, besting me at everything. Perhaps if he hadn’t been born, I would be the golden child. I could be the winner, who got everything he wanted, rather than the second-class citizen, who paled in comparison to his brother.

As much as I didn’t want to, we ended up spending much of the remainder of the summer in each other’s company. Lexi was in charge of keeping an eye on her little sister. When Lexi batted her long lashes at me and asked me to come along on their adventures to keep Sara company, I was powerless to resist her. I would have preferred to sulk in my room, but I couldn’t have denied her anything when she gazed at me with those gorgeous cornflower blue eyes.

I grudgingly dragged along behind my brother and my crush to the movies, the harbor, the ice cream shop, the beach, the pier, the Ferris wheel, and anywhere else their hearts desired.

It was obvious on our adventures that Sara was continuing to develop a significant crush on me, despite my best efforts to quell it by being a grumpy pain in the a*s. The more of a rude jerk I tried to be, the more Sara seemed to like me. If only that tactic worked for Lexi, but Tristan was already filling the role of ‘arrogant bad boy’ in her life.

Even though I couldn’t stand the thought of Lexi leaving, I was anxious for summer to come to an end. I knew that Tristan wouldn’t be able to keep it in his pants during an entire school year, so I was counting down the days until Lexi and her family returned to their home, which was also in Michigan, but no where near the coast.

I hoped that the following summer when Lexi’s family returned to Harbor Shores, she would have wizened up to Tristan’s womanizing ways and be ready to focus her time and attention on me––the brother who truly cared for her.

The clock ticking down the time to their departure was obviously starting to concern Lexi. We were at our usual table at the ice cream shop when she said, “I’m going to miss these delicious treats so much when we go home.” She emphasized her words by taking a large bite of her strawberry ice cream cone with the chocolate shell coating that she loved.

“You gonna miss anything else, baby?” Tristan leaned in and kissed her on the lips, not caring about the other patrons in the shop––including me––being forced to witness it.

Their public displays of affection made my stomach churn, but I couldn’t help wondering what her ice cream-cooled lips would feel like against mine. She already smelled like strawberries, so the addition of chocolate would only make her delightful scent that much sweeter. I leaned back in my chair so I could look around at anything but them. I needed to put additional physical distance between us.

The crazy fantasy of leaning across the table to find out exactly what those cool, sweet lips would taste and feel like was overpowering, but I knew that acting on it wouldn’t work out in my favor.

“I guess I might miss someone else,” Lexi teased my brother, batting her lashes prettily.

“Is that so?” He was leaned in, gazing at her. His lips were practically back to touching hers. He was exactly where I longed to be.

Lexi surprised us all by saying. “Of course. I’m going to miss Ty.”

It was obvious she was teasing and flirting with my brother, but I savored her words nonetheless. Evidently having enough of my mooning over her sister, Sara rolled her eyes. “Oh, he’s going to miss you, too.”

I wasn’t surprised that she had noticed my continued crush on Lexi, but I wondered if the other two knew about it as well. If they were aware of my feelings, they really didn’t care because they constantly flirted and kissed and carried on as if no one else was in their vicinity.

“Ty, huh?” Tristan asked her, tickling her side and making her giggle.

“Oh, yes,” she teased him further. “I don’t know how I’ll survive for nine long months without him.”

It was exactly what I wanted to hear, but I knew her kind words about me were only said to flirt with Tristan. The bait worked, he lunged at her, and they kissed like there wasn’t another soul in their deliriously happy orbit. I finally had to clear my throat when Old Mrs. Guthrie pinched up her face in distaste from a nearby table.

Proving that he had a tiny bit of decency left, Tristan pulled back. I’m not sure I would have had that much strength in the same situation.

With a naughty gleam in her eye, Lexi went on with their conversation as if the lengthy and passionate make-out session hadn’t interrupted it. “In fact, I was hoping to have a private conversation with Ty, if you don’t mind.” She finally broke her adoring gaze away from my brother to smile over at me.

My heart was racing. I couldn’t imagine what she wanted to speak to me about. Deep down, I knew that it wouldn’t be anything to do with her secretly liking me, but my dry throat and sweaty palms didn’t seem to be as logical as my brain.

After popping the tip of her ice cream cone into her luscious mouth, Lexi smiled at me. “Would you like to go for a walk with me?”

“Umm, ye-… yes.” I was so worked up that, for a moment, my childhood stuttering issue returned. Swallowing and taking a deep breath, I forced my metabolic reaction to calm down a bit. Once I had a bit more control of myself, I responded, “I’d love to.”

I stood and took my half-eaten chocolate and peanut butter ice cream cone to the trash receptacle. There was no way I could force anything down my throat when Lexi was giving me that expectant look.

Returning to the table, I held out my hand to help her up. When her soft, dainty hand accepted my offered one, all of my efforts to calm down flew out the window. The jolt of electricity from her touch was undeniable. I gazed at her, wondering if she could feel it, too.

“We’ll see you in a bit,” she smiled down at our stunned siblings.

I’ll never forget the look on Tristan’s face, with his mouth agape and his eyes registering shock, as Lexi and I walked hand-in-hand out of that ice cream shop. It was easily the best moment of my life.