One Summer

41

As Mikki was running on the beach a few days later, Blake joined her.

He said immediately, “Look, I’m sorry about what happened at the party. Tiff was wasted.”

“Gee, really?”

“She’s usually not that obnoxious.”

“Give me a break. She’s a fricking nightmare in a G-string.”

“Okay, maybe she is. Where’d you end up?”

“Another party on the beach.”

“What party?”

“One Liam Fontaine took me to. And most of the people there were from Sweat Town. Heard of it?”

“Mikki, I live in Sweat Town.”

This stunned her so much she stopped running. “What?”

“My mom works as the housekeeper for the Murdochs.”

“Then why do you hang out with Tiffany?”

“Like I said, my mom works for them.”

“And what, that obligates you to do her bidding?”

Blake laughed nervously. “I don’t do her bidding. I just hang out with her sometimes.”

They started running again. “Well, good for you. Who you hang out with says a lot about a person.”

“Hey, what’s wrong with me being friends with her? Are you saying poor people can only hang out with other poor people?”

“No, of course I’m not saying that.”

“I have a lot of friends in Sweat Town. I play football with a bunch of them. And I go to Tiffany’s and she has cool stuff and I have fun with her. So what?”

“Look, do what you want.”

“Well, what I want is to go out with you.” This time Blake stopped running, forcing Mikki to do the same. “So how about it? Will you go out with me?”

“Why?”

“Why? Because I like you.”

“You don’t really know me.”

“Which is a perfect reason to go out. To get to know each other better. But hey, if you’re not interested, forget it. Have a good one, and I’m sorry I don’t fit your idea of a perfect person. Maybe Liam does.” He started to jog off in the other direction.

“Wait a minute.”

He stopped as she walked over to him. “What exactly do you want to do on this date?”

“What?”

“The plan, Blake. I need to know the parameters of what you’re talking about. I’m not looking to run into a crowd of rich people again and have to kick somebody’s butt.” She added, “Unless it’s Tiffany’s. I actually enjoyed that.”

“It’s nothing like that. There’s a coffee bar in town. They play music at night. Nothing live, but they have a DJ who’s really good. I thought we could go and listen to some tunes, dance, and chill out. That’s all.”

She considered this. “That sounds okay. But just dancing and listening to tunes.”

He eyed her closely. “Why? You got something else going?”

“No, I just—”

“Liam?”

“That’s none of your business,” she said hotly.

“Okay, okay. You’re right. Look, I’ve got my license. I can pick you up tomorrow night around seven?”

“I’ll check with my dad, but I think that’ll be okay.”

“Good,” said Blake. “Glad we got that settled. Want to finish the run?”

She grinned and pushed him backward over a bump in the sand. He fell sprawling on his backside. “Catch me if you can,” she called out as she sprinted off laughing.

He jumped up and raced after her.