Welcome to Pembrooke: The Complete Pembrooke Series

by Jessica Prince

  “No,” I declared, climbing off the ladder and planting my hands on my hips. “No way in hell. This is a school function, Chloe! What the hell are you thinking? I can’t go as a slutty cheerleader to a high school football game!”

  “Oh, get your grannie panties out of a twist, you prude,” Lilly said with an exaggerated roll of her eyes. “It’s not slutty. You’re just being a baby about it.”

  I crossed my arms over my chest and scowled. “Am not.”

  “Are too.”

  “Not!”

  “Too!”

  “Oh, for the love of God,” Harlow sighed. “I feel like I’m watching Lucy and Evan fight.”

  “She started it!” I pouted. “And I’m not wearing that.”

  “You are,” Lilly argued.

  “I’m not!”

  “Are!”

  “Enough!” When Chloe used her Mom voice, there was no choice but to listen. “You’re wearing this because you’re twenty-two years old and have a fabulous body. It’s not slutty, and that witch costume is played out. Besides, you don’t have any other choice. Lilly already went through your bag and threw that stupid hat and nose away.”

  With an outraged gasp, my eyes bounced to each woman, all of them wearing shit-eating grins. “You guys suck so bad,” I exclaimed on an exhale, knowing full well I had no choice but to wear the stupid, clichéd cheerleader costume.

  “You love us,” Harlow announced, taking the costume from Chloe and slapping it against my chest. “Now go get changed. The game’s about to start.”

  “What about you guys?” I asked.

  “Please,” Chloe scoffed. “Harlow and I are too old for costumes.”

  “And I have to get back to the studio to work on a number for the showcase so I won’t be at the game,” Lilly answered.

  With a few more grumbles and some not-so-nice name calling, I slumped my shoulders and headed for the nearest girls’ bathroom, all the while cursing my life and the pushy as hell people I’d let into it.

  15

  Ethan

  I was just reaching for the doors to the gym when they pushed open and Lilly came prancing through. “Wow,” she laughed, taking in my get up. “Original.”

  I looked down at my old high school football jersey that I’d managed to scrounge up in one of the closets at Harlow’s. It was tighter on my chest and arms than it had been back in the day, but other than that, it fit. That, a pair of jeans and eye black slashed under my eyes was the extent of my costume. “Hey, you try coming up with a decent costume when you have to wear this goddamned brace with everything.”

  Her grin was lacking any of the animosity she had been holding over me the past few weeks. “Well, it’s actually fitting if you think about it,” she mumbled more to herself than me.

  Choosing to ignore her bizarre statement, I asked, “Harlow and Chloe inside? Their husbands sent me on a search and rescue mission.”

  “Yep, just finishing up. Go on in.”

  I watched as she started for the parking lot. “You’re not staying for the game?”

  “Not my sport,” she called out, turning to walk backward. “I prefer hockey. You know, a game that requires real skill.”

  I placed my hand over my heart, faking pain as she threw her head back and laughed before spinning around and tossing a wave over her shoulder. “Enjoy your night, Football Star.”

  “I really wish people’d stop calling me that!” I shouted back.

  “It’s either that, or World’s Dumbest Asshole. I figured I’d go with the nicer this time around.” With that, she climbed into her car and shut the door. Seconds later it started up and she took off. I wasn’t sure what I’d done to get off her shit list, but whatever it was, I’d take it, seeing as it seemed her and Eliza were a package deal.

  Walking into the decked out gym was like stepping into a time machine. Even though it looked like Halloween had thrown up all over the place, I felt like I’d been transported into the past, a past with some not-so-great memories, but a whole hell of a lot of good ones. I was quickly discovering that the longer I stayed in Pembrooke, the more I came to realize the good had far outweighed the bad. Then again, you know what they say about hindsight.

  As I walked further in, my eyes finally landed on my sister and her friend Chloe. “Hey ladies,” I spoke up, stepping next to Harlow and planting a kiss on her cheek before giving Chloe the same gesture. “Noah and Derrick sent me in to look for you. Told me to tell you two to move your asses, but seeing as I’m a gentleman, I’ll leave that last part out.”

  Harlow rolled her eyes before smacking me in the chest and moved to throw away the empty wrapping the Halloween decorations came in. “All these years and that man still doesn’t have any damn patience.”

  Chloe’s laugh had me turning her way just in time to see something gleaming in her eyes before she managed to mask it. “We’re heading out now. Eliza’s in the bathroom, changing into her costume. You mind waiting for her?”

  My chest tightened as my heart rate picked up at the mention of Eliza’s name. “Sure,” I answered a little too quickly, earning weird glances from both women. But I was still struggling with my newfound feelings for Eliza as it was, I didn’t have time to try and decipher every strange look I got from the people in my life.

  I’d meant it when I told Eliza I wanted my best friend back, and I was determined to get that, but the more I got to know her, different nuances of her personality that hadn’t been there before rose to the surface. Or maybe they’d always been there, it was just that she hadn’t discovered them by the time I disappeared on her. Either way, I was growing to like what I saw with each passing day, which made looking at her as just a friend increasingly difficult.

  As if I didn’t have enough on my plate already just trying to earn her trust back. If she knew the thoughts that ran through my head when it came to her, she’d probably never say another fucking word to me.

  “You guys should get going before Noah sends an announcement over the PA system.”

  Harlow grabbed an empty box from one of the tables as they both moved for the door. Chloe turned to look at me before they walked out “Hurry her up, would you? She tends to drag her feet when she’s not happy about something.”

  My brows drew together. “What’s she not happy about?”

  Chloe grinned as Harlow laughed. “You’ll see.”

  The gym door shut with a resounding clang, leaving me alone in what looked like the setting from A Nightmare Before Christmas.

  I kept checking my watch, waiting for Eliza to come out of the bathroom so I could take her back to the football field, but five minutes had passed and the door to the restroom still hadn’t opened.

  Worry began creeping in. What if she’s fallen and hit her head or something? What if the lock on the door was faulty and she was trapped inside. Shit like that happened in older buildings all the time… or so I told myself.

  I gave her another two minutes before I made my way over to the door and gave it a firm knock before pushing it open and poking my head through.

  “Eliza?”

  “Ethan?” Her tone was sharp with surprise. I stepped fully into the bathroom, my sight still blocked by the small wall that cut off the doorway to the rest of the bathroom. “What are you doing in here?”

  “Chloe and Harlow headed to the field. I told them I’d wait for you. Got worried it was taking a while. You okay?”

  “Uh…” her voice trailed off, causing me to take a step passed the wall only to find the area in front of the sinks empty.

  “Where are you?”

  There was a long pause, then, “In the first stall.”

  I looked down and, sure enough, there were her feet in a pair of god-awful white shoes and little socks with pompoms on the backs. “What’s wrong?”

  “Well… my zipper’s kind of stuck.”

  The tension in my shoulders drained away. “Come out. Let me help you.”

  “No.”

  My chuc
kle bounced off the tile walls all around us. “Eliza, come on. Just let me help. What are you going to do? Stay in here all night?”

  “No. I fully intend on waiting you out, then changing back into my other clothes.”

  I looked around the space and spotted a gray and teal bag sitting on one of the sinks I hadn’t noticed before. Walking over to it, I discovered it held Eliza’s clothes. “You mean the clothes in this bag out here?”

  “Yes,” she answered hesitantly, cautiously. It might have been years, and we might both be different, but she still knew me, whether she’d admit it or not, and her trepidation was completely warranted.

  “You mean the bag I’m holding in my hand right now?” I asked, pulling the straps of her bag over my shoulder.

  “Ethan,” she said in a warning voice as her hand popped out from under the stall door. “Give me my bag right now.”

  A big grin spread across my lips. “Can’t do that, sweetheart. We’re already running late. Now get your cute ass out here and let me help you with that zipper.”

  “I hate you.”

  “And I’m working to change that. Now open the door. Stop being so damned stubborn.”

  “You’re one to talk!” she shouted back with a clipped, bewildered laugh. “You’re practically stalking me, and you’re calling me stubborn?”

  “I wouldn’t have to stalk you if you’d forgive me and be my friend again.” And maybe something more, I thought but managed to bite my tongue to keep from saying out loud. I had enough work on my hands already.

  Her sigh carried from the stall. She remained silent for several second before finally speaking again, this time much more quietly, her words flaying me wide open. “I wouldn’t have to forgive you if you hadn’t hurt me.”

  “Baby,” I choked, moving toward the stall door and resting my forehead against it. “I’m so sorry. If there was a way to take it all back, I would. I swear.”

  She didn’t say anything, only sniffled, and the thought that she could possibly be crying was a shot to the chest. “Please open the door, sweetheart. I’m not leaving until you do.”

  A few seconds — that felt like a lifetime — later, the lock clicked and the door swung open, and what I saw standing before me, stunned me speechless. “Fine, you win,” she huffed and she propped her hands on her hips in a belligerent stance. Thankfully her eyes were devoid of any tears. “Help me zip this damn thing so we can go.”

  “Holy fuck,” I wheezed, my mouth hanging open as my eyes scanned the sheer decadence standing in front of me. “Holy fuck.”

  “What? What’s wrong with it?” she asked, fidgeting from foot to foot as she tried in vain to pull the short cheerleader skirt down to a modest length. Seeing all that was Eliza, all those womanly curves and gorgeous legs dressed up as a cheerleaders was the most intoxicating torture. All the blood in my head rushed from straight to my dick, and I had to drop the duffle bag on my arm in order to hide it.

  “Do I look okay?” she asked, suddenly sounding uncertain, like she had absolutely no idea just how beautiful she was. Which only made her that much more alluring. But seeing her like that had fried my brain. I couldn’t think, let alone form words. A garbled noise came out of my throat.

  “I knew it!” she cried at the strange sound I’d just made. “I look ridiculous! This is all Chloe and Harlow’s fault! I can’t wear this.”

  “What in the fresh hell were they thinking?!” I shouted, startling her out of her own tantrum. “You can’t wear that! It’s… it’s… Christ! It’s completely indecent!”

  No one but me should have been allowed to see her like that… not that I’d ever say that out loud, well, at least not until we were on more solid footing.

  Suddenly the unease melted from her expression, replaced with a menacing glare… aimed right at me. “Oh my God! You’re doing it again!”

  “Doing what?”

  Her index finger shot out, jabbing right against my breast bone. “Being an overprotective jerk!”

  “If trying to keep you from getting arrested for indecent exposure is being an overprotective jerk, then so fucking be it.”

  Her head tipped back in a laugh of disbelief. “You’ve always done this! You were always acting like my pain-in-the-ass big brother, telling me I couldn’t wear certain things, go out with certain people—”

  I cut her off, feeling the intense need to defend myself. “I only did that twice. And that was because those shorts actually showed ass cheek! You should have been thanking me. If Derrick had seen that, he’d have killed you then had an aneurism. You’re welcome. And as for telling you who you could see, you know as well as I do that Jason McKinney was a tool. If I had let you go out with him that night, you’d have been arrested right along with him. Again… you’re welcome.”

  Her mouth opened and closed repeatedly as she attempted (and failed) to come up with a solid argument. She knew I was right.

  “Well… whatever.”

  “You’re not wearing that,” I commanded. If I’d have been in my right mind, I would have seen that I’d just made my first mistake.

  “Like hell I’m not! You can’t treat me like your little sister. I’m a grown woman and can do whatever the hell I want!”

  Oh, if only she knew my actions had absolutely nothing to do with viewing her as a little sister, and everything to do with insane jealousy at just the thought of another man seeing her like that.

  “Now zip me up, and let’s go.”

  “No,” I answered authoritatively, crossing my arms over my chest. That was my second mistake.

  “No?” she asked in a frighteningly low voice.

  “That’s right. No. You can’t go out there in that. You’ll… catch pneumonia.” Oh, for fuck’s sake. Third and final mistake.

  “Ethan Prewitt,” she growled, taking a step close to me, her face twisted into a scowl so scary I was forced to take a step back. “You zip this skirt up right now, or so help me God, I’ll walk out of this gym with it hanging wide open for all of Pembrooke to see. And don’t for one second think I won’t do it. Remember what happened last time you called my bluff?”

  My mind scanned back to when she was sixteen years old. I’d been home from college one weekend and Eliza had asked me to take her to a party some of the kids were having out by the lake. Being the responsible adult I was, and not wanting her to get shit-faced and possibly drown that night, I’d refused. She threw a typical teenage tantrum, going on about having to grow up too soon and how she wanted to just be a normal teenager for one night. I didn’t cave, even when she threatened to steal her dad’s keys and drive there herself.

  I called that particular bluff, never once thinking she’d actually do it, seeing as her dad was a cop and she was such a horrible driver she’d failed Driver’s Ed once already. I’d been very, very wrong. That night ended with Derrick’s truck in a ditch as he shouted until he was red in the face while Chloe and I stood along the shoulder, watching the tow truck driver pull the truck out of mud up to the top of the wheel wells. Only plus side to that night was the fact that she’d run off the road before making it to that party. God only knew how much worse it could have been had alcohol been involved.

  So I knew she’d do it, just to spite me. If I’d have just kept my fucking mouth shut, she probably would have changed back into her regular clothes and we’d have never had to have the conversation in the first goddamned place. Me and my big fucking mouth.

  “Turn around,” I ground out, the muscle in my jaw ticking.

  She did just that, but not before gracing me with a triumphant, incredibly smug grin. But that wasn’t what made every muscle in my body lock up. Oh no, that was all thanks to the pale pink, lacy thong that showed through the opening of the zipper.

  As if my erection wasn’t already bad enough, at the minuscule sight of that lace and that tanned, soft looking flesh, my cock actually began to twitch. Sliding the duffle up my arm to free my hand, I gave the zipper a couple of firm tugs, finally unsticki
ng it and getting the skirt closed. But the image was already burned into my brain.

  “Thank you,” she said in a chipper voice now that she’d gotten her way. “Let’s go. They’re probably wondering what’s taking us so long.”

  With that, she waltzed from the bathroom, leaving me to follow as I clutched her bag in front of my pants, praying my hard on would disappear before I came face to face with her father.

  Fuck my life.

  16

  Eliza

  Shit.

  I was cold. Not that I’d ever admit it out loud, but I could at least admit to myself that I might not have given much thought to the temperature outside when I stormed out of the gym in an effort to stick it to Ethan.

  I had the oddest sensation of feeling his eyes on me as he walked a few steps behind all the way to the stadium and up the bleachers. To my bewilderment, he even took my hand as we made our assent. When I cast a questioning look over my shoulder, he simply shrugged and muttered something about wanting to be able to catch me if I tripped.

  That, coupled with the chill in the air, caused a tremor to course through me as we moved through the crowd of people to our seats that were being held by both of our families. Ethan, being who he was — the hometown superstar — was stopped constantly to say hello to people he’d known growing up, or to sign the random autograph. I did my best to keep moving every time he was stopped, but the fingers wrapped around mine would tighten, making it impossible to escape. He signed everything one handed, refusing to release my hand until we made it to our spots.

  “What the hell are you wearing?” My father demanded once we hit our destination. “Jesus, baby girl. Are you trying to give me a heart attack?”

  I rolled my eyes, along with Harlow and Chloe as Ethan muttered, “Told you,” from behind me, earning an elbow to the ribs. The big brother act had gotten old when we were younger, but having him slide back into that role now that we were in adulthood was even more irritating.