What time was it?
Scrunching up his nose, Liam gasped. That hurt!
Oh no! No, no, no! This was bad. Really bad. Liam scrambled to his feet as he turned in a circle. The sun had been at his back, so Liam hadn’t noticed that it had started to go down. It was late. Very late. Liam hadn’t meant to be outside this long!
Quickly he gathered up his toys, the empty bottle, and rushed toward his house.
Jude was going to be so mad at him!
Panic filled Liam as he reached his gate.
One day. He was supposed to be responsible for himself for one day. Not even a full day but an afternoon where Jude was spending time with his best friend. And he had not done a good job. He dropped his toys on the table before hurrying to the sliding glass door.
Once inside, Liam went straight to his bathroom. Catching a look of himself in the mirror, Liam groaned. Not good. Not good at all!
What did he do?
Liam could probably hide his red arms and chest with the right shirt but what about his face!
Google! He would Google and before Jude got home Liam would have everything figured out.
He headed toward his office where he’d left his laptop when there was tapping from the sliding glass door. Only one person would be out there. Sighing, Liam retraced his steps to answer.
Halfway across the room, Liam could see Jude.
Jude looked very handsome in a pair of dark washed jeans and a tight white T-shirt. He spotted Liam coming and smiled.
Oh! That smile. Liam didn’t think that Jude would ever look at him that way. Of course, the smile wouldn’t last long once Jude really looked at him. Yep, Jude spotted him. Now he was frowning. Frowning was not a good thing. Liam slid open the door.
“Liam,” Jude said sternly.
Liam held his hands up. “Let me explain!”
Jude growled then shouldered past Liam farther into the house.
“Where are you going?” Liam asked as Jude stomped away.
“To start you a cool bath. We need to take the sting out of the burn.”
Oh, Liam had heard that once. He followed behind Jude at a much slower pace.
“I’ll go next door and get the bottle of aloe that I keep in the fridge,” Jude said his voice not as clear with the water in the tub being started. “Grab you some water. You’re probably very dehydrated.”
Liam leaned against the door jamb of the bathroom.
Jude sat on the edge of the tub, testing the water.
“I did drink water,” Liam defended. “And put on sunscreen.”
“Then lost track of time?” Jude guessed.
“I didn’t mean to!” He’d just had so much fun playing.
“I saw your sandcastle,” Jude said as he rose. “Good job. But I knew that it must have taken you all afternoon. I snapped a picture of it before coming over so we can send it to Nicky.”
Now Liam felt even worse. He’d had one job and had failed spectacularly. “I’m sorry.”
Jude stopped in front of him. “I can assure you that this sunburn is punishment enough for you to learn your lesson.”
