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

by A. J. Macey

  “They offer similar degrees. The Lincoln campus is big in sports especially college football, volleyball, and basketball while Omaha is known for their hockey team,” she explained before looking at me. “Do you have an idea of what you want to study?”

  “I was thinking business. My mom works in marketing, and my dad owns and runs a vineyard.” My heart squeezed in my chest at the mention of my dad since I’d heard nothing from him aside from two very brief texts. “I don’t have an idea of what specifically, but I think in broad topic conversation business would be a good decision for me.”

  “That would be good, Omaha’s campus would be good for business. They have multiple concentrations, and their business department is well known, but so is UNL’s, so it’s more which campus you would prefer, the cost, and where you would rather be in terms of location,” she continued, effortlessly explaining all the ins and outs of college planning. I listened intently as she talked about different requirements for the schools, the costs between the two, as well as the campus and surrounding areas. She asked if I wanted her to set up a tour, but I told her I would handle it this weekend because I would need to talk to my mom first.

  Maybe the guys would go with me.

  I made a mental note to ask them what their plans were and if they’d want to go with me. Not sure Jesse would be up for it, but I was pretty certain Reid and Kingston would be down. The bell rang for the next class out in the main lobby of the counselor’s office. Making sure I wouldn’t be counted tardy, Ms. Rogers wrote me a late slip and sent me on my way. Ashley, Ivy, and Iris were eyeing me with suspicion as I passed them in the hall on my way to Civics, but I darted out of the way quickly enough for them not to be able to corner me and interrogate me about why I wasn’t in nutrition.

  Thank goodness it’s Friday.

  “Emma Brooke,” Reid started, his tone demanding. “We’re going out tonight to celebrate and that’s final.” I groaned, my head falling back as I pouted. The sun blinded me as it peeked out from behind the cloud and ended my dramatics early.

  “Fine, fine,” I agreed. Reid had cornered me in Civics saying we were all going to go out and get dinner to celebrate me getting a job, but all I wanted to do tonight was lounge about. My brain had been preoccupied with college, reminding me constantly that I needed to register to take a practice ACT test for next week.

  “Good.” He clapped while Kingston looked happy that we were all going out while Jesse, as per usual, was content to just tag along despite looking as if he’d rather be anywhere else.

  I’m going to get him to like me.

  Even if it kills me.

  “Where are we going?” I sank into my seat, turning my car on as I waited for him to answer.

  “We’ll drive you, so let’s go drop your car off.” He gave me a sneaky smile which made me wary. Kingston chuckled before getting into the Jeep with Jesse. I rolled my eyes, but obliged Reid anyway, realizing I would never win at these playful arguments.

  When we reached my house, Kingston got out of the passenger seat and slid into the back leaving the door open for me. I gave a small thanks and climbed up into the seat, the cool breeze of the air conditioning brushing against my skin. A rock station was playing from the speakers as Reid drove us through the neighborhood and back out onto the divided highway. I watched the corn fields flow into soybean fields, the flat land divided into squares over the plane in front of me.

  After two more songs had played through the radio, we reached a portion of town I hadn’t been to yet, with businesses lining either side of the major street. Reid took the first turn and drove up the hill, following the winding road toward a large building. I tilted my head in confusion but stayed silent. Thunder Cat Alley Bowling and Arcade read the large neon sign above the front door, a graphic of a bowling ball hitting pins behind the bright lights.

  “We’re going bowling?” I asked, my excitement growing. I hadn’t gone bowling in ages. Reid nodded before parking and immediately hopping from the car. Kingston had gotten out when I was unbuckling, his tanned arm pulling open the door for me before I could do it myself.

  “We figured you should see one of the main places to go to around town,” he reasoned, his smooth voice making me blush as he whispered in my ear. His hand migrated to my lower back, and the warmth occupied all of my attention as we walked to the door that Reid was holding open.

  The smell of fried food, pizza, and grease accompanied the sounds of pins falling down, happy laughter, and dinging of the arcade games. My eyes bounced between the bright, colorful lights, and the galaxy swirled carpet taking in the abundance of color before landing on the different sections of the building. The large space split into three main areas, each filled with a different type of activity. The section closest to the door was the arcade. It was well-stocked with newer looking machines as well as vintage games like Pac-Man and Asteroid. The second space in the middle of the building was a food court area with pizza, burgers, fries, and ice cream. Finally, there were two halves of a bowling alley with a long double-sided bar in the middle with a shoe rental off to the side.

  “Wow,” I exhaled, mesmerized by the place. “This is awesome.” I came out of my dazzled stupor, excitement flooding my system. “What are we doing first?” I clapped my hands together.

  “You’re like a female version of Reid right now,” Kingston teased, his hand still on my back. Speaking of Reid, his arm snaked around my shoulders and pulled me toward the shoe rental.

  “We’ll get a lane and eat while we bowl. We can play some arcade games later after the young kids get a chance to play.” He watched the elementary and middle school aged kids bounce animatedly from one game to the next. “Wouldn’t want to ruin their good time.” I smiled at his reasoning, liking that he was so considerate. Turning my attention back to what we were doing, I got my shoes and headed toward the lane number, the boys refusing to let me pay for any of it despite being able to. Jesse followed behind me, quiet and looking much more relaxed than usual.

  “You guys do this a lot?” I asked him as we sat on the couches at the end of our lane while Kingston and Reid finished up paying.

  “Yeah, when it’s colder out, we typically go here or to the movies. Unless we don’t want to spend money, then we’ll just hang at one of their houses,” Jesse answered. I was hooked on his honeyed voice as he continued. “When it’s nicer, we go out to the lake and do some grilling out and camping.” He looked at me, and I think he finally realized he had said more than two gruff words to me in one sitting because he immediately clammed up, focusing solely on his shoes.

  “Sounds awesome,” I responded getting used to his odd behavior. “I’m looking forward to it.” Despite busying myself with my own shoes, I saw him smile ever so slightly out of the corner of my eye.

  Aha! Success.

  “Emma, you’re going first!” Reid announced, sitting at the computer to input our names. “Go get a ball.” I finished tying the bowling shoe and tucked my ankle booties under the couch with my small crossbody purse. Scouring the neon bowling balls, I went with a nine pound one, mainly because it was pink and light enough for me to carry.

  “Aw, such an Emma color,” Reid teased, so I stuck my tongue out at him and walked up to the lane. Taking a deep breath, I walked forward and launched the ball down the lane.

  “Yay!” I squealed happily when almost all of the pins fell down. “I normally suck at bowling,” I explained, waiting for the ball to come back through the return. As I did, I eyed the boys. Reid was laughing, his curls bouncing around on his head as his shoulders shook with mirth. Kingston was leaned back, lounging on the couch across from where my stuff was. His tanned forearms were on display since he always rolled his shirts up to his elbow, and his right leg was crossed with his ankle resting on his khaki covered thigh. Jesse was the opposite of Kingston, leaning forward with his elbows braced on his legs, but he had a very tiny curl to his lips that showed he actually was enjoying our outing.

  I missed
my second shot, but I was still happy with the fact I hit the pins at all. As I sank back onto the couch next to Jesse, Reid stepped up to the ball return. His green ball shot down the lane at a dizzying speed before knocking all the pins down in a strike. My jaw dropped because he looked like he had barely put any effort into it. Kingston chuckled at my expression as he switched positions with Reid.

  “I’ve been bowling for years. I was on a league for a long time,” Reid explained with a cocky smile. “Did you know it’s called a Golden Turkey when you get nine strikes in a row?”

  Huh, the more you know.

  “I know that now,” I admitted. He nodded happily and turned to watch Kingston bowl. He did similarly to me but was able to make a spare while Jesse hit five the first frame and four the second frame.

  After our first game, in which I ended up losing because Reid and Kingston were really good at bowling and Jesse was decent all while I was not, we left our street shoes at our lane to grab food in pairs. Kingston and Jesse went first as Reid plopped down next to me. His arm landed over my shoulders, the smell of Old Spice filling my nose as he tugged me over to him.

  “I’m glad we went out tonight.” He smiled down at me, his dark stubble a bit longer than usual on his strong jaw. “This is fun.” I chuckled but agreed.

  “Oh, hello, Reid,” a tinkling feminine voice rang out from my right at the end of the couch. A petite girl who looked about our age walked the rest of the way around the couch, her bowling shoes quiet against the wood flooring. She wore a pair of black shorts and a mint blue tank top. Platinum blonde hair was piled in a messy bun high on the back of her head, and dark brown eyes darted between us as as a sickly sweet smile stayed plastered on her face. Something about her instantly put me on edge, but I just wasn’t sure if it was her in particular or the fact that Reid’s happy smile melted into a flat mask.

  “Veronica,” he responded coolly. Keeping my face neutral, I tried to look up at him under my lashes. He must have seen the motion because he squeezed me lightly in a reassuring hug until my left shoulder blade was resting against his muscled chest.

  “I didn’t expect to see you here with… ” She hesitated as she looked at me expectantly.

  “Emma,” I added quietly. The sensation of Reid’s thundering heart against my back had me anxious.

  “Ah.” She added a sweet smile, but it didn’t reach her eyes before turning back to Reid who continued to clutch onto me like a life preserver. “Where are Kingston and Jesse?”

  “Right here,” Kingston answered, but his laidback attitude was gone. In its wake were anger and tension, and his body was rigid as he stared down the petite girl. I thought the way Jesse responded to me was bad, but the way he was staring at Veronica made me feel like I was his best friend.

  Ice was warmer than his look.

  “It’s nice to see all of you,” she cooed, trying to sweet talk them before turning back toward Reid. “Is this your girlfriend?”

  “Yup,” he responded with a happy smile before pressing a quick kiss on the top of my head. My heart pounded within my chest while I kept a faked smug smile plastered on my face, because whoever this was, they were all trying very hard to get her to go away.

  “Ah.” She raised a brow and looked down her nose at me in a very Ashley fashion. “I guess I’ll let you guys get back to your date.” Her footsteps were quiet as she strutted away.

  “Fuck that bitch,” Jesse growled, glaring over his shoulder at her retreating figure. My brows shot up at his words.

  “Wow, that makes me feel like you love me then if that’s how you treat people you hate,” I teased with a nervous chuckle, my arms trembling after the impromptu stand-off. He huffed out a single laugh before sitting next to Kingston on the couch.

  “Sorry about that, Cali girl.” Reid squeezed me against him, his words remorseful as he hugged me. “That’s my ex-girlfriend.” I nodded.

  “I guess that makes us even after the phone call thing,” I murmured breathlessly, essentially breaking the tension as they all laughed. “It’s all right. I get it.” I turned to him as he stood up. “Jerk ex-boyfriend who constantly bothers me, remember?” He nodded, his effervescent smile returning.

  “I’ll go get us food, be right back.” He ruffled my hair lightly as he practically ran to the food line before I could protest. Sighing, I fixed my hair.

  “We don’t like her,” Kingston added after he finished a bite of his pizza. I thinned my lips to keep a smile from popping through.

  “You don’t say, I never would have been able to tell,” I teased, earning a dramatic eye roll in response. “Can I ask what happened?”

  “She was with Reid, but then she tried to split all of us up by telling lies to each of us,” he explained. “We got into a big fight about it, but we talked when she wasn’t around and figured out what had happened. When he found out she was like that, he kicked her to the curb.”

  “That’s just stupid,” I supplied as Reid returned and handed me a slice of hamburger pizza and a soda.

  “That she is, but now you’re officially my fake girlfriend whenever she’s around, so she’ll leave me alone now.” He smiled, overly proud of his plan. I chuckled and took a bite but didn’t argue. A portion of me liked the idea of being Reid’s girlfriend, real or fake.

  A very large portion.

  But I couldn’t deny that I felt the same about Kingston. Jesse, well, he was debatable, but I was still determined to get him to like me, so who knew when it came to him. Our conversation moved away from Veronica and jerk exes and back toward whether we wanted to play another game before going to play the arcade games. With a quick unanimous decision we reset the pins for one more game. I ended up in third place because Reid had spent the entire game trying to only hit the pins that Kingston had picked out, meaning he ended up with a score of 16. Granted, I was actually trying, and my score wasn’t much better at 49, but it wasn’t last place.

  Cleaning up the lane, we returned our bowling shoes and headed toward the cleared out arcade games. The giant clock on the wall read almost eight in the evening, and the crowd around the building slowly filtered from young kids to teenagers and adults. Kingston’s hand rested against my lower back, his thumb rubbing slowly against my white shirt making it brush against my skin. Shivers wanted to escape at the touch, but I kept them contained. Unfortunately, I couldn’t contain the goosebumps or the blush that had crept up my cheeks.

  “What do you want to play first?” Kingston bent down, his breath tickling the side of my face with his words. I looked around and when I glanced to the left, his bearded jaw was rough against my scalp with how close his face was. To keep my sanity, I picked the first game I saw.

  “Pac-Man.” I pointed at the iconic game before shuffling over to it. Kingston’s forearm rested on the top portion of the machine as he watched me put in the tokens Reid had gotten me earlier. I couldn’t help but smile at the iconic maze, ghosts, and the little yellow orb of the main character when they appeared on the screen. I made it through several levels before eventually dying.

  “Aw,” Reid teased coming up behind me as I groaned. “Poor Cali girl. You going to play again?” He pointed at the machine with a token between his fingers. Moving out of the way, I stepped up to the side over to the next machine, a new one I didn’t recognize.

  I realized I had no idea what I was doing when I started and found myself totally stuck on how to start. “How do you play this?” Kingston stepped up behind me. His arms wrapped around me, his smooth hands grabbing mine so he could manipulate the joystick and hit the buttons.

  “It’s similar to Donkey Kong and Mario where you’re just attempting to get to the end without hitting any of the stuff,” he murmured, and my heart beat rapidly as my breath hitched. With a glance to the side, I noticed Reid was watching us as he waited for the game to start. When he caught me looking, he gave me a smile and winked before turning back to the game, unconcerned that his ‘best buddy’ had me wrapped in his arms.
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  Does that mean he doesn’t like me like that?

  Oh, stop. You have more important things to worry about.

  Like your new job and college.

  I turned my attention back to the game, the little character running the direction Kingston pointed the stick and jumping or ducking when he hit the specific buttons. He chuckled as I purposely pushed the stick in the wrong direction and hit the opposite button.

  “We’re supposed to be working together here, Emma.” He continued to laugh, the warm, musical sound making me want to giggle at his attentions. After I had calmed down in my playful fighting through a few more rounds, our three lives were up. “Let me know if there are any other games you haven’t played,” he murmured in my ear before heading over to Reid who was waving animatedly at him over at a two player shooting game. Jesse was hovering next to the wide screen, his arms crossed as he watched them start. I recognized the game from the movie theater that had been right down the road from my house. Having spent a lot of time there most weekends, I got really good at the zombie shooting game and could feel the excitement building to play.

  “Ah, man,” Reid huffed when they finally died, his hazel eyes focusing on me and Jesse. “You two want to play?” I nodded calmly despite wanting to squeal in with excitement. Jesse agreed and took the red gun from Kingston as I took the blue gun from Reid. “Don’t forget, Cali girl, you want to shoot the dead ones,” Reid teased next to me as the game’s countdown started. I nodded, but inside I was smirking.

  Jesse was good at this game. His reflexes were decent as he took care of some of the zombies, but having played this game so many times I was able to know where they would come crawling out from. I started to giggle to myself when I saw Reid stand up straight, his arms falling to the side as his jaw dropped.

  “Wow,” I heard Kingston whisper from the other side of Jesse, joining him in glancing between me and the screen with confusion. Once the boss was defeated they all looked at me, and I had to fight the urge to rub it in since I was supposed to ‘shoot the dead ones.’ I held the gun up and pretended to blow at the end of the barrel.