The Bucket List [ON HOLD]

The Bucket List - Part 3

Part 3: Ultimatum 

          Lacy and I pulled up outside Amber's mansion of a house, wearing our bikinis underneath our clothes. I wore an olive green tank top with a lacy v-neck, and short shorts. The colour brought out my smooth tanned skin, and I had that comfortable, if somewhat vain, feeling that I looked good.

          Greg's whistle as I got out confirmed it.

          "Did it hurt?" he asked with feeling.

          I knew what was coming. "Did it hurt my eyes, seeing your face? Why yes, it did," I answered. Lacy got out on the other side and made her way into the house. She wasn't going to hang around with Greg here.

          Greg groaned. "Aw, c'mon. You were supposed to say, "Did what hurt, Greg?"  He mimicked a breathy female voice.

          "And I would answer, "Falling from heaven, of course," he said in a deep husky voice that was meant to be seductive. Too bad I'd known Greg for too long.

          "You're doing it wrong," Ian corrected, coming up beside me. "You're going to scare the prey away with that expression."

          Greg scowled, and I laughed as Ian put his arm around me, imitating Greg's seductive pose. Flirting casually was so normal that I forgot for a second how much we'd all been fighting lately. That was, until Chance pulled up and Carmen got out of the passenger seat.

          Chance got out and walked towards us, locking the car by pressing the remote over his shoulder. He was the only one of the guys wearing a t-shirt; the others had only come in their swimming trunks.

          "Stun—" he began to greet me, but I cut him off.

          "Enough! That's all you've said to me all day!" I snapped angrily. Ian raised his eyebrows, which disappeared into the fringe of his dark hair.

          "Well gosh, baby, I didn't know you wanted to hear something else," Chance replied with his easy-going nature, but I sensed the annoyance behind the surface of his shattering blue eyes. I turned away, going into the house before it could escalate into another argument. Just as everything had been going good, Chance had to show up; with Carmen.

          Amber was just coming down the stairs when I walked in, and she didn't even stop. "In the kitchen. Tell the others."

          That's when I knew that something was wrong. I waited for the other four to come into the main foyer. "Amber wants us in the kitchen."

          They all looked at me and everyone shrugged, walking across into the enormous kitchen. Chance didn't look at me as he strode by. I wasn't worried, I told myself. He'd be his usual teasing self in five minutes.

          Amber sat at the island counter on a bar stool. The usual party food was laid out – vegetables, dip, chips and cookies. The guys, pigs that they were, immediately grabbed food. Lacy and Carmen sat, delicately dissecting pieces of celery.

          "What's up, Ambs?" Chance asked, smiling his charming smile as he sat on the other side of the island, messily eating a cookie.

          "I need to talk to you, and you all need to hear this." Everyone looked at her.

          "I think we need a new Seven," she said bluntly. Somehow, I wasn't surprised. Had my subconscious picked up on it earlier? If so, I was annoyed with it for not warning me.