“Road trips, getting out of town…” I glanced over. “They’re a great way to get a little perspective.”
She looked back at me. “You think I need perspective?”
“Don’t you?”
She didn’t answer. I might not know exactly what was going on with her, but it was more than just that jerk of her ex or those sycophantic chicks she hung out with. There was more going on beneath the surface and no one, not even Rosalie, could keep it all contained all the time.
There was a third reason, too. I knew from experience that sitting in the passenger seat was basically the best form of therapy ever. Or at least it had been for me after my dad left. My mom would take me for these long drives and not say anything at all.
It was the not talking that did it. I could only take the silence for so long and then I’d break it with a vengeance. My mom would just sit there quietly while I ranted and raved about my dad. The fact that I didn’t have to look at my mom helped—I’d just stare out at the blur of scenery as we sped down the highway.
So yeah, it wasn’t every day that I took a cue from my mom when it came to scoring with girls, but in this particular instance, I figured it was worth a shot.
Rosalie was known for not talking, or not saying much, at least. It stood to reason, that was precisely what she needed to do. And right about now, I’d try anything to rid her eyes of that sadness that seemed to be permanently lingering this whole week.
It wasn’t until we were about to pass through the next town over that I heard Rosalie break the silence with a sigh. “I found my dad cheating on my mom.”
Whoa. That was…not what I’d expected. I glanced over at her but she was staring out the window. My first instinct was to ask questions or say I’m sorry, but I held back, and sure enough a minute later she…well, I don’t know how else to put it.
She exploded.
And it was awesome, actually. I mean, not the fact that she was dealing with some major drama back home. But hearing her talk like this…like a real person. A human being with emotions and thoughts and a sense of humor—albeit bitter and rueful on this particular topic.
I was pretty sure this girl was my favorite person on the planet.
When she was done, she sank back in her seat again as if exhausted. We’d reached an exit for a town I’d never even heard of and I turned off.
“Now what?” she asked as she took in the sights of this new town.
“Now we find coffee.”
She glanced over at me with an adorable, confused little smile. “Coffee?”
I arched my brows. “It’s going to be a long night.”
She shifted again so she was facing me, one leg tucked underneath her as she cocked her head to the side. “How do you figure?”
“Look, there’s no way I’m taking you back to your house while your parents are still awake. You need to get away from that toxic fighting as much as your brothers do.”
“So we’re…what? Staying up all night?”
I flashed her my cockiest grin. “Unless you’d rather come to my place for a sleepover.”
She laughed, as I’d hoped she would. “Uh, no thanks.”
I found a sign for a 24-hour diner and headed toward it. “Then coffee it is.”
11
Rosalie
This was quite possibly the weirdest night of my life.
Or maybe that was just the caffeine talking.
My heart raced in my chest as Conner smiled at me across the Formica tabletop.
Yup, definitely the caffeine at work.
That was probably why I felt like I was in a dream—some place out of time. Ever since I’d gotten into his car, this night had felt…surreal.
I never talked to people the way I’d talked to Conner. I never…shared.
Ugh, I didn’t even like that word. Sharing? It made me think of kindergarten and lessons about not using all the red construction paper.
“What are you thinking about?”
It was the fifth time he’d asked that question since we’d arrived and it made me laugh. “Why do you keep asking that?”
“Why do you keep not answering?” he shot back.
I arched a brow in response. “I asked you first.”
His smile grew and his dimple deepened. I set down the coffee as my heart threatened to leap out of my chest. Yup, way too much caffeine.
“Fine,” he said. “I keep asking because I want to know.”
I let out an exasperated sigh.
“And,” he continued. “You’re not exactly easy to read.”
I waved a hand around my face ala Vanna White. “Ice Queen, at your service.”
He laughed. “Exactly. Except that I’m not fooled into thinking you’re all ice and bones.”
I grinned at the description. “What gave it away? My epic meltdown in your car?” I winced a bit in humiliation as I said it, but he just waved my words away, and honestly? I didn’t really regret it. I mean, I probably should have. I didn’t know this guy well enough to trust him, and yet that’s exactly what I’d done. Much as I’d been waiting for my brain to set off alarms or my gut to tell me I’d experienced a massive lapse in judgment—I found that I really didn’t regret it.
In fact, I felt better. Just a little. I mean, moaning about the drama at home hadn’t actually fixed anything but that tight sensation in my chest had eased a bit after spilling my guts out in his car.
I didn’t regret it, and I wasn’t actually worried, but I still found myself saying, “You won’t tell anyone, will you?”
“Of course not!” He didn’t look offended. In fact, his eyes were warm with amusement again, like that was his default setting. “Besides, who would I tell?”
I nodded. “Fair point.”
“I’m the class pariah, remember?”
She laughed. “Join the club.”
He leaned forward and lowered his voice. “Maybe we should form a club. I mean, think about it,” he said when I started to laugh. “The ice queen and the bad seed? We sound pretty fierce. We might even be able to rule the world if we joined forces.”
I was outright laughing now, because it was impossible not to when his eyes were crinkled up in amusement like that and his dimples were showing and his echoing laughter surrounded me and…ugh, my heart was tripping over itself with…
Happiness?
No, that couldn’t be right. I’d been having the worst week of my life, not to mention a horrible night. “I stood up to Danny.”
The words just kind of fell out of my mouth at the same time I’d thought them.
Well, that was a first. Was that how people typically communicated? Just saying what they thought the moment they thought it? I’d never once felt comfortable enough to do that…at least not outside of my house.
“You did stand up to Danny,” he confirmed. “How did it feel?”
I thought it over—about how terrifying it had been, but also how…awesome. “It felt good,” I finally said, making a play for understatement of the year. “Actually, it felt better than good. That was way overdue.”
He nodded but he didn’t comment.
“He was my first boyfriend, you know.” I clamped my lips shut. Now where had that come from?
He arched his brows slightly. “Really? I would have thought you’d be crazy in demand with the boys.”
I lifted one shoulder, not sure how to react to that compliment. “Yeah, well, at my old school I was sort of a…” Dork. I caught myself right in time. Did I really need to be confessing my former dorkdom to the hottest guy I’d ever met?
No. Probably not.
I licked my lips and said, “I was sort of shy.”
One side of his mouth hitched up in that sexy lopsided smile I loved so much. “You don’t say.”
He was teasing but I ignored it. “When I transferred to Talmore freshman year and suddenly this cute, popular football player was into me, I thought…” I shrugged, embarrassed at how shallow and stupid I’d been bac
k then. “I’d thought it was a dream come true.”
“Makes sense.”
I honestly couldn’t tell if he was kidding or not, but I had to believe he was. I could hear how lame I sounded. “You wouldn’t understand.”
“Sure I would.”
“You don’t care what people think,” I argued.
“Everybody cares what people think,” he shot back.
Really? Was that true? I thought about Erika, about Allie, about Danny. They all seemed so confident all the time, in whatever they said, what they did… None of them seemed to doubt themselves, and it felt like that was all I ever did.
I sighed and toyed with my mug. “Maybe. What about you?”
He arched a brow. “What about me?”
“What was life like back at your old school?”
“I was a rock god.” He said it so simply, so calmly, I burst out laughing.
“What? Is that so hard to believe?”
I shook my head. It wasn’t. It really wasn’t. He totally had the look down pat, even now with his grungy T-shirt and the leather bands around his wrist. He was so very different from Danny and his friends, but he wore it well. I had this feeling that he could pull off any look because that was just how he existed. With swagger and an unshakeable confidence. With the sort of bigger-than-life aura that would probably make him famous one day. “Actually, no,” I said slowly as my laughter faded. “That’s not hard to believe at all.”
We stared at each other in silence for a moment and he wore this small smile that made me feel warm all over, his eyes soft and tender as they held mine, not letting me look away.
“I want to hear you play,” I said suddenly, breaking the moment.
His eyes widened. “Right now?” He looked around pointedly.
I grinned. “No, stupid. But…someday. I want to see if you’re as good as you think you are.”
He held his mug out as if to cheers me. “Someday it is then.”
After that we talked about everything under the sun, but nothing heavy. It was like he knew I needed a reprieve from all things family or Danny related so he kept the conversation light. What started as a conversation about music and our likes and dislikes—turned out we were on the same page there—morphed into a talk about his life as an only child, up until very recently, and my relationship with my brothers.
“So wait,” he interrupted. “You’re telling me your favorite pastime is playing Dungeons & Dragons with your little brothers?”
I met his gaze evenly. I would not be mocked for my love of D&D.
He gave his head a little shake. “Okay, carry on.”
From there we somehow got onto the topic of our current interests—or rather, how we got into them in the first place. He told me about how it was his dad who’d bought him his first guitar and I told him how my mom signed me up for gymnastics when I was little as a way to make friends. No luck in the friends’ department, but we did find out I had a flair for the sport.
“So, gymnastics led to cheerleading?” he asked.
“Trust me,” I said. “No one was more surprised than me when I got on the squad.”
“And now you’re one of the elite,” he said with a shake of his head.
I stared back blankly. What was I supposed to say to that?
“But really, underneath it all, you’re a gaming dork who loves to hang with the grade school crowd,” he said, as though he was piecing it all together.
I opened my mouth, torn between a laugh and protest at his teasing, but he interrupted. “No need to worry, I won’t tell anyone your little secret.”
“I’m not worried.” I arched my brows and repeated what he’d said earlier. “Who would you tell? You’re the school pariah.”
His laugh was the best sound I’d ever heard and I had to hide my goofy grin behind my mug. I didn’t take a sip, though. One thing was clear judging by the rapid rate of my heart…
I’d definitely had too much caffeine.
12
Conner
I’d told Rosalie I’d play one of my songs for her someday.
Turned out someday was Tuesday.
We were supposed to be studying up in my room. To be fair, we had studied for a little while there, but she’d been distracted by the sight of my guitar sitting in the corner.
When a pretty girl asks you to play the guitar for them, you’re gonna play—grades be damned.
“You’re really good,” she said when I finished.
“You don’t have to sound so surprised.” I had to say something like that because my heart was pounding painfully in my chest. I’d played in front of a lot of girls. Sometimes one on one like this, but I even used to play at a local all-ages club in front of packed crowds filled with friends, strangers, classmates…you name it.
I’d never once been so freakin’ nervous.
“I wasn’t surprised, just…” She hitched her lips to the side as she looked for the word. “Impressed.”
My eyes widened in surprise that was only partially feigned. “High praise coming from you.”
“What does that mean?” She sounded curious, not offended.
“Just that you strike me as someone who’s not easy to impress.”
She nodded slowly, thoughtfully. “That’s probably true. I was surprised by your skill level, though.” Her eyes twinkled with teasing laughter that was made all the better because I knew I was one of very few who ever got to see it. “You play really well so you must practice. A lot.”
“Of course. You find that so hard to believe?”
“Yes,” she said simply, then she rushed to add, “I mean, no.”
I arched a brow. “Which is it?”
She laughed. “Yes and no. The more I get to know you the more I realize that you’re not a slacker at all.”
“Gee, thanks.” I put the guitar to the side, trying not to show how much that stung. I was used to words like slacker and worse.
“No, I—” She reached a hand out and gripped my arm and I froze. Oddly enough, this was the first time we’d touched—at least, intentionally. It was definitely the first time she’d ever purposefully touched me.
It…did something. I could have sworn the entire atmosphere in the room shifted. My familiar bedroom suddenly felt different—smaller and warmer and with far less oxygen than it had just a moment before.
“I didn’t mean that as an insult,” she said.
That shocked the life out of me because I’d covered my initial reaction well—or so I’d thought. “No big deal,” I said with a shrug.
“Yeah, it is,” she insisted, shifting on the bed so she was closer to me. “I just meant that it’s nice to see this side of you. You have this way of making everything look so easy…” She gave her head a shake and fixed me with a rueful smile. “That came out wrong. I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay.” Oddly enough her words had me thinking of Harley. About how she’d said something so similar…that everything came so easily to me. “I bet a lot of people think the same about you.”
She widened her eyes. “That things come easily to me?”
“Yeah. You come into this school and suddenly have this charmed life…”
She pursed her lips—a move I was definitely starting to recognize. It meant she was thinking things over. It meant she needed a minute.
It also made it impossible to focus on anything but her lips. They looked so darn kissable when she did that.
Who was I kidding? They looked so darn kissable all the time. I started to lean in—
“Go to homecoming with me.”
I pulled back with a start. “What?”
Her eyes were wide and filled with panic. “That came out wrong.”
I fought the urge to laugh. “How was it supposed to come out?”
She flinched. “As a question?”
My insides were staging a mosh pit as I watched this girl, this crazy, sweet, adorable girl attempt to ask me out on a date.
To homecoming.<
br />
Harley, the stupid dare, the whole reason I was here with Rosalie in the first place…it all came back to me like a slap across the face and I leaned back even more, needing space.
Rosalie shut her eyes tight. “I’m sorry, that just kind of came out and I didn’t mean to say that. I just was thinking…I just meant…”
“Yes.”
She opened her eyes. “Yes?”
I smiled to put her at ease, temporarily ignoring the guilt that had flared up so hot and quick it was threatening to burn me alive. “I’d love to go to homecoming with you.”
She let out a long exhale. “Oh. Okay. Good.”
The silence that followed was heavy and sweet and…oh man, I really wanted to kiss her.
I wouldn’t. I couldn’t. Like, I physically could not move toward her because of the guilt. If she had any idea that I’d sought her out because of some stupid bet…
It would crush her.
She wasn’t even close to being as hard and untouchable as everyone thought. She was the exact opposite. She just wore that ice queen demeanor as a mask because underneath it she was soft and kind and sweet and emotional and vulnerable.
Strong, yes, but not in the ways everyone thought. She was strong in character, strong in mind, strong in her beliefs…but her heart was just as easy to break as anyone else’s. More so, because it was sheltered. Protected.
And I was the jerk who could hurt her.
This wasn’t me being cocky, this was me knowing with absolute certainty that I’d gotten closer to her than so many others. Maybe Danny had gotten in, probably some of her friends, but the way she’d opened up to me the other night, the way she’d talked to me so easily on the phone on Sunday and in class yesterday and in the hallway today…
She’d let me in. I’d gotten close—closer than I’d ever intended when I’d made that stupid bet. And now…
Now I was close enough to hurt her.
But I wouldn’t.
I’d end the stupid challenge with Harley and then I would kiss her.
I’d never wanted to have a conversation with my stepsister quite so badly.
Rosalie broke the silence between us by gathering up her stuff, shoving the textbook into her bookbag. “I should go.”
Charming the Cheerleader (The Bet Duet Book 1) Page 9
