Chapter Eight
Kevin stood in the pool, watching Drew and Nick. They look so happy! He thought, It's unbelievable. I only wish? He couldn't make himself finish the thought, especially when he saw the love in Mackenzie's eyes when she looked at him. I'd be jealous, but there's no need.
"Penny for your thoughts?" Mackenzie asked.
"Oh, they're worth a lot more than that," He said, smiling. "I was thinking of you."
Mackenzie's heart melted. She wrapped her arms around his neck and gave him a fierce hug.
"That was the sweetest thing that anyone has ever said to me." She whispered in his ear.
"Good." He replied. "I want to be the only one to say those things to you."
"Don't worry, because you're the only one who matters anyway." Mackenzie said that with so much love and conviction that Kevin couldn't help himself. He lowered his head and kissed her.
Just as the kiss deepened, a huge wave crashed over their heads. They came up spluttering, to see everyone laughing at them.
"You guys were so intent on each other, you didn't even hear the warning bell!" AJ laughed.
"Next time, get a room!" hooted Howie as both Mackenzie and Kevin glared at him.
"I wish I could have seen it!" Tanna laughed. "AJ, heading downhill, on roller blades, with no clue how to stop. Priceless! I hope you got pictures."
"Yup! We made copies! We sent them to all our friends and especially Beth, his girlfriend." Brian grinned and drank the last bit of his coffee. "Well, umm? I'll be right back, alright?" He said as he stood up.
"Sure. I'm not going anywhere."
Brian headed towards the bathrooms. As soon as he was out of her sight though, he turned and jogged to the store where he had put the dress on lay-away. When he arrived, he asked the clerk to wrap it up.
"And could you have it delivered?" When she said yes, he gave her Tanna's address.
"Would you like to include a card, as well?" The clerk asked as she punched the price into the register. Brian hesitated a moment then agreed. He signed the card and paid.
When he got back, Tanna was still sitting where he had left her, except that her hot chocolate was finished.
"Sorry." Brian said as he slid into his seat.
"No, that's okay. What do you want to do now? We've still got two hours or so until we are meeting up with the others." Tanna checked her watch.
"Well, I think there's a dolphin show starting soon." Brian suggested. "Want to catch that?"
"I'd love to! I've never seen one, but I've always wanted to." Tanna jumped up.
"Well, now is your chance." Brian also got up. "Shall we, mademoiselle?" He held out his arm.
"Charmed, I'm sure!" Tanna slipped her hand through his arm and rested it on the crook of his elbow. As they walked toward the dolphin tank, her hand slowly slipped down until it was held in his.
When they sat down in the audience at the dolphin show, Brian tried to keep it as casual as possible. He braced himself on his hand (which just happened to be behind Tanna's back). But when she leaned into his arm, he put it around her. They sat through the show like that. Then, when they got up, their hands found each other naturally, without conscious thought.
They talked about trivial things as they walked back towards the Water Park.
"You do realize that that they won't be coming out for another hour, don't you?" Tanna asked.
"Sure, but let's look in and see if we can spot them in the pool or on the slides."
The two of them peered through the glass, trying to get a glimpse of their friends. Tanna was about to give up when she saw AJ standing in the concession line. She nudged Brian and waved at AJ. He saw them standing together, waved, winked, and gave them thumbs up. Tanna rolled her eyes at him. Then it was his turn to order. AJ ordered huge amounts of food, which didn't surprise either Brian or Tanna. They laughed, watching him struggle to balance everything. Finally Howie came up and relieved AJ of some of the load.
"Definitely a classic AJ move." Chuckled Brian once AJ and Howie were out of sight. He and Tanna moved toward the bench and sat down.
There was a comfortable silence for a few moments. Then Brian reached out and lifted the ring that was hanging around Tanna's neck.
"Where did you get this?" He asked, fingering it.
"It was my Amma's, she died last year. The stone is a sapphire." She replied softly.
"What does Amma mean?"
"Well, since my dad's parents both died when he was young, he was raised by his aunt. So Amma is a combination of Aunt and Grandma."
"I see. I'm sorry if it's a sad story to tell, I shouldn't have asked." Brian apologized.
"It's fine. But let's change the subject, okay?"
"Okay?um?when I caught up to you were humming 'That's What She Said'. I though you told us that you didn't own any of our CDs."
"I don't."
"But we haven't released that song as a single yet."
"Drew has that CD and when I heard it, it just stuck in my head." She leaned back against the wall. "You should take that as a compliment. A song's got to be really good to get stuck in my head."
"Thanks, I think."
"So who broke your heart?"
"Huh?"
"The song? Who inspired you to write it?"
"Nobody important."
"Okay?" Tanna was confused, but let the subject drop.
AJ, Howie, Nick, Kevin, Mackenzie, and Drew were just finishing off their 'snack'.
"I saw Tanna and Brian at the window when I was getting the food." AJ licked his fingers.
"They were together?" asked Drew.
AJ nodded. "They were standing pretty close to each other."
"Cool." Kevin said.
"You know, we should probably get going." Mackenzie suggested. After looking at the clock, the others agreed with her and stood up.
After they met up with Brian and Tanna again, they spent the rest of the afternoon wandering around the mall. After dinner at McDonald's, they walked around again, eventually passing Bourbon Street.
"Hey, what about Club Malibu?" suggested Howie.
"Uh, guys?" Tanna interrupted as the other guys agreed. "I hate to break it to you, but we're not 18."
That gave them a pause. They then decided that AJ and Howie would go to the bar, Kevin and Nick would join them after Drew and Mackenzie went back to the hotel, and Brian would go after dropping Tanna off.
They said their good-byes and goodnights, and it was decided that Nick and Drew would ride along with Brian and Tanna.
"Yeah, I want Nick to see that meadow by your house." Drew said to Tanna.
"Good idea." She agreed.