Lads & Lattes (High School Clowns & Coffee Grounds Book 1)

by A. J. Macey

  Treating me like I’m selling myself on the corner or something.

  I’m a virgin for Christ’s sake!

  “Oh, my god, Mom! Yes, understood. Please just go before you embarrass me any further,” I groaned, my bright red face pressed into the couch cushion so my frantic words were slightly muffled.

  “Good, see you later, honey!” The door closed immediately after her farewell followed quickly by Reid running down the stairs and all of the boys’ snickering. Shifting my beet red face, I peeked my eyes over the top of the plush couch to gaze at them as they reached the basement, happy that the dark cushion hid my overly pink cheeks.

  “Emma Brooke,” Reid teased, his head tilting to the side as he glanced off lost in thought. “I like it.” I pushed away from the couch cushion to sit back up fully when I felt the flushing tingles recede.

  “What are you working on?” Kingston questioned, leaning over the back of the couch to look at the book splayed out in my lap. Reid gasped in horror at my textbook before snatching it away from me.

  “Reid!” I snapped. The jerk just shook his head hiding the book behind his back before grabbing my book bag off the couch as well. “Well, I was working on history,” I answered Kingston in an irritated tone.

  “It’s Friday night. There is no doing homework on Friday night. What kind of crazy person does homework on Fridays?” Reid huffed, the last question mumbled at no one in particular. “What else were you planning on doing tonight?”

  “Probably nothing, just watch a movie or something,” I answered, getting up to take my stuff to my room, but Reid stepped away from me and shook his head sharply, his curls rustling on top of his head at the motion.

  “I’ll carry it. Got to make sure you aren’t going to try and sneak it back out here.” He followed me to my room after I realized there was no use fighting him.

  “Just put it on my bed.” A portion of me was grateful for actually having the motivation to make my bed this morning. He stopped and eyed the boxes with a raised brow.

  “I thought you were going to unpack the other day?” He pointed at the remaining boxes.

  “I had gotten half of it done, but I couldn’t bring myself to finish. Too tired.” He clapped loudly once before sticking his head out of the door.

  “All right, before we do anything we’re helping Emma unpack,” he announced to Kingston and Jesse. Both of them got up without an argument and walked to my room, their eyes darting around the space eagerly.

  “You don’t have to do that,” I protested, but Reid waved me off.

  “Don’t be silly, of course we do,” he urged, taking the first box and placing it in the middle of the floor.

  “It’s really no issue, Emma.” Kingston gave me a conspiratorial smile before stepping over to the box that Reid had opened. I glanced at Jesse who didn’t look pleased, but he didn’t argue as he took a seat on the end of my bed, his eyes on the box with curiosity.

  “Fine!” I threw my hands up. “You guys win. Let’s unpack. I just don’t understand why it has to be done tonight.”

  “Because once you’re unpacked, you’re officially one of us,” Reid chirped as he dug out a large stack of books. “Besides, you can’t leave once you’re unpacked, and then you’ll be ours forever!” He faked an evil laugh, his hands coming up with gusto after Kingston took the stack. I rolled my eyes, but started directing them where to put things.

  “Books will go on my bookshelf.” I pointed to the new tall bookshelf my mom had ordered that was sitting in the corner. Kingston was looking through the titles as he lined them up on the shelf. Jesse continued to just sulk on the comforter as Reid handed a stack of books to me.

  “Any particular order?” Kingston asked, taking the books from my arms, his smile lighting up his handsome face. I shook my head, overcome with the fact I had three very cute guys in my room going through my stuff.

  I hope there’s nothing embarrassing in these boxes.

  “Nope,” I squeaked before clearing my throat. “I’ll go through and organize them later.” Focusing on taking books from Reid to hand off to Kingston, I felt the blush of embarrassment start to fade from my cheeks.

  “All right,” Reid chirped, “one box down and on to the next!” He pointed in the air as he practically shouted the statement. His antics made me chuckle, he was such a clown sometimes.

  Sometimes?

  Try all the time.

  “Where do you want these, Emma?” Reid’s voice pulled me back to the present. It was my movies and CD’s as well as my CD player. “Why on Earth do you have CDs? What are you? From the 80’s?” I scoffed and pulled the player out and set it up on my dresser.

  “No, I just like CDs.” I shrugged putting one of my more recent purchases in, letting Panic! At the Disco fill the room. “The movies can go out in the entertainment unit.” Reid started dancing to the music as he and Kingston took the movies to the basement living room. I quickly unpacked the CDs and lined them up on the bottom shelf of my bookshelf. Within a few minutes, the two had returned to the room and opened the third box.

  “Ooo,” Reid cooed, placing one of my floppy summer hats on his curly head and wrapping a flowy scarf around his neck. “These are pretty.” He struck a pose, his hand going behind his head while he jutted out a hip, his right hand on the extended hip. “How do I look?” he asked in a girly voice and batted his eyelashes. Picking my phone up quickly, I snapped a photo. I tried to keep my giggling under control, but when I saw the picture I burst out laughing.

  “Oh, my god, you look…” I couldn’t finished the sentence with how hard I was laughing. Kingston’s warm, smooth palm cupped my hand as he steadied the phone enough to look at it. He laughed, the heat of his hand surrounding my fingers making me flush.

  “You look like a pretty princess, Reid,” he teased, but before either of us knew what was happening, Reid had stuffed hats on our heads and draped scarves over our shoulders. Even Jesse wore a hat, although his was a baseball cap and a plain black scarf while ours were patterned and our hats were girly.

  “There, now we all look like pretty princesses,” Reid said triumphantly. “Although, Emma’s the prettiest.” I blushed even harder under his compliment. “We need a picture!” he shouted, corralling all of us on the bed to squish us in the frame on my phone. “Say Go Big Red!” I made a face, but smiled right before he took the photo. All of us were smiling save for Jesse who just glared at the camera with pursed lips. Despite the ridiculous accessories and Jesse’s irritation, the photo was really good.

  I might print that out and put it on my nightstand.

  “All right, back to unpacking.” Reid shuffled off the bed noisily before going back to the box. His head tilted making the bill of the sun hat flop. “What’s this?” He pulled out a black leather album. “Oh, pictures of Emma’s life!”

  “It’s just my photo album,” I offered as he sank back onto the bed. Crawling up behind him, I propped my arms on his shoulders so I could look over his torso to see it. I purposely ignored the feeling of his lean muscles rippling under my arms as he turned the pages. Kingston sat to the right with Jesse on the left who I noticed was looking at it despite his attitude.

  The book started out with me as a little girl and all the trips my dad, mom, and I would take including Disney World, amusement parks, and the San Diego zoo. It had photos of the vineyard when my dad had purchased it with his business partner, Todd Hamilton, and photos of their opening party.

  “What’s this?” Reid asked me softly, pointing to the place I spent almost all of my life at.

  “That’s the vineyard my dad owns, this was the party when they opened officially,” I explained, pointing to Todd. “That’s his business partner.” They hummed and nodded before flipping to the next few pages which were filled with elementary and middle school, friends, and birthday parties. My heart squeezed at all the memories contained within the pages of the album.

  “Aw, look at little Emma,” Reid teased good heartedly at o
ne picture from my sixth birthday. “So cute.” I blushed as he smiled at me over his shoulder, his stubble roughly brushing my arm.

  “Shush.” I poked his cheek until he was facing the album and not me, knowing my face was bright pink. He continued to flip through, Kingston smiling at the photos while Jesse was content to stay quiet, his eyes darting around the different pages soaking in the glossy colored photographs. We’d reached the high school photos including homecoming and prom pictures, Tyler’s arm tossed around my shoulder in several of them.

  “This is Tyler?” Kingston asked, waving at the tall guy standing with me. I made a face and yanked the photos out of their sleeves. “What are you doing?” His coffee eyes centered on my face as he furrowed his brows. I piled them up in a stack and ripped it down the middle chucking the halves with Tyler on them over my shoulder.

  “Wow.” Reid chuckled, his body turned on the bed so he could see me. “He really did mess up, huh? I thought you were joking on the phone the other day. So, you’re not forgiving him?” I looked at him like he was insane.

  “I walked in on him with his pants around his ankles and his hands up another girl’s shirt, what do you think?” Even Jesse had the decency to grimace.

  “Well, he’s an idiot,” Kingston supplied sweetly, and his charming smile once again had me blushing. Reid’s furious nodding had the near permanent flush turning from pink to red.

  “Thanks, guys.” I smiled. “I think I’ll put this photo in there.” I took my phone and pulled up the picture of us, holding the phone in front of one of the slots as I leaned over Reid. “What do you think?”

  “Perfect,” Reid offered as Kingston nodded, Jesse remained silent, but didn’t argue. “We’ll take more. So many more in fact you’ll have to buy another album just for your life in Nebraska. Also, remind us to take you to the Henry Doorly Zoo in downtown Omaha because it’s way better than any other zoo.” He poked me lightly in the arm at the statement. I rolled my eyes, but made a mental note to do that because spending more time with them?

  Count me in.

  5

  September 10th

  Knocked out all my homework yesterday! Heck yeah, take that long to-do list!

  #GetItDone #MotivationMonday

  “Hey, Emma.” Zoey waved from down the parking lot aisle, her SUV parked four spots over from mine. “How’s it going?” She jogged over, her signature ponytail bouncing with her quick strides. She was in her usual athletic attire, but instead of a cross-country or sports shirt she wore an Arbor Ridge class shirt.

  “Not bad, it’s Monday though.” I smiled over at her while shifting my bag strap on my shoulder and adjusted my burgundy scarf. My outfit was what I had been sticking with since moving; skinny jeans cuffed right above my ankle booties, a loose plain shirt, a jacket, and a scarf. Unlike my old school, Arbor Ridge kept their classrooms freezing so I couldn’t wear my skirts or dresses without fear of turning into a popsicle. Today, I was rocking a light washed, pre-destroyed denim jacket and black skinny jeans, my lipstick matching my scarf.

  “Truth, I hate Mondays.” She walked to my left as we entered the mass of students filing towards the doors. “How was your weekend? Do anything fun?” I smiled remembering our Friday night and the long conversations through the weekend with Reid and Kingston in a group chat they had added me to.

  “It was good. Reid, Kingston, and Jesse stopped by for a while on Friday, and I just spent Saturday and Sunday working on school work so now I’m all caught up.” I looked to her. “What about you?”

  “It was good, we had a cross country practice yesterday. Other than that, I was just a lazy log and watched TV all weekend.” She laughed. “Well, I did homework, but you know what I mean.”

  I nodded, my cheeks starting to hurt from the amount of smiling my tired face was doing. I liked Zoey, she was nice and fun and didn’t seem to be honing in on my relationship with the boys unlike all of my other friends after we had posted that photo on Facebook Friday night.

  “Hey.” Kingston’s voice flowed over me as he joined us on the way to the table. “How are you, Emma?” he questioned after Zoey had sunk into her seat next to Aubrey. Glancing up at Kingston through my lashes, I saw he was smiling down at me. His dark green button-up brushed my arm with how close he was standing.

  “Tired, but not too bad. I got caught up on all my homework though,” I responded, feeling the signature weight of Reid’s arm curl over my shoulder. Squeezing, he tugged me into his muscled torso for a hug.

  “Good morning, Cali girl,” he muttered tiredly as he nearly squeezed me to death, leaving me gasping for air as soon as he let go. I playfully smacked him in the stomach.

  “Way to nearly kill me there,” I teased. Jesse was yet again focusing on the textbook that was sprawled out in front of him, purposely ignoring us. “Is it Friday yet?” I whined as the bell rang, and the swarm of students all moved at once. Reid and Kingston chuckled before breaking off toward their respective homerooms leaving me, Brayden, and Jesse together.

  “Hey, Emma.” Brayden smiled at me before turning his attention to the broody boy next to me. “Hey, Jesse.” Jesse gave a slight nod before turning his attention back to where he was walking effectively ending any other conversation.

  “Hi. How was your weekend?” I asked quickly, a passing student going the opposite direction walking right between us making me crowd into Jesse’s space. The smell of mint and pine filled my nose, and a warm hand caught me before I could trip.

  “You all right?” Jesse’s question was so quiet I almost couldn’t hear him over the hallway crowd, his tone honeyed and not short like usual. I nodded, blushing at his attentions.

  This was so not like Jesse.

  “I’ll catch you two later!” Brayden smirked at us with an odd expression I couldn’t put my finger on before he continued down the hall. Pulling away, I gave Jesse a small smile before heading into the room. Jesse was back to his scowling, irritated self by the time he sank into his seat next to me.

  That didn’t last long.

  Nutrition was passing slowly, my eyes glazing over as Mrs. Sanders droned on and on about the importance of food safety before finally allowing us to talk amongst ourselves until the bell. Packing away my notebook and pen, I pulled out my phone and had several texts from Reid and Kingston.

  Reid: We up for homework group tonight? I think that should be a tradition!

  Kingston: I’m down. We could do it on more days than just Monday too, you know.

  Jesse: K.

  Emma: My house again?

  Before they had a chance to respond, a girly cough brought my attention away from my phone. Ashley and the twins were watching me with hungry gazes, the facial expressions similar to how Kara looked before going into the latest gossip around the student body.

  “Are you dating Jesse Parker?” she questioned. No ‘hello’ or ‘how’s it going’ beforehand, just right into the prying.

  Rude.

  “No,” I huffed, “we’re just friends.” I contained the eye roll that wanted so desperately to escape.

  Why couldn’t they just leave me alone?

  “I heard you two were cuddling in the hallway earlier,” one of the twins, Ivy I think, spouted.

  Whichever one with the hair over her left shoulder.

  I’m just going to refer to them as Left Twin and Right Twin.

  “I almost got knocked over by a passing student, Jesse just happened to be there and I ran into him,” I explained, “no cuddling happened.” Not that I would necessarily complain about cuddling with Jesse, if he wasn’t so short with me.

  “That’s probably best,” Ashley snarked with a mean girl smile. “He’s not exactly the best guy to hang around.” I furrowed my brows. He might not be the most social guy, but he wasn’t bad by any means.

  “He’s gotten in trouble with the law before for fighting, and he’s skipped school a lot too,” Right Twin added at my confused look. “He’s dangerous and a bad influence.” My brow
s shot up. Fighting? Skipping school? They nodded, but before they could spout anymore crap about Jesse, the bell rang.

  I made my way to Civics lost in thought. I really didn’t know anything about Jesse, but I didn’t think they were right in saying he was a ‘bad guy.’ They just seemed like girls who thrived on gossip and stirring up trouble. Pushing away their words, I sank into my normal seat and pulled out my class materials. Reid came bolting into the room right before the bell rang, sinking into his seat next to me as he panted. Mr. Fergusen started lecturing right after he sat down. I eyed him out of the corner of my eye; he shuffled around in his bag before yanking out a large notebook and uncapped pen. He flashed me a smile before tuning into the lecture.

  The class passed by quickly, and Mr. Fergusen was quickly becoming one of my top teachers of all time with how energetic and engaging he was. My skin tingled every so often as Reid’s gaze flickered over to me at random intervals. I kept my eyes firmly on my paper or on the notes the teacher was writing up on the board even though I wanted to look at him. Finally, after ignoring him for at least a half hour, a little piece of paper appeared on my half of the desk.

  Heard you and Jesse were making out in the hall this morning.

  I clenched my jaw scribbling back a response explaining what happened, my irritation growing with each ridiculous addition to the rumor. When Mr. Fergusen wasn’t looking, I dropped the paper on Reid’s notebook. A few moments later, it reappeared.

  I didn’t think you two would be, just wanted to let you know.

  I nodded slightly, so he knew I understood before stuffing the paper in my bag, I didn’t want to get in trouble within my first month at the school for passing notes. The bell rang a little while later, surprising me, my brain having shoved the rumor about me and Jesse out of my mind. Reid’s arm wrapped around me, my face heating as the other students eyed us with curiosity, a few with open hostility.