She pressed Beau’s contact and told herself she was calling him because he was a good friend, reliable and convenient. For no other reason than that. It took less than ten seconds for him to answer her call and agree to come.
They moved back inside the house to wait where it was warmer. Sanjana helped herself to another beer, drinking deeply out of the red Solo cup.
“Hey there! It’s my favorite Martin.” A hard hand landed on her shoulder and spun her around.
“DeVecchio!” Emmaline greeted her brother’s teammate.
He swept her into a hug. “Didn’t expect to see you at a party out of your zip code.” He pulled back and swept a glance over her. “Looking good, Martin.”
“Thanks,” she replied, resisting tugging at the collar of her sweater, for some reason feeling the need to cover up the cleavage she exposed.
His gaze drifted from her to Hayden. “Branching out, I see, Emmaline. Hanging out at new places . . . with new friends.”
“Yeah, Hayden is great.”
“Mmm.” He swept his hand over Emmaline’s hair in a long stroke. “This color is hot on you.”
Hayden lifted both eyebrows. Sanjana’s eyes rounded over the rim of her cup.
He was flirting with Emmaline. No doubt about that.
Emmaline fought the urge to pull away. She was here to get her flirt on. She shouldn’t shy away when an opportunity presented itself, and DeVecchio was cute.
“So, you’re like genius smart, right?” he asked.
“Well—”
“Yes, she is. We both are,” Sanjana inserted.
“I need a tutor. You tutor Algebra II?”
Emmaline nodded.
“Awesome. I really need to pass or Coach is going to have my ass. Want to meet up next week?”
“Sure.” They took out their phones and were in the process of swapping numbers when Beau found them.
“Hey.” Beau watched as they finished exchanging numbers, a slight frown turning down the corner of his mouth.
“Hey!” Emmaline’s chest swelled at the sight of him.
Even Hayden looked glad to see him. “That was quick.”
DeVecchio held out his fist to Beau in greeting. “Hey, Sanders. Didn’t know you were coming, man.”
“Yeah, hadn’t planned on it.” His gaze fixed on Emmaline.
The tightness in her chest only increased, which was silly. She wasn’t special. She called and he came because they were friends. He saw her as a sister. Of course he would come. His nose twitched and he leaned in, inhaling her. “Emmaline? Have you been drinking?”
“Not exactly.” She peeled her damp sweater away from her chest. “Just bumped into someone who was.”
“Ah.”
“Don’t worry.” Hayden smirked. “I’ve been taking care of her.”
Beau looked less than convinced. “I’m sure.”
“Come on. Let’s go.” Hayden turned and disappeared back through the crowded living room. They all followed her, weaving through the bodies until they emerged outside.
The air gusted out from Emmaline’s teeth in a visible cloud as she greeted the chilly night again. Beau glanced back at her, eyeing her up and down. “Cold?”
She nodded.
He motioned to the house. “Why don’t you wait inside?” His gaze flicked to Sanjana. “I’ll come and get both of you once we have the car running.”
“Okay, thanks.” She hastily stepped back inside the warm house. They stayed in the foyer, Sanjana finishing her beer and Emmaline people-watching.
“How long do you think it will take?” she asked Sanjana.
Her friend shrugged. “I know nothing of cars.” She set her cup down on a narrow table lined with framed photos. “I gotta go find a bathroom. Be right back.”
She watched as Sanjana slipped away into the crowd. A few moments ticked by and she found herself staring at Sanjana’s empty Solo cup on the table. Sanjana didn’t normally drink, but she’d had a few beers tonight. Hayden’s voice played in her mind. Always look out for yourself and your friends.
Yeah. Emmaline should have gone with her to the bathroom. She started in the direction Sanjana took, searching the bottom floor without any sign of her. The second floor yielded no results either. Emmaline knocked on bathroom doors and peered into bedrooms, annoying more than a few people, but she was starting to feel a little desperate as she searched for her friend.
Where did she go? Maybe Emmaline had somehow missed her and she’d returned to the car and was waiting there now?
Hoping that was the case, she ventured back downstairs, finally spotting Sanjana cornered by a guy.
“Sanjana,” she called out as she approached.
Sanjana peered over the guy’s colossal shoulder, her eyes wide. Not frightened exactly, but she was definitely in a state of astonishment. She was not one to be singled out.
“Hey, we’re ready to go.” It didn’t matter if the car was fixed or not. Emmaline was convinced she needed rescuing.
The guy turned halfway, not enough to let Sanjana pass, but just enough to settle his bleary half-lidded gaze on Emmaline. “She’s busy.”
His words were slightly slurred, pretty much confirming that he was wasted.
“Um, yeah. Well, I’m her ride, and we’re leaving.”
“I’ll bring her home when we’re done.”
When we’re done? Okay, that sounded ominous. And gross. He was gross.
“Um. That’s okay.” She reached around him and seized Sanjana’s hand. He definitely wasn’t driving her friend anywhere.
He still didn’t move. His big body was rooted like a tree.
She glanced around as though help might materialize. The party raged with no one paying them any particular attention. Emmaline looked back at him, staring him down with false confidence. “We’re going now.” She pulled on Sanjana’s hand, trying to tug her forward.
Sanjana attempted to go around him, but his arm shot up and blocked her. “Get lost, Red.” He jerked his head in the direction of the door. “She wants to stay.”
Terrific. He was going to be that guy. Emmaline sent Sanjana a pointed look, conveying that it was time for her to speak up for herself and help with her own rescue.
“Um, it’s been fun, Trevor.” Sanjana cleared her throat. “But I should go.”
“No, you don’t want to do that,” he announced with a certain nod.
“Um, yeah. I do.” Sanjana’s voice wobbled. She looked at Emmaline beseechingly. She was clearly in over her head and needed help extricating herself.
“Let her go.” Emmaline inserted an edge to her voice.
The jock turned then, firmly planting his bigger body between Emmaline and Sanjana. “We were having fun before you showed up, buzzkill, so why don’t you get lost?” His oversized hand dropped to her shoulder and shoved.
It wasn’t a hard push. It surprised her more than anything. She didn’t expect him to put a hand on her. Caught off guard, she staggered back, bumping into the opposite wall of the corridor. She rubbed at the back of her head where she’d banged it.
Trevor stared at her in satisfaction. Then suddenly his smug face was out of her line of vision because Beau was there, shoving Trevor against the wall, holding him with one hand at his throat. “You don’t ever touch her, Webber.”
So, they knew each other apparently, even though this guy definitely didn’t attend their school. She would have remembered him.
“Sanders!” Webber laughed, holding both hands up in the air. “I didn’t know she was a friend of yours.”
“She’s more than a friend, meathead.”
Pleasure suffused her, a warm bloom in her chest. More than a friend.
Beau continued, “That’s Nolan Martin’s sister.”
Webber’s eyes widened ever slightly. “How was I supposed to know that?” To Emmaline, he said, “Hey, I didn’t know who you are. No hard feelings.”
She glared at him. “It shouldn’t matter who my brother is, assh
ole.”
Trevor looked confused.
Beau gave him a hard shake as though that might jog some sense into him. “You don’t touch any girl like that.”
She grabbed her friend’s hand. “C’mon, Sanjana.” She pulled her through the party. Angry, disgusted . . . and not just at the guy who shoved her.
She was angry at Beau for some reason she couldn’t yet articulate.
Why did he have to even mention she was Nolan’s sister? As though that was the only value she possessed. As though her worth wasn’t even her own.
Right now she just wanted to get away. She hurried outside, ignoring the cold. She was almost to the car where Hayden waited when she heard Beau calling her name.
“Um, Em, Beau’s calling you.”
“Just keep going,” she muttered to Sanjana.
His words rolled through her mind on repeat. That’s Nolan Martin’s sister.
That was always the bottom line with him—all she was to him in a nutshell. Beau Sanders wouldn’t speak to her at school, or out of school, if not for Nolan. They wouldn’t cross paths. If he saw her in the halls . . . Well. He wouldn’t see her. She’d be invisible to him.
She blinked back burning eyes. No. She would not let herself get all broken up about this. She was a new girl . . . a new person. Or at least she was trying to be. She had red hair and she was talking to guys (and they were talking to her) and she was very close to finally getting her first kiss. She felt it. The taste of it was almost there on her lips like salt on a sea breeze.
“Emmaline! Wait up!”
She spun around. “What?”
Beau trotted down the walkway. “What’s going on? Are you mad?” His gaze roamed her face intently, peering at her like she was one of those tricky optical illusions, a picture with a hidden image inside it.
“Yes . . . no!”
“You sound mad,” he pointed out.
She sighed, feeling tired. “I just want to go home.” She motioned to the car. “Thanks for the jump.”
“You want me to give you a ride home?”
She hesitated, looking down and plucking at her damp sweater. “I’m soaked in beer.”
“Here.” Sanjana pulled off her oversized sweater, revealing a black crop top underneath. “Put this on.”
“Sanjana!” Emmaline cried, her fingers closing around the mustard-colored sweater. “Aren’t you cold?”
Sanjana shrugged. “No.”
Emmaline watched her friend traipse ahead toward the car and then glanced back at Beau. “I guess I’ll ride with you. I’ll just put this on.”
He nodded and they marched across the lawn to where his and Hayden’s vehicles where parked.
Hayden was waiting beside her car. “There you are,” she called as they approached. “Ready?”
“Sure, yeah.” Emmaline motioned to Beau. “He’s going to give me a ride home.”
She nodded and glanced at Sanjana as she plopped into the passenger seat. “I guess I’ll handle her.”
“She’s had a few drinks. She might need to sober up a little before you take her home. Her mom is pretty strict.”
“Plenty of time.” Sanjana slapped the air. “My curfew is eleven thirty.”
“I got her,” Hayden reassured.
Beau’s truck was angled in front of Hayden’s car. They climbed up into the cab. Emmaline slammed the door after her and, hesitating only a moment, she quickly pulled her beer-soaked sweater over her head and dropped it to the floorboard. Beau glanced at her and then looked away. She felt the heat climb up her face as she struggled to slide on Sanjana’s sweater. Her hands fumbled and she told herself it was just the cold. Not nerves.
Beau started the truck, adjusting the temperature and angling the vents her way. Her heart squeezed a little. He was nice like that.
“God, I’m ready for spring,” she muttered, searching for the neck hole.
It was just a bra. No different than a bikini top. Even as she told herself that, it felt different. Sitting next to Beau in her bra felt . . . different.
“Yeah. It’s a pretty cold winter.”
She finally succeeded in getting the sweater over her head. Leaning back, she clicked her seat belt on and released a satisfied breath. “There. Now let’s go.”
Beau smiled and pulled out onto the street.
Lesson #25
Kissing someone you care about can feel like a first kiss all over again.
x Beau x
Beau felt guilty.
It wasn’t logical. He hadn’t done anything wrong. He knew that. He knew Nolan would appreciate him looking out for his sister. He doubted, however, that Nolan would appreciate him checking out his sister . . . something he had definitely been doing when she changed sweaters beside him.
At some point recently Beau had stopped looking at her like Nolan’s little sister and started looking at her like a girl he wanted to kiss. A girl he wanted to more than kiss.
Nolan would not be okay with that. He would never be cool with it.
He mentally groaned. Nolan would kill him, and Beau would deserve it.
Beau took a steadying breath and flexed his hands on the steering wheel as he pulled out onto the highway. “Can I ask you something?”
“You can ask me anything. You drove out here to help me tonight. I kind of owe you.”
“Why were you at a party like that?”
“What kind of party should I have been at?”
“Not one like that,” he quickly replied.
A quick glance revealed a slight tightening of her features. “What do you mean?”
He lifted a hand from the steering wheel and waved vaguely. “You know, a party like that where people are drunk and act like idiots.”
“This is starting to sound a little like a lecture.”
“Parties like that are full of inebriated jerks who think they can do whatever they want to whoever they want.”
“I have the right to go where I want.”
“I’m not saying you don’t have that right, but—”
“No buts. Shouldn’t I live my life? Go places? Should I hide inside all the time while everyone else has fun?”
He let out a breath. “I’m aware it makes me sound like a huge asshole, but I don’t think you should go to parties like that. Can I just say that?”
“No.” She shook her head slowly. “You don’t get to say that. You don’t get to ask me that.”
He bumped the steering wheel with the heel of his palm. “What is going on? This isn’t you. It feels like you’re putting on some kind of act lately.”
He felt her glare without even looking her way. “Maybe you don’t know me.”
“Oh, I know you, Emmaline.” He exited the highway, his old truck rumbling around them as it decreased speed. He braked as he came up on a stoplight. Turning in his seat to face her, he continued, “I know you’re smart and love rom-coms and lasagna and romance novels. I know you’re allergic to cats but still pet them even though it makes your eyes swell. I know you cried in ninth grade when no one asked you to homecoming and I know you cry over any commercial with an animal in it. I know that scar on your knee is from when you crashed your bike into the mailbox. I know that you had to wear braces an extra year because you never wore your rubber bands even though your mom nagged you to wear them constantly.”
“How do you . . .”
“Because I know you.” He went still as stone beside her, his eyes fixed on her face. The stoplight tinted her features red and made her newly dyed hair even brighter. He’d said too much, but he couldn’t seem to shut up. “And I know . . . that . . . I . . .” His gaze dropped to her mouth. “I want to kiss you, Pigeon.” The words released from him in a pained gust of breath.
Her eyes rounded and she went still, too. Marble-still.
The instant the words were out, he wanted to grab them and stuff them back down his throat. He stretched out a hand and then fisted it to stop himself from touching her. The impulse was stro
ng, but he resisted.
“What did you say?” she whispered.
He leaned across the space separating them, jerking back when a horn blew up behind them.
With a curse, he faced forward and drove. He felt sick. He’d just told Emmaline he wanted to kiss her. He probably would have, too, if the light hadn’t changed. And if she let him . . .
He shot her a quick glance. She stared straight ahead, her expression unreadable. He couldn’t have her thoughts and he couldn’t have her.
They drove the rest of the way to her house in silence. He parked in the driveway and stared at the closed garage door, fingers tapping on the steering wheel as he contemplated what to say.
“Thanks for the ride, and you know, the help.”
“Of course.”
“You want to come inside?”
He glanced at her swiftly. “Uh . . .”
A flicker of panic crossed her face. “My mom is home . . . and Nolan. I’m sure he’d want to see you,” she hurriedly added.
“Oh. Yeah. Sure.” Nodding, he turned off the ignition. She wasn’t inviting him inside for herself, of course. She was just normalizing things between them again. And Beau going inside the house was normal.
She smiled with a brightness that was blinding. “Great.”
He forced a smile. “So we’re okay?” He waved between them. “Sorry about . . . what I said.”
She made a pfft sound and waved a hand. “We’re fine. Forget it. It was just a freak moment.”
He nodded. “I’m just glad that we’re okay. I wouldn’t want anything to be weird between us.”
“How could there ever be anything weird between us?” She laughed. Giggled actually. The sound was a little manic. “We’re friends.”
“All right then. Good. Great.” He climbed out of the truck.
They walked to the door together, several feet separating them.
Lesson #26
Avoid onions.
x Nolan x
Nolan’s phone was oddly silent without Priscilla blowing it up every ten minutes. To be fair, if it was a normal Saturday night, she wouldn’t have been texting or calling him because they would have been together. Now he was alone, and that still felt okay. It felt right. Better than before. He’d choose solitude over being with the wrong person.
Kissing Lessons Page 17
