“That’s my boy,” Pastor Bryant said. He gave us a wave and bit into the apple.
“Should we, um, do this at your place next time?” Jett asked while opening the door for me.
I considered it as I stepped onto the porch and shivered.
“Do you want a jacket?” Before I could answer, he bolted back inside and came out in the speed of light. “Here.” He held out his letterman jacket and motioned to me with a nod.
Jett Bryant wanted me to put on his letterman jacket? Trying hard not to overthink it, I straightened my right arm and slid it into the silky sleeve. I went to slip the backpack off my shoulder but Jett was one step ahead of me. He hooked the strap with his fingers and held it out to the side as I slipped my left arm through. Instead of handing it back to me he looped it around his own massive shoulder.
He glanced up. “Clouds are gone,” he said, a far off look in his eye.
The humor and playfulness were gone, causing me to remember what my mom had said about his parents being separated.
“So,” he said as we walked around to the driver’s side of the car. “I’ve got basketball practice on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Friday nights. So how’s Thursday for you?”
I looked at him, thinking of how nicely this was working out; every other day was perfect. “Sounds good.”
He nodded, glanced down at his feet and tipped his head to the side. “Should we do it here again or do you want to have it at your place?”
I hadn’t exactly decided on that yet. If we did do it there, we’d need to watch a movie as well so it looked like an actual date. “We could do that, but my little sister will be there. She might be kind of a distraction.”
Jett lifted his chin, then studied me as moonlight poured over his handsome face. “I don’t mind kids,” he finally said, voice low and raspy.
I gulped, wondering if I should just tell him about the whole fake date fiasco. Summer had said that I shouldn’t while Bailey insisted I should, so I was still a little confused. “Okay,” I said. “Thursday at my place.”
He gave me a nod before his face turned thoughtful. “Didn’t you used to work for the Sweet Water recreation? Doing, like, theater classes for the kids?”
My heart misbehaved with a little happy dance. Why did I like it every time Jett admitted to knowing details of my life? “Yeah,” I said. “And you did some coaching, right?”
The grin that pulled at those tempting lips of his said he might like it when I remembered stuff about him as well. “Right. My dad wanted me to focus on grades, so I only work there the summer now.” He shrugged and added, “Plus I work a double shift at the warehouse on Saturdays.”
“My mom’s the same way. She pays me a decent allowance, hoping it will, in her words, ‘pay off in scholarship money later.'”
“Which it did,” Jett pointed out.
“Yep.” I nodded as my face warmed. Dang, he was attractive. “And yours did too.”
I patted my pockets for the keys and realized they were clipped to my bag. “Oh, my keys,” I said, shifting to the grip he had on it. Was it just me or was he stalling?
Jett let the backpack slide off his shoulder and held it out for me by the strap.
“Thanks.” I hooked it over my shoulder, sensing there was something more he wanted to say.
“Hey, umm…how long ago did your parents get divorced?”
The question made my heart hurt. Poor Jett. And his whole family for that matter. I couldn’t imagine Pastor Bryant and his wife actually getting divorced. They seemed so perfect together. I forced my mind back to his question.
“My dad took off before Missy was born,” I said. “So it’s been about seven years now.”
Jett dropped his gaze to the curb as he slid the side of his shoe against the rounded edge. “I’m sorry. That must have been hard for you guys. All of you.”
I nodded, wishing I could offer some sort of comfort over whatever he was going through now, but I couldn’t. Not unless he actually opened up to me about it. As far as the congregation knew, Cathy was taking care of her mother in Georgia; the last thing I wanted him to worry about was a bunch of town gossip.
When Jett didn’t offer more, I hurried into the car. “Well, I’ll see you tomorrow.”
He nodded. “See you.”
I shut the door, and Jett moved back a few steps as I roared up the engine. A million things raced through my mind as I caught sight of him in the rearview, his silhouette exuding that tall, brooding stature.
Part of me was very excited about the idea of seeing him every other night, even if it was just for some assignment. The other part of me was warring with guilt over the odd spark I felt when Jett smiled at me or held my gaze or spoke in that deep voice of his.
Sure, I was studying with Jett for school, I really was, but I was also fake-dating him to appease my mom and Jett didn’t even know it.
I sighed, forced my eyes off the rearview, and asked myself one very important question: “Harper, what in the world are you doing?”
Chapter Five
“How was your date with Jett Bryant last night?” Mom asked as she shuffled into the room.
I stared at the book in front of my face, Taming the Shrew, as I thought about how to answer. Not that I’d been reading it. What I’d been doing, instead, is thinking back on the way Jett had practically challenged me to kiss him. Every time I replayed the scene in my mind a deep thrill shot through my body. Of course I felt guilty about this delicious thrill but I could hardly stop the memory from resurfacing on what seemed to be every hour on the dot.
I was about to tell my mom that the date went fine when she spoke up again, this time hollering over her shoulder. “And are you ready for your first dance class, Missy Moo Moo?”
I dragged my eyes off my book and watched her for a moment, wondering if she’d forgotten already that she’d asked me about Jett.
“I’m ready,” Missy sang out. She appeared from the hallway in head-to-toe pale pink, including her tutu and slippers. She busted out a few moves that belonged more in a jazzercise class than a ballet studio but that was probably because she’d watched my mom work out to her exercise shows.
I lowered my book and watched the little twerp bop around for a minute. “Those are some pretty wild moves, sis,” I said before lifting the book back to eye level.
“Why, thank you,” she said. I wasn’t watching her anymore, but I could tell she was still dancing since her voice bounced and bumped.
“Homework’s all done, right?” my mom asked.
“Yep.” And most of it really was, thanks to my daily study hall class.
“So, is TJ coming to get you soon?”
I glanced up from my book once more.
My mom’s face was serious. “I don’t want you two alone here, remember?”
I held her gaze a minute longer. “It’s like you add a new rule about him every time. First I have to date someone in between and now we can’t even hang out here when you’re gone?”
The freshly trimmed ends of Mom’s bob fell around her chin as her shoulders dropped. She shot me one of those really!? looks and sighed. “Nice try. That one’s always been a rule. No being in the house alone with a boy.”
“’Because you’ll kiss too much,” Missy chimed while shaking her bum.
I looked back to my mom. “Yes. He’s coming to get me.”
“And where are you going?”
I tried to put a little excitement into my voice. “He wrote a new song, I guess, so he wants me to come watch them practice.”
Mom shook her head and ushered Missy into the garage. Once the door was all but closed, she spun back to me. “I’m telling you,” she said under her breath. “That boy is too much like your father. You don’t want to end up with a guy like him, trust me.” With that, she hurried after Missy and closed the door behind her. I set my eyes back on my book but all I could see was my dad, holding my hand as I padded along the wet sand to chase the tide with him. My dad wasn�
��t always so…troubled. He went back and forth, kind of, from what I understood.
First he was a bad boy when my mom fell for him, mainly because he drank too much, but when my mom wound up pregnant at just nineteen years old, he stepped up, sobered up, and married her. He helped raise me until I was ten years old. And even though Mom said he would come and go during that time, weaving in and out of addiction, I had a ton of happy memories with him. But something about those memories hurt too.
My book fell to my lap as I admitted that the hurt far outweighed the joy they brought. He’d kind of ruined them by choosing to leave and not come back while my mom was pregnant with Missy. What kind of person did that? I’ve gone from hating him for it to blaming my mom for doing something to chase him away, to then blaming myself for doing something to chase him out of our lives.
But all of those things were just too painful and unsettling and far too flawed for me to accept, so I decided that he was actually a very good guy with a problem that might have been solved had someone just…stepped in a little sooner and held him accountable for his behavior. I’d read a million articles on addiction and the early starts.
A lot of people were just trying to fill some sort of void. What if the void in his heart could have been filled by a fulfilling job where he enjoyed what he did? Something consistent. Something he could be proud of.
I abandoned my book and took care of a few items on Mom’s list. After much begging and pleading, she’d picked up some prepackaged goodies that I could pop in the microwave and dip in condiments like the rest of the universe. They were semi-gross versions of the real thing since they lacked preservatives and things like that but they were a far cry from the casserole that had scarred my kissing life with TJ.
How about we let you be the judge…I couldn’t help but picture the smoldering look on Jett’s face as he’d challenged me. My heart fluttered out of beat as heat swooshed to every limb. What did it say about me that that was possibly the most thrilling moment of my life so far?
A knock sounded at the door then, and I scrambled to rinse my plate and put it in the dishwasher. I also scrambled to shove my thoughts of Jett into a special place of their own. One I should vow not to revisit.
I swung open the door to reveal the sight of my handsome boyfriend. Blond, shaggy hair hung around his unshaven face. His blue eyes lit up as he grinned at me. “Hey.”
“Hi!” I held up a finger, dashed to the bathroom, and quickly brushed my teeth, taking extra care to get my tongue too. I hurried back to the doorway and said, “Ready.”
TJ grinned as I tossed my arms around him. He was so good. He liked me. He was doing his best in life. Working hard. Taking extra shifts—well, he would do that once he stopped calling in sick. He caught me and spun in place before setting me back down on the porch. At once he moved in for a kiss. I prepared myself by keeping a tight pucker; I wasn’t ready for a repeat of yesterday.
TJ didn’t exactly take the hint. He pulled me a bit tighter and tipped his head to one side. His tongue nudged my lip. For a split second, I wondered if I just give in and see if this time could be better. But I chickened out and pulled back instead; I did not want TJ to prove Jett right about the whole kissing thing.
“So how was your day?” I chirped. “I really missed hanging out with you yesterday.”
TJ tossed his arm around me and nodded toward the old Chevy. “I missed you too. We just jammed most of the day. After work, that is.”
I sighed in relief. See, he was doing so well.
“I mean, I was a tiny bit late ‘cause we kind of partied last night. But a bunch of people came to watch this time. It was awesome. Felt like we were performing on stage or something.”
I shivered against the breeze as the words kind of partied ran through my mind. TJ rushed around to his side of the Chevy as I cranked open the passenger side and climbed in. Once he was settled behind the wheel, I spoke up once more, reminding myself that I did not want to lecture him. “Who was all there? Anyone I know?”
“Uh, a few of the MG’s came. Couple of their jock friends too.”
The seatbelt strap was only halfway across my lap but I paused at this news and turned to him. “You invited the mean girls?”
“Jessie did, but yeah. They’re not that bad.”
A vision of Tasha shot to my mind. Her bright red, venomous lips as she spread on yet another coat of lipstick while glaring my way. “Which girls were there?”
TJ checked his rearview and pulled onto the road. “Can’t remember all their names. Olivia, Stacy, I think. Jenny…”
I nodded. Jenny and Stacy were Tasha’s sidekicks. Two of the girls who’d been giggling in the corner of the locker room to egg Tasha on. Thank heavens Jett was free from her.
“That Tasha chick was there too,” he said. “And it’s funny because she used to date Jett Bryant, and you were with him last night, and I was with her.”
“You were with her last night?” I squeaked. “I thought you said everybody was there.” The back of my shoulders turned fire hot in a blink.
“We were. At first. But then she stuck around for a while and asked where you were, so…”
That wasn’t even a normal place to drift off. “So what?”
“So I told her that you were, like, gonna have to see other people.”
Wow, the conversation was getting more annoying by the minute. “Did you misunderstand what my mom said?” I shifted in the seat. “She didn’t say I needed to start seeing other people. She only said that I couldn’t go out with you until I, you know…”
“Saw another guy in between,” he said flatly. “Which is the same thing as seeing other people.”
The angry heat was climbing right up my neck already. “Yeah, but I’m not actually dating someone else. We’re partners in class. I’m doing homework with the pastor’s son.” There. That should shed a little light on things.
“Yeah, well Jett’s not Mr. Innocent or anything.” TJ shook his head, and I noticed his jaw tighten. “Anyway, if you’re going to keep seeing Jett, we figured we’d just hang out together too on those nights.”
My ears had a hard time taking that in. I leaned in to get a better look at TJ’s face. “Who is going to get together? And why are you making me work so hard to pry this conversation out of you?”
“Me and Tasha. It was her idea, but I think it’s a good one.”
“Oh, are you kidding? Yeah, that’s the best idea I can possibly think of. You should totally spend your time with a girl who will help you throw your life down the drain as quickly as possible.”
TJ shook his head. “You’re just jealous.”
Of course I was jealous. Freaking Tasha was making the moves on yet another guy I liked. How could two completely opposite girls be attracted to the same two completely opposite guys? Of course, it made more sense for Tasha to like TJ than it did for me. But that was the problem. I didn’t want him to be influenced by someone like her.
I folded my arms and sank back into the seat. My hopes of a sober, happy TJ were being ripped from my grasp at lightning speed and there was nothing I could do to stop it. Hot tears stung my eyes. I didn’t want to lose him. I didn’t want to let go.
Those exact thoughts replayed in my mind as I watched my own proverbial untamed shrew tip back drinks and pour his heart out over the mic. At one point, he inserted my name into one of the songs, “Harper, why’d you have to hurt me this way?”
He followed the action with a charismatic wink that made me want to cry. If I left TJ, I really would hurt him—in more ways than one. It could affect his entire future.
When the night was through, I got a ride home from Jessie, the one member of the band who didn’t drink. I wasted no time tossing my clothes in the hamper and climbing under the sheets. I stayed awake with anxious thoughts of TJ, tears soaking into my pillowcase as the hours trudged by. One vision stood out among the rest, and it haunted me all the way to my core. I envisioned headlines splashed all over the count
ry: Famous Rock Star, TJ Reynolds, Found Dead in His NY Apartment at the Young Age of Twenty-Four.
That did it. Forget about Jett and his luscious lips and alluring eyes. I needed to keep my sights on TJ. He needed a girl like me, and I wouldn’t let him down.
Chapter Six
“What time is Jett coming to pick you up tonight?”
Mom’s question hit my ears the moment I spotted Missy parade into the kitchen wearing her frilly layers of pink.
“You can’t be in the house alone while we’re gone,” Mom added in my silence.
A beat of panic thrummed in my chest. “Wait, I thought she had dance class on Wednesdays and Fridays,” I said.
Missy put her hands over her head and popped herself onto the balls of her feet. “Nope,” she sang.
“It’s Wednesdays and Thursdays,” Mom corrected.
I stared at the pan of health-freak brownies I just pulled from the oven and sighed. “I thought we were going to be able to study here.”
“Study?” A layer of shock coated the word. “You’re doing a study date?”
My face shifted into busted-mode but I quickly worked up enough of a cough to clear my throat. “Well, yeah, he’s the captain of the basketball team. The guy has to keep his grades up.”
Mom tipped her head, thoughtful, as her eyes seemed to land on Missy and her dance moves. A wobbly spin in the center of the plush rug.
Maybe now was my chance. “Besides,” I added, “it’s not like he’s going to, like, try anything while you’re gone.”
The words floated there for a while before I got my reply.
“Why? Just because he’s the pastor’s son? That one’s not going to work on me. No being in the house alone with a boy. That’s final.”
The word boy sounded just fine when she’d said it about TJ, so why now did it seem inadequate when describing Jett, who was a year younger than him?
“Come on, Missy Moo.” Mom hiked her massive purse over her shoulder and ushered Missy toward the door. “When does play practice start up for you?” she asked as she yanked open the garage door.
Chemistry of a Kiss Page 5
