All That Jazz (Butler Cove #1)(15)

“You certainly seem to have a lot of opinions on it right now,” I retorted, stung by his tone.

He looked thoughtful, then shook his head. A silly smirk overtook his mouth as if to remind us both we were being far too serious. And weird. This was weird. “A mistake I won’t be repeating any time soon.” He laughed and stood, stretching nonchalantly, his shirt pulling across his chest. “Although …”

“What?” I frowned.

“I’ll have to exercise my big brother duties and make sure you don’t end up with some chump.”

“I really don’t need you giving me your opinion on my choices, Joseph.”

He let out a puff of amused laughter, then his face straightened. “And don’t forget that favor you agreed to. As long as it doesn’t interfere with that, then whatever. But, seriously, Jazz. Don’t give it away to someone who won’t appreciate what you’re giving him.”

I blinked and looked away. God, why did he have to complicate everything? Was I supposed to have sex with emotion or without? Feel too much for the person and I might be in danger of falling in love with him? Not that I agreed with Joey’s assessment. But if I didn’t feel anything for the person, why would I do it?

Right.

To get it out of the way.

And that’s why I would lose my virginity with a tourist. Someone I was attracted to, but who would leave before I even had a chance to feel clingy and needy.

It was perfect. An in-built ejection seat out of any potential plane crash of feelings.

I knew there was another positive to living in a resort town.

Mission V-card had to be moved up the priority list as soon as possible. Tomorrow after school I would check in with the boutique, and I’d go and see about the lifeguard position, adding a third job to my already busy schedule. What better way to meet tourists than on the beach? “Joey, can you text me Lisa’s number so I can see if there’s a spot for me on beach patrol this year?” I was going to need to do urgent mouth-to-mouth on some hot tourists.





THE NEXT WEEK flew by and it was Saturday morning again before I knew it. The closer we got to summer the earlier I had to get out to the boat before it got too stifling. I lay back on the narrow berth in the musty interior of All That Jazz, some Ella Fitzgerald crooning softly on the turntable that was balanced on the galley table.

I aced the practice tests early in the week and felt confident about the state tests starting the following Monday. Faith, the boutique owner was amazing. She was completely understanding about my finishing up high school, and I would be starting with some occasional afternoon hours until school was out, which allowed me to learn the ropes slowly.

Lisa, who ran beach patrol for the island, got me a spot in the evening training the following week. It was under the wire, as they were full, but she said she always liked to have back up and needed everyone trained and working in time for Memorial Day weekend. I still needed my certifications in lifeguarding, CPR, First Aid, and oxygen administration. I pulled up my text from Joey when he’d sent me Lisa’s number.



Me: Hey, it’s Jazz. I need to get CPR training etc. Where should I do that?

JB: You need help with mouth to mouth? That’s a bit forward isn’t it?



My stomach flipped over. Frowning, I hesitated for a moment before tapping out a sharp rebuttal, then grinned.



Me: Not if you’re offering. No offense.

JB: Offense utterly taken. Anyway, you’d have to be the last girl on earth etc …

Me: Wow, I really did bruise your ego, huh?

JB: No chance. It’s made of titanium.



Wasn’t that the truth? I pursed my lips to bite my smile away and got back to the topic at hand.



Me: Ok, Jay Bird, where do I go????

JB: Thought Lisa would have given you info on that. Jay Bird?

Me: She did, but there were options: Savannah, HH, Beaufort etc. thought you’d be able to steer me in right direction. And you called me Jazzy Bear (only my dad is allowed to call me that), only fair you should have a name too.

JB: Jay Bird. I like it.

Me: Don’t. Blue Jays are *s.

JB: OMG. Jazzy Bear. You are something else.

Me: Yep. So anyway??? Tapping foot

JB: HHI. I’m headed there later. You need a ride?



Damn. I hated that I was just mean to him, no matter I was joking, and now he was doing me a good turn by offering to drive me over to Hilton Head island. Way to make me feel like the *.



Me: I can’t. Have resort housekeeping from 9 til 3. It’s “changeover day” — And haven’t even looked at times for certification.



He didn’t respond right away, and I went into the contacts of my phone and changed JB to Jay Bird, making his name official.



Jay Bird: Okay. Just went online. There’s a class running at the Beaufort YMCA on Sunday afternoon. Can you do that one? I’ll take you, but you have to preregister. It’s $200.



Damn. I’d have to take that money out of my car savings fund. But lifeguarding could earn me $300-500 a week. It was worth the investment. I’d have a car by the end of the summer hopefully. I needed one before classes started at USC Beaufort.



Me: Why are you being so helpful?