“Is anybody up there or what?” Missy hollered from downstairs. “TJ’s been waiting for, like, a hundred years.”
Mom and I chuckled, both wiping at tears. “Just one more minute,” Mom hollered back. She brought a hand to my face and studied me for a blink. “You’re so much wiser than I was at your age. Already you’re seeing more clearly than I did back then.” She sniffed, nodding. “Life doesn’t come with any guarantees,” she said, “but there’s one thing I’ll tell you for sure. You don’t get very far in life by beating around the bush. If you’re confused about something Jett’s done...if it doesn’t line up with the other things you know about him, then confront him. Give him the chance to explain himself, for crying out loud. You don’t want to go through life haunted by what ifs, do you?”
I shook my head. “No. I’ve already got one of those where Jett’s concerned,” I admitted. “From clear back in the eighth grade.”
“Oh yeah?”
I grinned. “I’ll tell you about it later.”
Mom rested a hand on my back, as we headed down the stairs. “Well, let’s get a picture of you two. Can’t live off selfies alone, can you?”
“I’m going to take so many selfies once I get my own phone,” Missy promised as Mom positioned us by the door. I saw my mom in a new light then. A strong, independent woman who hadn’t just gone out and found a replacement for Dad. And she’d had plenty of opportunity, I knew that much. She wasn’t afraid to be alone. And I shouldn’t be either.
I’d also decided there was a whole lot of wisdom in what she’d said. I couldn’t just let this relationship go without confronting Jett. It wouldn’t be tonight, of course. I wasn’t about to make a scene, but someday soon I would show up at Jett’s house and talk to him about what had happened. At least then, even if I was alone, I’d have some answers.
“Okee-doke,” Mom said as she tucked her phone back into her pocket. “You guys better get going. Have a great time.”
“Yeah, have a great time,” Missy echoed.
“We will,” I promised Missy before looking at my mom. “And thanks.”
Chapter Sixteen
I thought more about what my mom said as we drove to the school. I thought it’d be best to at least get on the same page with TJ before we stepped inside the gymnasium.
“Hey,” I said, stilling him at the doorway. Music from a band I didn’t recognize echoed down the hallway. “I just want to go in and have a fun time tonight, okay?”
TJ nodded, but his face was already scrunching up in question.
“What I mean by that,” I went to stipulate, but that’s when I saw something my eyes could not pull away from: Tasha draping her long skinny arms over Jett’s shoulders. She zeroed in on me like a hawk through the crowd and shot me a wicked grin.
“Never mind.” I looped a hand around the nook in TJ’s arm and yanked. “Let’s dance.” Wafts of perfume clashed with body odor as we weaved our way through the crowd, one dancing couple at a time. I stopped once we were roughly two yards from Jett and Tasha.
“Perfect,” TJ growled under his breath. “We’ll make them sorry they’re not here with us.” And suddenly he was pulling me against him and moving his hands very close to my rear end. It reminded me of the way he’d held Tasha at Burger Bar. Funny how he’d never even tried that while we dated. Funny, as in he knew better. Until now, that is.
Now it was all out war, which meant I wouldn’t cause a fuss over it. As long as he didn’t grab my butt completely.
The thought barely came to mind when TJ did exactly that. Both hands, all fingers and thumbs, solidly grabbed onto my rear end.
I squealed and shoved at his chest. “Don’t,” I warned, squaring a look at him. “I’m not a girl you can do that to, and you know it.”
TJ had the nerve to roll his eyes, but he gave me a nod and stepped back up to me. He flattened his hands stiffly against my shoulder blades and gave them an awkward pat. “Like this?” he asked snidely. “Is this what you like?”
Well, at least TJ wasn’t making it hard to put things to an end between us tonight. But that’s when I remembered what was actually going on here. TJ hadn’t asked me to come to this because he wanted me back; he wanted to come so that he could make Tasha jealous. Just like I’d wanted to make Jett sorry.
So what was this? A game of fake dating in reverse? It was ridiculous.
I hadn’t let myself look back at Jett and Tasha yet, but as we spun in place to the slow-paced song, coming to the spot where they’d be in view, I allowed my gaze to drift over them. Jett looked furious. Jaw tight, eyes narrowed, body rigid. It seemed he was glaring at the back of TJ’s head. A glare that landed on me as we shifted our weight to the beat. And then we were facing opposite directions. Jett with his partner, me with mine.
I wondered if that meant that TJ and Tasha were facing one another now. As if answering my question, TJ moved in and started pressing kisses to my neck. I froze in place, my feet planting in one spot as I considered how far I wanted this game to go. It felt like I was selling my soul to the devil, and for what?
If witnessing TJ’s groping session made Jett suddenly want me instead of Tasha, I’d be left to assume that he had more than an innocent relationship in mind. Which implied that there weren’t a whole lot of good guys out there. Which suddenly made me want to just…cry and tear out of there all at the same time.
“Just let me grab your butt for a second so she can see,” TJ pled. “She’ll freak.” At once he slid his hands down and grabbed, moving his sloppy kiss up the side of my neck.
I struggled in the constricted space, ready to swat him off me like a gargantuan fly, when someone pried him away from me. Before I could see who it was or what exactly they were doing, a fist slammed into TJ’s face.
Adrenaline spiked through me so hard it hurt. I couldn’t tear my eyes off the sight of TJ teetering on one foot, catching himself with the other, and then stumbling into the oblivious couple behind him.
I worked to drag my eyes off the scene, very aware of the crowd that was forming around us. I pressed my hand to my chest to catch my breath and spun to see who had started the fight. Heaven knew TJ had enough enemies to start a brawl here or half of the places around town, but I had not expected to see Jett standing so close. He was shaking out his fist and glaring at TJ.
“Jett!” Tasha screamed through the music as she caught up to him.
And so it was him. I gasped. Jett had landed a punch on TJ?
He shouldered his way around Tasha and lunged toward TJ, who was climbing back to his feet. “You like putting your hands on people? Let’s see how you like it when I put my hands on you.” He gripped hold of him by the shirt and forced him to his feet.
TJ swung, missed, but clocked Jett as he came in with another swing with his other fist.
Crap. TJ binged on wrestling matches. I had to get Jett out of this. Students rushed in to witness the fight, successfully pushing me back as I watched Jett ram an elbow into TJ’s jaw. Maybe he liked watching those too.
A sharp, familiar-sounding whistle broke out as the music died. “Break it up, boys. Right now.” Yep, that was Mr. Meadows’ unmistakable whistle. I’d heard it a million times during play practice.
“Are you okay?” Another familiar voice came, this one from Ms. Tolken.
I tore my eyes off Jett as he smeared blood from his lip to tell her that I was just fine. Wait, maybe that’s not who I heard.
“Are you dizzy?” the woman asked. She looked different, but I couldn’t exactly say why. Eye makeup maybe?
“Yeah,” I said. “I mean, no. You look so pretty.”
Ms. Tolken gave me a smile, then quickly erased it. “Let’s go out into the hall and see what’s going on here.”
I nodded, propping myself onto my toes to see Mr. Meadows ushering TJ at one side, Jett at his other. “I don’t know what happened,” I said. The spin cycle had taken up residence in my chest, slamming ruthlessly against my ribcage as I tried catching
my breath.
She stopped walking and turned back to look at me. “I know what happened,” she said, a hint of pride coating her words. “You were championed by Jett Bryant.”
“Championed?” I raised my brows.
Ms. Tolken held my gaze a moment more and nodded. “Let’s go.” With that, she led me toward the doorway, dodging the dispersing crowd as she went. I realized another change then; her polyester pants had been replaced by a pencil skirt, which showed off the woman’s curvy legs. I knew she was secretly a hottie beneath all that junk she wore.
Mr. Meadows had both guys on the floor, shoved up against the wall, separated only by the closed utility closet door. Both had red welts on their faces, but I had to say, it looked like TJ took the worst of it. Which had me worrying about Jett and his scholarship and his position as captain of the basketball team.
That new knot of worry worked its way into my gut.
“Do you want to tell me what’s going on here?” Mr. Meadows bellowed.
Ms. Tolken motioned for me to follow her to the adjacent wall. Jett shot me a lingering look before setting his gaze back on Meadows.
But TJ spoke up first. “Me and Harper were dancing…”
“Harper and I,” Mr. Meadows corrected.
TJ’s face scrunched up. “What?”
“That’s the proper way to say it,” Ms. Tolken said. “Continue.”
TJ glanced at me for a blink, then shook his head. “We were dancing and suddenly Jett swoops in like Batman and sucker punches me in the face.”
“It’s not a sucker punch when you provoked it,” Jett snapped, pulling away from the wall to glare at him.
“Hey, hey, hey.” Mr. Meadows put his hands out. “Violence should be a last resort, Mr. Bryant. I’m sure you know that. In the years I’ve seen you play ball, you’ve practiced more self-control than I thought possible. You should have exercised some of that tonight. Coach isn’t going to be happy.”
“I was protecting her,” Jett said, “and I’d do it again in a heartbeat.” My heart, which hadn’t even begun to recover, did a little flip.
Mr. Meadows spun to look at me over his shoulder.
“Did you need protecting?”
Now a full on gymnastic routine was happening inside my chest. I looked over at TJ. “I did tell him to take his hands off me,” I said.
“It was just an act.” TJ rolled his eyes. “We were trying to make our exes jealous.”
“Oh, so I’m your ex now?” Jett asked.
I looked into his deep brown eyes, taken aback by the emotion I saw there. “I don’t know what you are, Jett. All I know is that I asked you to the dance a week ago and you never answered. And then you say yes to Tasha in front of the entire school without ever acknowledging—”
Jett put his hand up to stop me. “Wait, did you say you asked me to the dance?”
“You asked him to the dance first?” TJ asked.
“I thought you knew that,” I said.
“Who?” Both TJ and Jett looked at me, confusion crumpling their faces.
“Both of you,” I said. “TJ, I thought you knew that I asked Jett and that he never answered me and that that’s why I was so upset about him going with Tasha.” I set my gaze on Jett next. “And you…why are you acting surprised? There’s no way you didn’t get what I left for you.”
Jett’s brow furrowed. “I didn’t get anything from you, Harper.”
We stayed like that while the music from the gym went from muted to loud. Someone had opened the door, I realized.
“It was a poster and it had pictures of us on it. There was other stuff too. Basketball balloons…you never saw those?”
Jett shook his head. “Seriously, Harper. I never saw it.”
“Wait just a minute, Miss Martell,” Ms. Tolken said.
I looked over my shoulder in time to see Tasha sneaking back into the gym. She stopped in her tracks, shoulders dropping, and let the door swing to a close. “I don’t know anything about it,” Tasha said with wide, innocent eyes. “If you ask me, any good wind could come along and sweep that stuff right off his porch.”
I fought back an eye-roll. “Yeah, right.”
“Wait,” Jett said. “How did you know it was on my porch?” His eyes narrowed in a hard glare.
Tasha cinched the flannel tighter around her waist and squirmed in place. “Everyone knows you ask people by leaving candy and stuff on the porch.”
“I never said I left candy either,” I snapped.
“I can’t believe you asked me, Harper,” Jett said. “I was trying to hint to you that whole time. I knew I’d have to say yes to the first girl who asked and I wanted that to be you.”
I hurried over to him and got onto the floor at his side. “I thought you were just teasing me. Until you said yes to Tasha, which really threw me off…”
“No wonder.” Jett cupped a gentle hand to my face. He came in, brushed his bruised lips over mine. “I’m so sorry,” he said.
I shook my head. “I’m sorry that I didn’t just mention it.”
“Okay, okay,” Mr. Meadows barked, putting his arms up once more. “Let’s get back on track here.” He pointed a finger at Jett. “Coach isn’t going to be happy when he hears about this.” He moved the pointed finger to TJ. “And you—I could have Sheriff Lang here in in two seconds flat.”
“Can’t we just let everyone say that they’re sorry and let it drop?” I asked, hurrying to my feet. I approached Meadows and looked him in the face. “This really wouldn’t have happened if it wasn’t for the whole misunderstanding.” I shot Tasha a look, but she was admiring her bright green fingernails.
“I think we’re past that point—” Mr. Meadows started to say, but Ms. Tolken stepped in and put a hand on his shoulder.
“Don’t you think that…” Her lashes fluttered, making me realize she’d tugged off her glasses. I glanced down to see she held them behind her back. Mr. Meadows’ face flushed red.
“If everyone is willing to drop it, there’s no sense in getting these kids—and they are usually very good kids—into trouble.”
I couldn’t believe my ears. Or my eyes. This was a completely different woman than the one in polyester. TJ had called Jett Batman, which wasn’t far off if you asked me, but perhaps we had our very own Catwoman here at Sweet Water High as well.
“Well,” Mr. Meadows said with a one-shoulder shrug. He swiped a hand through his wavy hair, nodded, and turned his gaze back to Jett and TJ. “Are you guys willing to drop all of this?”
TJ tipped his head. “Tasha,” he said. “Why did you do that? You told me that it was Coach’s idea for you to ask Jett since he didn’t have a date. What—you just wanted him all along?”
Tasha puffed out a loud breath and tipped her head back. “Can we just get out of here?” She looked over at me. It was the first time I’d seen her look…embarrassed. She set her gaze back on TJ. “Look, I’m sorry. I’ll tell you more later. Let’s just go.”
TJ shook his head. “I’m willing to let this drop. I’m sorry for grabbing your butt, Harper,” he said, looking at me like a repentant child. “I know you’re not that kind of girl and I shouldn’t have done it.”
Sure, it sounded a little rehearsed, but something told me that TJ was, in fact, sorry.
“I just really wanted to make Tasha regret asking Jett,” he continued. “I didn’t know that Harper had asked him. And I definitely didn’t know Tasha made it look like you didn’t by doing…whatever she did.”
Tasha leaned heavily on one hip and sighed.
Meadows and Tolken set their eyes on me expectantly.
“Harper?” Ms. Tolken prompted.
“I accept your apology,” I said.
“Jett?” Meadows said.
Jett looked between TJ and me, then turned back to Mr. Meadows. “I’m good if she’s good,” he said. “As long as he keeps his hands off her from here on out,” he added under his breath.
Mr. Meadows nodded to Ms. Tolken. “We c
an’t exactly keep this between us since half the school witnessed it, but we can let Principal Parks know that you and I took care of the matter and saw fit to let things drop.”
A massive weight lifted from my shoulders. Jett had a lot riding on his basketball career, and I was grateful that this wouldn’t put that at risk. I wanted to give both Mr. Meadows and Ms. Tolken a big giant hug, but I settled for a “thank you so much!” instead. I thanked TJ too, and he headed out and into the parking lot alone.
Tasha, also flying solo now, scurried back into the gym, but not before mumbling something to Jett about finding his own ride home.
“We’ll let you two talk,” Ms. Tolken said once the four of us were left in the hall. She grabbed Mr. Meadows’ elbow, and together, the two chaperones returned to the party.
“Was she your ride?” I asked.
Jett nodded.
“We can catch a ride with Bailey and Summer,” I said with a laugh.
Jett shuffled closer, resting his head in the nook between my shoulder and neck. “I feel so bad for not answering you.”
I clenched my eyes shut, remembering the time I’d almost texted him about it. “It’s not your fault. I’m the one who should’ve at least asked you about it.”
Jett took hold of my hand, brought it to his lips, and pressed a gentle, lingering kiss to my palm. My body went limp, every limb softening like overcooked noodles. All of the feels and thrills we’d read about sparked into action as he moved along my wrist in a slow rhythm.
He glanced up at me then, keeping ahold of my wrist, and wrapped his other hand solidly around my hip where he gave me a squeeze.
Goosebumps rippled over my skin.
“Harper Tisdale,” he said. “Just so you know, I really really like you.”
“I really really like you too,” I said as a giggle snuck out.
“I’d love it if you’d be my girlfriend. Will you?”
I bit my lip and grinned. “Yes.”
And there was that gorgeous dimple. “Yes,” he said with a fist pump. He moved his hand back to my hip then, and his gaze dropped to my mouth.
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