It’s Dean birthday today, and we’re throwing him a party tonight at Mack’s place. Most of the gang is here to help set up, and it’s kind of like a party before the party. Lorena and Heather helped me make fried chicken, macaroni salad, and biscuits for lunch. We’re having the food for tonight catered from Wimpy Pete’s—Dean’s favorite restaurant. It’s good to see Lorena, though there’s still quite a bit of tension between her and Mack. She doesn’t want to talk about their relationship, so I don’t push her.
Arianna, Dani, and Sloane are here, too, though I guess they came for the use of Mack’s pool. All three have settled on the chaise lounges, and haven’t moved since. They seem to be more relaxed and approachable now that their queen has been dethroned. They’re still not my favorite people, and I kind of hate being indebted to Arianna.
Jason and Ryan are supposed to be helping Mack set up the speakers, but—I don’t know what they’re doing. Why are they pouring milk all over each other? Man, Ryan is so lucky that the JV team took the fall for the Larrabee thing. I guess I’m glad that he won’t lose his scholarship. Deep, deep down the twins are good guys. Maybe.
“Where’s Johnny?” Heather asks me, taking a break from balloon-blowing. “I haven’t seen him all day.”
“I don’t know. He texted me this morning saying he said he had some things to do, and that he’ll be by later to help,” I tell her. Nick walks by, and I call out to him. “Hey, Nick! Have you heard from Johnny?”
“Not today,” he replies with a shrug.
“OMG, dude—what happened to your eye?” Heather’s eyes widen at the sight of Nick’s impressive black eye.
He grins, walking backwards. “Tripped and fell into a giant fist.”
Heather turns to me, eyebrows raised. “You know how I told you Lala has a huge crush on Nick?” When she nods, I continue. “Well, yesterday she went for it. She cornered Nick in the kitchen, and pretty much attacked him. Mack walked in on that, and…”
“It’s hammer time. Poor Nick.” Heather shudders, well aware of what a protective older brother is capable of. “But I have to admit, I’m impressed. That girl not gonna have any problem getting guys when she’s older.”
“Getting them, no. Keeping Big Mack from killing them…that’s another story.”
She smiles sympathetically, but she’s distracted by Dani, who is rubbing sunscreen onto her long tanned legs. She does look really sexy, and glamorous enough to make an average girl like me a little insecure. It does make me feel better to know that if Dean were here, he wouldn’t look twice in her direction.
I miss him. I remember his reaction when I gave him his birthday present last night: a spring break trip for two to Seattle. I try to play it off like it’s been a lifelong dream of mine to see the Space Needle—but of course he doesn’t buy it. He did say that he’d love to go to Seattle with me, so I’m feeling pretty positive about it. And while we’re there…if we want to look up his mom, then…whatever. No pressure.
I know it’s not my place to arrange a meeting between him and his mother—and it’s really not like I want to meet the homewrecker. He doesn’t say much about his mom, but…I know it would make him happy to see her again. And I guess I’d do anything to make him happy.
“We can’t leave your birthday party to have sex!” I laugh. “We’re supposed to be having fun.”
Dean has his arms around me, the beginnings of a sexy grin on his face. “I guarantee that we’ll have lots of fun,” he counters.
I shake my head at him. I remember when I thought Dean’s favorite activity was working on his Pontiac. He tries to prove me wrong several times a day.
We’re hiding out in Mack’s kitchen. No one else wants to be in the house—not with all the breakable Precious Moment dolls everywhere. It’s not that we don’t want to hang out with everyone…more like we’d rather just hang out with each other.
“If you really want to leave, I know somewhere you can take me,” I say slowly.
“Oh, yeah?” His voice is smoky as he pulls me closer.
“Not for that!” I wiggle away from him. “Let’s go to Sally Brown. I want to show you something.”
“The park?” Dean’s brows draw together, perplexed. “Right now?”
“Yeah, just for a bit. We can be back before anyone knows we’re missing.” Grinning, I grab his hand and give it a tug. “Come on, birthday boy.”
Of course, we have to run into Johnny on our way to Dean’s car. I’m sure it looks like we’re sneaking off to have sex, especially because of the guilty look on my face when I see who we’ve bumped into.
“Oh, hi,” I say awkwardly, trying for a smile. “Where have you been?”
“Around,” Johnny replies vaguely. He looks at Dean. “Happy birthday, man.”
Dean nods in acknowledgment. “Thanks.”
Talk about uncomfortable. The three of us stand in the driveway, doing a good impression of statues. The relationship between Johnny and Dean is no longer hostile, but it’s not what it used to be. Add me into the mix, and it’s all kinds of painful.
I risk a glance at Johnny, and find that he’s already looking at me. “I went to my uncle Joe today,” he says out of the blue. “He’s an army recruiter. I talked to him about maybe joining after graduation.”
I gape at him. “Seriously? But…what about your knee?”
“My knee will be fine by then. Joe said it shouldn’t be problem, as long as I can pass the physical.”
I look at Dean to see what he thinks, but he’s regarding Johnny with an impassive expression. “I didn’t know you were thinking about joining,” I say carefully. “Are you sure that’s what you want to do? I mean, it’s kind of a big commitment.”
Johnny gives a restless shrug. He runs a hand through his golden hair. “I don’t have a whole lot of options right now, thanks to my own stupidity. Plus—I don’t know…maybe it will be good for me, you know? Maybe doing a shit ton of pushups in the rain, and scrubbing toilets with my toothbrush will help me grow the hell up.”
“You watch too many movies,” Dean says, sounding amused.
Johnny smirks back at him. “Yeah? Next you’re gonna tell me there’s no tough-as-nails drill sergeant with a heart of gold who will help me realize my full potential.”
“I’ll let you discover that on your own.”
“Johnny.” I touch his arm to get his attention. “You don’t have to do this. What about your mom…?”
“Actually, I’ve been thinking about it for a while,” he says, his expression cloudy. He starts to pace back and forth in front of us. “I’ve been such a screw-up my whole life—I don’t wanna be that guy anymore. The dumbass who had everything, and threw it all away because he was too much of an asshole to appreciate it. I don’t wanna be the guy that peaked in high school…I want to actually make something of myself, you know? It only took me losing the most important thing I ever had to realize it.”
“Football isn’t the most important thing in your life,” I object. “You have so much going for you—”
“I wasn’t talking about football, I was talking about you.”
My eyes widen in shock, and I reflexively glance at Dean to gauge how violent he’s feeling towards Johnny after that little declaration. But he’s standing very still, with his cop face on. I almost want to check if he’s still breathing.
I turn back to Johnny. He’s staring at me, those cerulean blue eyes burning with intensity. I take a deep breath. “I’m not that wonderful,” I say firmly. “In another year, you won’t even remember my name.”
“In another year, I’m going to try to become the kind of guy who deserves you.” His gaze moves to Dean. “Then I’m getting you back.”
“You can try,” Dean says dangerously.
Johnny flashes his fierce wildly confident grin. “Try to stop me.”
“Guys, I’m right here,” I say, rolling my eyes.
I have to choose my words carefully, because what I say next is going to be more for
Dean’s benefit, than for Johnny’s. I need to make this clear for all three of us.
“Johnny, we were a terrible couple.” I meet his eyes, keeping my voice stern. “We’re not good for each, you know that. I think we’re a lot better off as friends. Besides, I’m with Dean now—and I plan on being with him for as long as he’ll have me.”
Without looking, I can feel the sudden release of tension from Dean. But Johnny is still smiling, unfazed. “I give less than a month before you get sick of seeing his fancy face,” he declares.
I hear Dean give a little snort in return. “Go play in traffic, Parker.”
Johnny chuckles, already starting to walk away. “Already did, man.”
“He just doesn’t give up,” I mutter, shaking my head in disgust. I stomp towards Dean’s car, but he grabs my hips, tugging me back, and turning me around to face him. I give him a curious look.
“I would never beg you,” he says softly. “But I would fight for you with everything I’ve got.”
“Well, you’re stuck with me now. And did I tell you there a ‘no return’ policy?” I reach up to lightly trace the scar above his mouth. Then I give him a big smile. “Now let’s get out of here.”
“Stop right here,” I say.
I tug on Dean’s shirt to bring him to a halt in front of the old oak tree. I hope it’s the right one. I’ve been navigating through the darkened park using my phone’s flashlight—though I would have tripped and fallen several times if it weren’t for Dean’s excellent reflexes. I should have done this in the daytime, I belatedly think.
“What are we doing here?” He sounds amused, but that could be because I just tried to grab his hand—and grabbed something else instead.
“Hold on.” Glad he can’t see me blushing, I fumble in my jacket pocket for the letter. I hand it to him with a flourish.
“What is it?”
Dean takes the paper from me, and I shine my light down so he can read it. His expression is lost in the dark.
“You got in,” he says finally. “Are you going to accept?”
I want to see his face, but I don’t want to blind him. Really didn’t think this through. “I did,” I say with barely contained excitement. “I told you, you’re stuck with me! Seriously, it’s a beautiful campus, and they have an excellent physical therapy program—”
Suddenly, I’m crushed against Dean’s chest. “You’re incredible,” he says into my hair.
“It was an easy decision,” I say breathlessly. “I love you.”
“I love you, Juliet.” He kisses my forehead, and it’s so unbearably sweet.
Before I embarrass myself by crying happy tears, I pull back and clear my throat. “Okay, back to why I brought you here. Do you recognize this spot?”
“I might, if I could see it.”
I hunch my shoulders sheepishly. “I know, not the best planning on my part. Um, I’ll just tell you. This is the tree where we had our first kiss.”
Dean chuckles. He braces a hand against the trunk, looking up into the branches. “This is where it all started, huh?”
“This is it. And to commemorate the occasion…”
I make a noise like fanfare as I shine my flashlight on the big heart carved into the bark of the tree. Inside its borders reads: Gigantor + Fun Size 4eva.
Dean bursts out laughing. “When did you do this?”
“This morning. I was going to get it tattooed on my ass, but then I came to my senses.”
“Funny you should mention tattoos…”
I shine the light at Dean’s face, suspicious of the odd tone in his voice. He shields his eyes with one hand, but there’s a small smile on his face. My mouth drops open.
“You didn’t. You did! Ohmigod—where is it? Let me see!”
“Get the light out of my face, and I’ll show you,” he says, his voice laced with amusement.
When I lower my phone, Dean lifts up his shirt. I shine the light on his torso—there, over his left rib cage, is elegant black script, slightly raised and red.
“Juliet is the sun?” I squint up at him. “Aren’t you missing a few lines from that quote?”
He shrugs, letting his shirt fall back down. “I got the gist of it, without all the doth’s and thy’s.”
I am floored. “Why did you do it? You said you never wanted anything as permanent as a tattoo, unless you were sure you’d mean it fifty years later.”
“Yeah.”
His matter-of-fact reply affects me profoundly. When I finally find my voice, it’s unsteady with emotion. “Dean…I…it’s beautiful. I love it.”
I grab fistfuls of his shirt, and pull him down to me. I don’t need the light to find his mouth in the dark. A slow burn starts inside of me, warming my insides. It explodes into a wildfire of passion and need that seems to rage on infinitely.
After, I rest my head against Dean’s chest, listening to his racing heartbeat. “Who would have thought we’d end up together?” I muse comfortably.
“I knew the moment I accepted your challenge.” When I give him a bewildered look, he grins and holds me tight.
“I let myself fall.”
******
The End
SLOW BURN Page 48
