I sucked in a breath and turned to Cody. “Cody, can you drive—”
“Didn’t drive. My sister dropped me off.”
“What about Ashley?” Yes, I was getting desperate if I was willing to let Ashley drive me. “Does she have a car here?”
“She doesn’t want to leave.” Spencer ran a hand over his short hair. “And she’s not real happy about me leaving early.”
“This is going downhill fast—Oh, my heck. I don’t think I can un-see what I just saw.” Someone just streaked along the pool deck. I squeezed my eyes tightly closed and tried anyway. “Ugh. Just when I think it can’t get any worse—boom—Jared Green’s butt appears.”
“Uh, yeah. Jared’s sort of an exhibitionist. He lets it all hang out around the locker room,” Cody said. “Literally.”
“I’d really, really like to leave before I see more than his butt.” Because . . . yikes!
24
Spencer
This whole evening was looking like a bust. It was impossible to make a girl jealous when she kept running off. We’d been at the party for hours, and Ashley was more into doing cheers with her friends than talking. Tessa would pop around, thinking she was helping make Ashley jealous, but she could only handle Ashley in small doses, so she’d disappear on me.
Not to mention, Trey spent the entire time throwing sharp glances at me like he was the star of a knife-throwing act in a circus. I figured Trey was going to try to pull something in his attempt to embarrass me or worse—attempt to get me into trouble. No thanks. I’d rather pass. This was why it seemed wisest to leave before the alcohol started flowing.
Time to put us all out of our misery, but especially Tessa.
“This guy is ticking me off,” I grumbled under my breath, but apparently not quietly enough.
“What’s wrong, Hale?” Trey cocked an eyebrow and stared directly at me before moving his gaze to Tessa. “Afraid you and your weird friend are going to miss your curfew?”
“Uh-oh,” Tessa whispered. “The guy is out for blood, Spencer. Yours.”
He’d taken a swipe at Tessa too, but yeah, it was becoming clearer by the second I was the one with the target on my back.
“Hey, Hale, are you having fun yet?” Trey called across the room.
“As a matter of fact, we’re having a great time,” I said, sending him a casual smile. “But we need to be heading out soon. Any chance you’ve found your keys yet?”
“Shoot, Spencer, I forgot I was looking for them. You’ll have to enjoy the Trey Parker hospitality a bit longer.” His smile was brittle this time. “Until I find my keys. I just can’t remember where I put them.”
I bet he couldn’t.
“Ashley said you and Tessa had curfews.” He shoved his hands into his pockets and rocked forward onto the balls of his feet like he hadn’t a care in the world. “You just hang tight. I know I’ll remember—it just might take me a few hours.”
Did I want to cross-check Trey to the ground? Yes, yes, I did. I clenched my jaw tightly until I reeled in the impulse.
Tessa grabbed my forearm and squeezed. I wasn’t sure if she was trying to keep me from leaping across the room to wipe the grin off Trey’s face or because she was as pissed as I was that the idiot was going for my jugular.
Trey wasn’t simply trying to embarrass me. He was aiming to get me in trouble. To get my friends in trouble. I clenched my jaw tightly and counted to ten. One glance over at Cody told me he was pissed too. His eyes blazed, and he sent me a jerky head shake.
“Let’s go,” I bit out through my tight jaw and stiff lips. I led the way out back, so Trey would think we were still just waiting for him. “Trey’s not going to win, and we’re not going to get in trouble.”
“Heck no,” Cody said.
From the backyard, after making sure Ashley was busy with her girlfriends, we slipped out the gate and around the side to the front of the house, where the three of us sat down on the curb.
“Time to work the problem.” I snapped my fingers. “We need to call Rhys.”
“Actually, I have someone better in mind,” Tessa said, scrolling through her phone until she found the contact she was looking for.
I ran a hand through my hair and around my neck. “Who’s your lifeline?”
Tessa winked at me and connected the call with the phone on speakerphone.
“Go for Arnold,” he said. Arnold Baker from our gaming club. Great thinking. He was probably the only guy smarter than Rhys. A definite reminder of who my true tribe was.
“Arnold, this is Tessa. I’ve got you on speakerphone, and Spencer and Cody are here too. We could use your help.”
“I don’t tutor on Friday nights unless it’s for finals week.”
“So noted,” Tessa said. “Listen, Spencer’s truck is blocked in by a parked car.”
“Hi, Arnold. Any thoughts on how we can move it to get my truck out?” I asked. “I do know the car is unlocked. But we don’t have the ignition keys.”
“What’s the make, model, and year?” Arnold asked.
“Dodge Challenger. Not sure of the year, but pretty new,” I said.
“Two years old. He got it new for his sixteenth birthday. He let everyone know about it.” Cody rolled his eyes. “You don’t happen to know how to hot-wire a car, do you?”
“I do, but it would be tricky to direct you over the phone. Your best bet might be checking if he’s got a remote start, like OnStar.”
Tessa’s eyes whipped to mine, and we grinned and said, “Die Hard 4!” together.
“You two and your movies.” Cody shook his head. “How about something we don’t need John McClane for?”
Arnold laughed. “It would be easier if you could just grab the car owner’s phone and use their app to remote start it that way.”
“Thanks, Arnold! We’ll let you know how it goes.” Tessa hung up the call and looked at me and Cody. “I think we could get his phone. We’ll need to unlock it.”
“Hang on. What if we paid a girl to go take a selfie with him? And then she can do the now-let’s-take-one-with-your-phone deal, so his phone will be unlocked.” Yes, the plan sounded desperate even to my ears, but I wasn’t one to give up easily. “Then she can lay a kiss on him while we grab the phone, remote start his car, back it out of the way, and get the heck out of here.”
“The tricky part is going to be finding a girl willing to kiss him,” Tessa said.
“You don’t want to take one for the team?” Cody joked.
“Ew, no.”
“Hang on,” I said. “I just want to check one thing.”
I walked to Trey’s car, opened it, and pulled down the sun visor. The keys fell out in my hand.
“The guy’s a douche,” Cody said, taking the keys from me. “Go start your truck. I’ll back up his car.”
Cody left Trey’s car parked at his across-the-street neighbor’s house. Well, technically on his front lawn. Trey should have fun explaining that.
I was just backing out of the driveway when Ashley came running out.
“Oh, boy,” Tessa muttered from where she sat next to me in the middle of the bench seat.
I rolled down my window.
“Spencer! You almost left without this!” She handed me a large plastic shopping bag through the window.
“What is it?” I handed it off to Tessa, who handed it off to Cody next to her, who tossed it into the storage space behind the seat.
“Your Halloween costume, silly. So we can dress up for school on Monday.” She leaned in and planted a kiss on my cheek. “Next time, ask your parents if you can stay past your curfew. Or just miss it. That’s what I do. I’ll call you later.”
I rolled the window back up and left Trey’s house.
“What’s the costume?” Cody asked, leaning around Tessa to catch my eyes.
“Some famous couple, I think.” I’d been busy trying to see if I could tell if Trey had his keys in his pockets when Ashley had been talking about it.
“And you’re going to wear it?” Cody asked.
“That’s the—”
“If you say plan, I just might punch you,” Tessa snapped.
“That’s the . . . suggestion.” I arched an eyebrow at Tessa but kept driving.
Tessa was upset about something. Clue #1: Tessa didn’t say another word the rest of the ten-minute drive to her house. Clue #2: She sat next to me, stiffer than a mannequin. Clue #3: She didn’t turn on the radio, and she always turned on the radio.
We dropped her off, watching her walk up her driveway and safely inside.
“What’s up with Tessa? Was it something I said?”
“For a smart guy” — Cody shook his head—“you can really be an idiot sometimes.”
“Very possibly, but I did get us all out of there before the drinking started, and none of us missed curfew. So, maybe not a total idiot.”
“Sometimes, Spence, you’re unbelievable.” Cody looked at me, shook his head again, and got out of the truck, too.
“What are you doing? Now you’re mad at me?”
“I’m going to hang with Tessa for a bit. Make sure she’s okay.”
“What the heck did I do?” I’d definitely missed something.
“Think about it; you’ll figure it out. I’ll just say this: who does she call when she needs help? Hint—it’s not me. I’m always her second call.”
25
Tessa
“Knock, knock.” Cody poked his head around the door to my mom’s craft room over our garage. “Is it safe to come in?”
“As long as your name doesn’t start with an S and end in pencer, then yes.”
Cody came in, dropping down onto the other end of the couch.
I had my drawing pad on my lap, and I’d already drawn a figure—who may or may not have resembled my idiot best friend—riding in a pink convertible car with Barbie driving them over a cliff. I was also a quarter of the way through a pint of Caramel Chameleon from Toppings.
“You stuck him in the Barbie car, and then Thelma and Louised him? You’re really pissed at him.” His gaze moved over the coffee table and the three piles of this year’s costume options—our last official Halloween together. “Ah, right.”
“Is it just me, or did that hurt?” The way he’d casually mentioned the couple costume he was planning (that word again!) to wear with Ashley.
“A little.” Cody shrugged. “If it helps, he didn’t mean to hurt you. You know how he can get when he’s got his eyes on a goal. The guy can get tunnel vision.”
“I know.” But I wasn’t finding the reminder helpful as far as easing the tight feeling in my chest.
“Although, he’s got amazing awareness on the field. Doesn’t miss a thing there.”
“I could drive a Mack truck through what he missed tonight.”
“No, you need a special license for that.”
I blurted out a laugh, peeking over at Cody to see if he was joking just to make me laugh. No, he was serious. Which made me laugh again. At least I could count on Cody.
“Part of this is just life, Tess. Heck, we’re graduating this year. Things have to change.” Cody poked my arm lightly. “Which I know you hate.”
“Now hang on a minute,” I said, tucking my feet, bunny slippers and all, under myself. “I’ve taken a few risks recently.”
“Maybe . . .” he said, but his face looked highly doubtful.
“Kids at school don’t call me Tootie for nothing.”
“Okay, that was a risk. And highly amusing. I’d have paid good money to have seen that.” He grinned at me.
“Also, I dated the dweeb who ditched me.” I raised an eyebrow at him. “That’s got to be worth something.”
“Bzzzt, no. Sorry, wrong answer. That wasn’t a risk, but thanks for playing Liar, Liar Pants on Fire.”
“Why wasn’t that a risk?” Who gets to decide these things anyway?
“Because you didn’t even know him, from what little you told us. So when it didn’t work—you didn’t lose anything.”
Huh. I remembered being a bit shocked when he’d walked away, leaving me standing lost in the middle of the maze. But not hurt or sad. So, maybe Cody had a point.
“I had lunch with Brian. Risk.”
“You think you were taking a risk by dating Brian?”
“Yes. Putting myself out there.”
“What was risky about dating nice, safe St. Brian?”
“You don’t like him?”
“I like him.” Cody shrugged. “That’s like asking who doesn’t like vanilla ice cream.”
“Then what’s your problem?”
“My problem?” Cody dropped his head back, staring at the ceiling as if beseeching a higher power above. He sighed, lowered his head, and turned to me. “My problem is that I’m stuck watching the people I love the most make some of the dumbest choices, and there’s not a darn thing I can do about it.”
“Oh, right. Spencer.”
Cody paused, narrowed his eyes at me before saying, “Sure.”
“Alright, what do you consider a risk then, Master Po?” Because it was feeling like I’d been bailing water with a bucket full of holes.
“One where you might lose something—or someone—you care about. Like Spencer.”
“H-how did you know?” How the heck did he know about my feelings for Spencer? I’d only just admitted how I felt to myself.
“Please. Why else did you pull back last summer?” He leveled an accusatory gaze at me, and I had to admit that Cody’s dark-brown-almost-black eyes could be as hypnotizing as Spencer’s.
“Because I got busy with school and my art.”
“Doubt it.” Cody shook his head. “I’ve got a theory about it. Want to hear?”
“No.” I couldn’t very well stay in denial if he was going to force me to admit some ugly truths.
“I’ll tell you anyway since I’m a generous guy.” He wagged his eyebrows up and down. “I think you started pulling away when we all made the girlfriend bet.”
“You’re wrong,” I lied.
“I’ll tell you a secret.” Cody inhaled, his chest expanding visibly, and then he exhaled in a puff like you do before you tackle something hard. “I once had a crush on you.”
“Cody, I had no idea.” I was more than surprised. I was shocked.
He shrugged, sending me an adorable grin. “It was only for about five minutes, so why would you?”
“But you got over it.”
“Pscht, oh, yeah. Sure. Of course, I did.”
“How?” I really hoped he had a simple handy-dandy three-step process.
“I found a way to distract myself by crushing on Lexie. She was safe because I’d never date my best friend’s sister.”
“So that helped? Did it just go away? Because . . .”
“Because what, Tess?”
“Because I can’t risk losing his friendship. I can’t. I can’t lose either of you.” The back of my eye sockets stung, and my throat went tight. I had to swallow a few times to stop the sob trying to escape from deep in my chest.
“Hey.” Cody slid across the couch, pulling me against him and settling my head on his shoulder. “I’m like a tick. I latch on tight, and you’d have to pull me off with tweezers and kill me to get rid of me. Or something like that. You get the idea, right? Basically, you’re stuck with me.”
“Thanks.” I peeked up at him. “I love you too, Cody.”
“I know.” He gave a gentle tug on one of my curls as we separated.
“You know what’s not fair?” I tossed my drawing pad onto the costumes, not caring if they ended up a wrinkled mess. “I’ve been keeping it just friends between Spencer and me because I wasn’t willing to risk losing him. But along comes Ashley with her perfect face and her perfect hair and her perfect everything—and I’m losing him anyway.”
“So do something about it.”
Do something? Two problems with that. First, I had no idea what to do. Second, I was afraid it might already
be too late.
I slept in the next morning. (Yay for Saturdays!) I’d have to get out of bed eventually because today was the last big event of my PR campaign for art class. I’d arranged an informal lacrosse scrimmage at school this afternoon. Technically, the guys arranged the game, and I publicized the heck out of it. After the way things went last night, I’d rather be anywhere than sitting on the sidelines watching the Ashley and Spencer show.
Anywhere. Like still lying here in my bed. But that wasn’t an option, darn it.
At least I’d been smart enough to bag up all of Cody and Spencer’s costume choices and send them home with Cody last night. I hadn’t decided what I would do about our tradition; I just knew I didn’t want to look at them one more second.
It took the scent of bacon floating up the stairs to finally motivate me to drag my butt from bed and down into the kitchen.
“Well, look what the zombie dragged in,” Mom said, turning from the stove and sliding a plate with bacon, eggs, and hash browns onto the counter. “Eat up.”
“Thanks. You talked to Mrs. Baker.” I plopped onto a stool at the small island, resting my elbow on the counter and my chin in my hand. “Was she having regrets and guilt about me taking out her kids last weekend?”
“No. She said the little zombies had it coming.” She fished more bacon from the cast iron pan, setting it on a paper towel. “Is everything okay with you?”
“Peachy. Why would you think anything’s wrong?”
“The empty ice-cream container in the freezer gave me my first clue. The fact that you’ve been sitting at the counter for at least a minute and the bacon is still there is my second.”
“I don’t know, Mom.” I stared down at the bacon, which, a fair point, would normally be gone by now. “I think I’m making a mess of everything right now.”
Mom filled her coffee cup and moved to stand opposite me at the counter. “How so?”
“Well, Spencer, Cody, and Ms. Coltrain have all been telling me I’m afraid to take risks. So, I took a few risks.” I watched my mom’s eyes flare wide. “Stand down, Mom. Nothing too bad.”
My Totally Off-Limits Best Friend: A YA Sweet Romance (Sweet Mountain High, Year 2: A Sweet YA Romance Series) Page 12
