by Anna Katmore
She pressed her hand to my neck for a few seconds. Cold water drops slid down my back. How could that make me feel so warm? When she released me, I dipped my head back against the wall, pulled the bloodied plugs out of my nose, and tossed them in the trash dead-on. Sniffing once, I swallowed the rest of the blood.
“Feel better?” Sam asked warily.
I nodded.
Her pretty eyes narrowed to slits. “You know you’ll scare me if you don’t say something mean soon.”
I cracked a smile.
What did she expect to hear? That with the tissue gone I could finally smell her vanilla body lotion again and I wanted to drown in that scent? Or that the view of her belly button piercing reminded me of the most sensual kiss I’d ever shared with a girl?
Neither seemed appropriate.
When I remained silent, Sam grunted. I liked that sound, even if it meant I’d frustrated her again.
A second later, the door burst open. Winter and Torres strode in, scanning the room.
Alex came forward, reaching down for my hand. “Hey, pal. How’s that nose? Any fractures?”
“I don’t think so,” I answered as he pulled me up from the floor.
Sam rose to her feet with me, planting her fists on her waist. “Oh, now he can talk…” She rolled her eyes then looked up at my face, her frustration easing. “I believe you don’t need me any longer.”
She had no idea how much I wanted her to stay. But with the freezing atmosphere between us over the past few days, I didn’t intend to tell her that. So I shook my head.
Sam pressed her lips together, her eyes turning sad. She spun on her heel and walked toward the door.
Okay, that was shitty of me. I hated it when I behaved like a caveman. “Sam?” I said over the noise of Winter and Torres goofing off on a victory high. As she turned around, I held her gaze in the wide mirror over the sink. “Thanks.”
This time, she was the one who remained silent. She only nodded once then walked out the door.
At the same time, Hunter came in. He stepped aside to let her pass. “Hey, Sam,” he acknowledged her with slight surprise in his voice.
“Ryan,” she replied. Then she was gone and the door was shut.
Hunter came forward. “Mitchell, how’s your head doing? You’re not backing out of the after-party tonight?”
Tearing the wet towels from my neck, I arched my brows at him. “You kiddin’, man?” Cold water from the faucet cooled my cheeks and washed away the rest of the blood. I wiped my face dry, using the front of my shirt. “When have I ever missed a party at your house?”
Ryan narrowed his eyes, deliberating. “When your gran was in town a couple of years ago.”
I cast him a wry look. “My gran isn’t in town this weekend.”
“And Sam?”
“What about her?”
“She’ll be at my house tonight, too.”
“And…”
“You cool with that?”
I shrugged. “Sure.”
Hunter went to the rear to pee, then he came back and washed his hands, casually asking, “Sam looked a little frustrated when she walked out of here. How are things going between you and her?”
Winter and Torres, who were about to leave, fell silent and stopped in their tracks, apparently awaiting my answer, too.
“She’s speaking to me again.”
“Is that all?” Hunter dug deeper.
“Seems so.”
Alex cut a bored glance at the ceiling before he shoved Torres out the door. When we were alone, Hunter turned around, leaned against the sink, and folded his arms over his chest. “All right. The guys are gone. You can be honest now.”
I turned my annoyed gaze at him. “Why do you always have to second-guess my answers?”
“Because, Mitchell… I. Know. You.”
A sigh escaped me that made me feel an uncomfortable amount like a girl. I gritted my teeth and frowned. “No offence, Hunter, but you don’t know jack.”
“Is that so?”
“Obviously.”
“Okay, just a random guess then… You finally figured out who you really want—and just for the record, I’m more than glad that it’s not Lisa.” Hunter let go of a relieved breath. “But now Sam’s pissed because you kissed her at a time when she wasn’t the one.”
Fuck. Did he read women’s magazines when he was bored, or what?
“She probably thinks you’re still in love with Lisa.”
“When did you become such an expert, Hunter?” I muttered.
“Last summer. Because the same thing happened to me, idiot. Can you imagine how I felt when Lisa couldn’t make up her mind for so long? I’ve been there—and I don’t want to go back ever again.”
Wow. I’d never looked at it that way. He did know what he was talking about. And I’d found out many times in my life that I couldn’t hide anything from Hunter. After Lisa, he’d always been my best friend. The ranking had even switched after they’d become a couple.
I knew I should be happy to have a friend like him. Someone who knew me from the inside out. But frankly, sometimes it just sucked.
“Tonight is your best chance to win her heart. A party is always a good place to hook up.”
“I’m not going to hook up with Sam. I tried to explain myself to her, but she’s a stubborn little gnome who won’t listen.” Her dismissal in school and later her flirting with Frederickson had opened my eyes. Not to the fact that I was in love with her, but to the fact that, for Sam, I was easy to replace.
“Maybe you didn’t try hard enough to make her listen. Know what, Mitchell? I think, at our age, we can’t afford to be lazy and just wait for them to throw themselves at us. If I’ve learned one thing from Lisa, it’s that there’ll always be another guy if you’re not fast enough seizing your chances.”
“She’s just so—” Frustrated, I dragged my hands through my hair. “You should have seen her and Frederickson at Charlie’s this week.”
Hunter pursed his lips. “There’s nothing going on between her and Frederickson. The guy knows about your feelings for Sam.”
“You weren’t there. You didn’t see them.”
“I didn’t have to be there. Someone else was.” He smirked. “Someone very close to me.”
The hairs on the back of my neck bristled. “What did Lisa tell you?” I demanded.
“Can’t say.”
“Why not?”
“Promised.”
“Fuck.”
I tipped back against the wall, crossing my arms over my chest. What was he holding back? And why? Frederickson knew that I’d enjoyed kissing Sam. But he liked her as well. Maybe not as much as I did, but a lot. He sure would hook up with her if she was interested. And sometimes she seemed to be.
“If you really like her,” Hunter said, “at least give it one more shot. Can’t hurt tough guys like us, can it?”
I knew he meant that in a taunting way, because he’d told me how much he’d suffered after Lisa had sent him off that night after our fight in her room.
“There’s just something about her,” I confessed. “Something that pulls me in like a fucking magnet. I can’t resist touching her whenever I get a chance, or just sniffing her hair.”
“Or just kissing her?”
Exactly. “Why do girls always have to smell so good?” I whined.
Hunter slapped my shoulder. “Because they’re made of candy, bro.” Laughing, he walked out the door.
CHAPTER 7
I DIDN’T WANT to go home after the game. What had happened there earlier wasn’t forgotten. But I wanted to change clothes and get out of Tony’s jersey. As long as it clung to me, he roamed through my thoughts far too much. And that was the last thing I wanted right now.
I managed to get into the house without being seen by anyone. Hastily, I changed into my army pants, the black crop top that laced in the back, and a dark gray hoodie, leaving the zipper open. I pulled on my Doc Martens and left the laces untied.
Then I grabbed Tony’s shirt and sneaked down the stairs to avoid being seen by my cousin or her parents. As a member of the soccer team, Chloe would be at the party later—no getting around that fact. But later was soon enough. No need to meet her until then.
Fortunately, Lisa and Ryan had agreed that I should come early and help with the party preparations. Keeping myself busy was my brilliant plan for today.
I arrived at Ryan’s house just as he and his parents were moving some of the furniture aside. Lisa had opened the door and dragged me inside, a happy grin on her face. She certainly was excited, because today was their three-month anniversary and Ryan had taunted her with a surprise for later. I wondered if it was maybe a necklace. I knew Lisa would love to get one from him.
When Mr. Hunter saw me, he came over and placed a hand on my shoulder. “Samantha. How is your leg doing?”
“It’s fine, Mr. Hunter,” I replied and playfully hopped from one foot to the other. “No troubles at all.”
“Perfect, perfect.”
“Are you going to party with us?” I asked him.
The doc grimaced. “I don’t think so. Jessie and I prefer to go out on party nights. More fun for you and fewer headaches for us.” He whispered the last part and winked at me.
When Mr. and Mrs. Hunter left the house a short while later, Lisa and I went into the kitchen and prepared some snacks and plates of candy to place around the party zone. All the while, I carried Tony’s jersey draped over my shoulder. I just didn’t know where to put it so it wouldn’t get lost.
“You can leave that in my room,” Ryan told me after some time. “I’ll give it back to Tony later.” He gave me directions to his bedroom then, and I hurried upstairs.
I refused to snoop around in his room, but from the first glimpse, I liked it. There was a wide cappuccino-colored desk placed in front of a wall. To the right, near the window, was a nightstand and a bed, and to the left was a huge wardrobe. A boyish room, cool, but cozy.
Tossing the jersey on his bed, I headed back downstairs to help Lisa in the kitchen some more. She was still wearing Ryan’s jersey, and I could tell by his expression each time he looked at her that he liked it.
At seven thirty, Susan called me, asking if one of us could pick her up from home. She’d just come back from the hospital. No serious damage to her leg, but she wasn’t allowed to drive a car for a couple of weeks.
As I talked to Susan on the phone, Ryan got a call from Tony. Ryan didn’t hesitate to dump the job of picking up Susan on him because we weren’t done yet. About twenty people had already shown up by then, and more were filing through the door as we spoke. I wasn’t sure what to expect from tonight, but I stopped counting people as the crowd grew.
Music blasted from various speakers placed about the big entrance hall. There were high, round tables like in a bistro, bearing crackers and drinks. Those who didn’t gather around them or in the corners of the room started dancing on the tiled floor in the dim lighting.
I rushed from the Hunter’s kitchen to the hall, refilling some of the cracker bowls, then I danced my way back through the crowd.
Nick was leaning against the wide arch leading to the kitchen and dining area of the house. The orange shirt he was wearing today clashed terribly with his red hair, but it looked extremely cool combined with his dark gray pants. For the first time I wondered why he didn’t have a girlfriend.
Nick was bracing himself against the wall with one hand, blocking the entrance and my way, but he didn’t seem aware of it as he spoke with Ryan and a few other guys.
Infected by the party mood, I didn’t bother to ask Nick to move but just limbo-danced under his arm.
“Hey, Finn Girl, having fun?” he asked me when I straightened.
I smiled at him over my shoulder. “Absolutely.” Light-footed, I danced over to Lisa, grabbed the can of lemonade she offered me, and took a swig. “I had no idea how big this was going to be. There must be over a hundred people out there already.”
“Yeah…and that’s not even half the expected number,” Lisa replied.
My eyes turned wide as I gaped at Ryan. “Do you know all these people?”
Ryan sipped from his root beer, then he draped his arm around Lisa’s shoulders with the bottle in his hand. “Not all of them but most. Sometimes they just bring friends or their siblings. I don’t mind. You know, the more, the merrier.” He grinned and planted a kiss on Lisa’s brow. She turned in his arms and met his lips, grabbing him by the collar of the black shirt he’d changed into.
Yeah…that was my cue to leave the kitchen. Nick followed me, making gagging noises. “They’ll never get tired of it, will they?”
I glanced at him sideways then playfully rolled my eyes. “Not for a long time, I believe.”
“Speaking of making out, Finn Girl—” He reached for my hand and twirled me under his arm. “How’s your plan with Mitchell working out?”
My smile faded. “It’s not my plan. And nothing’s working out, either.”
“Aw. Why’s that?” He pushed me away from him, not releasing my hand, and then pulled me back to him and caught me in a light embrace. “He seemed thoroughly pissed on Wednesday. Doesn’t that mean your friends’ plan worked?”
“Seriously, Nick, I don’t want Tony to be pissed. And what’s more, I don’t want to talk about him.” His intense gaze in the restroom this afternoon was hard enough to forget, even without a reminder. Two weeks had passed since our first meeting, and I still didn’t know what to make of Anthony Mitchell. He hadn’t gone to Lisa’s place on Wednesday, but he couldn’t make up his mind either. If I was wise, I’d just pull my heart out of this game once and for all. “He shouldn’t have kissed me. So now I’m just trying to forget about it.”
Nick pulled me tighter against him, our dance turning a shade sexier. “Oh, if you need help with that,” he drawled, “let me know.” By the playful gleam in his eyes and the playful tone of his voice, I knew he wasn’t serious. It was just his way of trying to cheer me up.
I tilted my head back and laughed. Then I wrapped my leg around his, pressing myself against him just briefly. “Was that an offer, big guy?”
“My offer’s always up, Finn Girl.” He twirled me around once more.
In the middle of the twist, I stopped dead.
Susan had just arrived and was standing right in front of me. And next to her was Tony.
My heart stuttered into shock mode. The saying “in the wrong place at the wrong time” took on a wholly new meaning right now, even though I couldn’t explain to myself why I even cared. I released Nick’s hand.
“Hi, Sam!” Susan shouted over the music. She was on crutches, a small detail she’d forgotten to tell me on the phone.
“Hey,” I said back, but my gaze had fastened onto Tony’s cold eyes.
He stared at me for the length of a breath. Then he came forward and his expression turned blank. “Samantha,” he said coldly as he passed me. He disappeared quickly into the crowd.
Sighing, I squeezed my eyes shut. Nick’s hand landed on my shoulder. As I looked at him, he scrunched up his face. “I’ll go talk to him.”
“No, don’t! Please.” It didn’t matter if Tony had seen us, or whatever he’d interpreted in our dancing. I wasn’t right for him and he wasn’t right for me. Simple. So what the hell was his problem? I could dance with whoever I wanted. If Tony’s heart was still hung up on Lisa, he wasn’t in a position to look at me like I was a traitor because I was having fun with a friend. Duh!
I suggested finding a place for Susan to sit, and just so Nick wouldn’t get any funny ideas and find Tony after all, I grabbed his hand and pulled him with us. Susan told me the doctor had done some X-rays on her leg and apparently was a little worried about her ligaments after all. Even if they weren’t torn, they were thoroughly overstretched. The fancy-colored tapes around her knee would supposedly help with that. She pulled up the leg of her jeans to let me have a look at the pink, monster-size strips. If nothing e
lse, they looked way cool.
When she went to get up and get a drink, I made her sit down again and offered to get her a soda from the refrigerator. Nick would keep her company while I was gone.
Elbowing my way through the bumping crowd in the hall, I headed for the kitchen, but as soon as I stepped through the doorway, I regretted it.
Ryan and Tony were in there, alone. They were talking urgently with each other—until Ryan saw me coming and all conversation died in the fraction of a second. When he smiled at me, Tony turned around, too.
He didn’t smile.
The muscles in his arm tightened as he clasped the edge of the kitchen counter harder. I could see them twitch underneath the short sleeves of his white shirt. With shock, I realized he was also wearing the ripped jeans from the time I’d been in his room. The ones that had made my mouth water.
I tore my gaze away from him and mumbled, “Umm…just grabbing a soda for Susan.” As I hurried past the two of them, both pairs of eyes followed me. Jeez, I’d never felt this wary of disturbing a conversation before. And it made me feel more than certain they’d been talking about me.
I pulled the fridge open, found a Coke, slammed the door shut, and rushed out, only then daring to breathe again. Back in the hall, I bumped into Lisa and Simone. Instantly, the girls caught my uneasiness and hooked their arms through mine.
“Babes, what’s got you so nervous?” Simone asked, almost worried.
“Nothing,” I answered flatly.
Lisa leaned back as we walked, catching a glimpse of the guys in the kitchen. “I think I know,” she declared. Then the two girls looked at each other over my head and simultaneously stated, “Tony.”
Suddenly, Simone gave me a little push to the left, steering all of us toward a long table with food and drinks on it. “I know what you need.”
“Pretzels?” I made a hopeful face, because I sure as hell wouldn’t drink any of the beers lined up there.
