New Love: Blue Valley High — Senior Year (The Blue Valley Series Book 2)

by Mj Fields

  “You hungry, Jade?” Lucas asks.

  “Yes,” she says, staring a hole in the table.

  “You okay?” Lucas asks.

  “Yes, thank you,” she whispers.

  The waiter sets bread and salad on the table. Jade takes a bread stick and nibbles on it.

  “Jade, what’s up?” Ryan asks.

  “Nothing,” she answers.

  “Then eat. Little man is hungry.” He rubs her belly, and she jumps back.

  “Sorry.” He raises his hands in the air.

  “Hey, Lucas, I think I forgot to lock the Jeep. Come with me, please?” I push back, stand up, and grab his hand.

  Once out of sight, I stop, and he looks at me oddly.

  “Wait for it.”

  “Wait for what?” he asks.

  I shrug then turn and peek around the corner.

  “Baby, what—”

  “Shh …” I whisper.

  He sets his chin on my shoulder. “I thought you wanted an appetizer.” He wraps his arm around my waist.

  “Shh …” I whisper.

  “Huh?” he says.

  I glance at him and see his lips twitch up slightly.

  “You okay with this?”

  He squeezes me. “I’d say it’s better than a blowjob, but that would be a lie.”

  I lean back into him and laugh quietly, and then …

  “Aw …”

  We give them a minute to finish their first kiss then head back in.

  When we sit, Jade and Ryan haven’t even noticed we returned.

  Ryan starts to pull back, and Jade grabs the back of his head, continuing to kiss him. Ryan’s eyes are glued to Lucas’s, who gives him a wink. Permission of sorts, not that I think Ryan really needed it, but it is a good thing.

  When the waiter says, “Should I come back?” Jade jumps back and looks at me, eyes as wide as saucers.

  “Can I tell Lucas now?” I whisper.

  Jade looks down. “Shut up, Tessa.”

  “Can I tell Jade how you have looked at her since I met you?” Lucas asks Ryan.

  “Shut up, Lucas.” Ryan shakes his head.

  “You hungry now, Jade?” I laugh.

  “Yes.” She smiles. “Yes, I am.”

  Ryan sits back, rubs his hands through his hair, and takes a deep breath. Jade looks up at him, unable to hide her smile, and I see his hand move under the table and take hers.

  Jade eats until she can’t move, and then Ryan asks, “Can I give you a ride home?”

  Her response, “Yes, please, Ryan.”

  Lucas and I hit the mall. Inside Spencer’s, he throws all sorts of stuff in my basket, and I take them out, returning them to the shelf. He scolds me.

  When I grab a pair of elephant trunk underwear and toss them in, he laughs. “Hell no!”

  When I grab a pair of banana undies, he takes the basket from my hands and sets it down.

  We are about ready to leave the store when he stops abruptly and grabs a pair of handcuffs. I shake my head, and he nods, “Oh yes.”

  We hit the bra and undie store,

  “This is definitely more you.” He kisses my cheek then sets about grabbing matching bra and panty sets.

  I don’t argue, but people are watching us and my face is on fire by the time he hits the register. Then, by the time the cashier is done checking us out, her face is more red than mine.

  We walk out of the store, laughing, when someone stops in front of us and turns around to face us.

  I inwardly cringe when I see her.

  Arms crossed, Sadi says, “Well, hello there, Lucas. Hey, Tessa. You guys a happy couple now?”

  “Hello, Sadi. How are you?” he asks.

  “Oh, great. You know it’s been a rough year, though. I’m sorry about Tommy.” She waves her hand toward me. “But I see you got through that just like you did when our baby died. Tessa, did he tell you it was a boy?”

  I look down. “I’m very sorry, Sadi.”

  “Too bad you didn’t make the service. And, why are you sorry? It made it easier for you.” Sadi laughs loudly.

  “It wasn’t a competition, Sadi. We talked about this,” Lucas says calmly.

  “Oh, wow, check out that ring, Tessa!” she yells, eyes wild.

  “Sadi, are you still seeing your therapist?” Lucas whispers.

  “Nope. I’m all set, though. You both have a great night. Oh, and enjoy whatever is in that bag.” She begins walking away then stops. “By the way, I got into SU, Lucas. Where are you going?” Then she walks away.

  “You okay?” we both ask each other at the same time.

  He hugs me.

  “You wanna leave, bud?” I ask, rubbing his back.

  “No. I want to forget about that and go into that store.” He scowls.

  “Okay, Lucas, if that’s what you want.”

  He gives me a look that I almost forgot.

  “I love you, and I want you to be okay. It’s not pity, Lucas.”

  “I know.” He kisses me. “Let’s grab a few more things.”

  I don’t need what he’s already gotten, but whatever he needs to do right now is fine with me.

  Inside the store, he grabs a few more sets of matching panty and bra sets. Then he grabs some crotchless underwear and a couple of garter belts.

  “All right, I think we’re good for now.” He kisses my cheek.

  We stand in line, his arm holding me tightly against his side. Not wanting to face the cashier again, I turn so I don’t see her. Then I hear … that voice.

  “I can take it from here; you can take your break now.”

  Lucas doesn’t even react. He kisses the top of my head and squeezes me tighter.

  “I see you still like the front clasp. Did you finally master that?” Sadi asks rather loudly, but he doesn’t respond. “Oh, boy shorts. That’s new. These aren’t, though. Did he ask you not to wear panties yet?” she whispers, also loudly.

  Neither of us say a thing.

  “Four hundred, thirty-two dollars, and eighty cents. You sure she’s worth it? You don’t have to pick hay out of these, do you?”

  He hands her a credit card, eyes never leaving mine.

  “Have you taken her to our baby’s gravesite yet?” she asks like she’d ask about the weather.

  He signs the credit card slip and grabs the bag.

  “Have a great night,” she calls loudly behind us as we walk out, holding hands.

  “Tessa …” he starts.

  “If you’re okay, I’m okay.” I squeeze his hand.

  “You’re not angry?” he asks as we exit the mall and head to his vehicle.

  “No, not angry.”

  “Okay, are you upset? Truth, Tessa?”

  We get in his SUV, and he looks at me, eyes demanding an answer.

  “Okay, I’m just concerned and wonder why you never talk about it. I didn’t know that you buried him, and I don’t want to push, and this was all before, so I feel like I shouldn’t even ask. I just wish …” I shake my head. “It’s okay, Lucas.”

  “His name is David. He’s buried in Lansing. I’ve been there three times, but I pass the cemetery every day. He was one pound seven ounces, and twelve inches long. In a very tiny box, he was buried, and he wore a little sleeper. Nothing would fit, and we wanted him to be warm and not just wrapped in a damn blanket, so we bought doll clothes.

  “Tommy, my parents, Audrianna, and Sadi’s mother were at the service, if you can even call it that. It was short and very, very sad. I don’t like to think about it. I don’t like to talk about it. He wasn’t alive when he was born. In fact, he was dead before I even got to the hospital.

  “I’m not mad, Tessa. I want this done. So, I need to know that I’ve answered all of your questions.” He looks up, and tears are falling down my face. He looks irritated. “Now, I’m going to drop you off at your Jeep, and I would love for you to come to my house, but if you don’t want to, I can understand.”

  “You don’t have to drop me off; y
ou can on your way to work in the morning. I want to be with you now, but I don’t want you to drive home alone.” I kiss his cheek. “I love you.” Then I kiss his cheek again.

  Music low, every damn song on the radio is sad as we drive to Lucas’s silently, holding hands.

  When we walk into his room, he drops the bags, and I walk into the bathroom to run a bath. Then I walk out and see him sitting on the bed, hands in his hair. I take his hands, pull him up, and lead him into the bathroom.

  When I untuck his shirt, he whispers a sad, “Baby,” as he shakes his head.

  “Get in the bath and relax.” I pull his shirt over his head and toss it aside. “I’m going to make a phone call.”

  Downstairs, I dial the house phone, and Alex answers.

  “Do me a favor?”

  “Just walking in—”

  “Lucas is having a bad night. I’m begging you to bring Chewy over and stay. I know I’m asking—”

  “He gonna be okay?”

  I lean against the wall. “Yeah, Alex, I just can’t leave him tonight.”

  “Be there in ten. I’ll crash on the couch.”

  When Lucas gets out, I’m lying on his bed with Chewy.

  He smiles. “Good call.” Then he throws on a pair of boxers and gets in bed.

  “He got me through a few rough ones.” I move over and pull Chewy the bed hog over with me, giving him room.

  “Your dad okay with this?” He lies back, and Chewy lays his head in my spot, right on his chest.

  “Didn’t talk to him, but Alex is crashing on the couch. Hope you don’t mind.”

  “Don’t mind at all. Mom stopped in and grabbed her clothes today.”

  “Jesus L. Christ,” I whisper, and his lips twitch up. “Pretty intense day, huh?”

  “God, I love you, Tessa.”

  “No one else I’d want to love me.”

  We fall asleep, petting our dog.

  Chapter Forty Five

  Lucas

  “The summer is going by too fucking fast,” I complain as I scrub my hands through my hair.

  Dad laughs as he looks over the plans for next week. “You’re really gonna do this, son—get the job done ahead of time? You know what that means, right?”

  “Hoping for a big-ass bonus,” I say, only half-joking.

  “Tessa finish up her summer classes?” he asks.

  I nod. “Jade’s taking another. Thought she was going to.”

  “Why didn’t she?” he asks, rolling up the blueprints.

  “I asked her not to. I’d like to spend some time with her. This fall is going to be chaos.”

  Ryan walks in, looking fucking spent. He and Jade went to meet with Jade’s attorney and Tommy’s parents.

  “Jade okay?” I ask.

  “Home sleeping,” he says, walking over to the drafting table.

  “I’m gonna take off. Hoping you will stop down to see your sisters before we head back to Jersey.”

  I nod. “I’ll make it happen.”

  “You stop down, too, Ryan,” Dad calls over his shoulder as he leaves.

  “Talk to me, Brooks,” I say, sitting on the edge of my desk.

  “The Lane’s are fucked up.” I start to say no shit, but he continues, “They’re going to come after TJ, and I’m not gonna let them.”

  “That makes two of us.” I nod.

  He stands up. “Not asking your permission, but Jade’s eighteenth is tomorrow, and I’m going to ask her to marry me.”

  “I’m sorry—what?” I ask because I’m pretty sure he just said he was going to ask Jade to marry him.

  “And she’ll mind-fuck it, but she’ll say yes, and we’ll get married, and then they can fuck off with their single mom manipulation shit.”

  “Ryan, man, that’s very honorable—”

  “Honor has little to do with it.”

  “So, you want to fuck her.” I nod, understanding.

  “I wanna love her, man. I wanna do it out loud, and I wanna do it forever, and I want her to be able to be happy. And that boy, TJ, he’ll never not know how awesome Tommy was. So, I’m not asking permission, but I am making you a promise. They will be loved.”

  I’m at a total loss for words as he walks toward the door.

  “Ryan, man, where are you going?”

  “To ask Jack’s permission to marry Jade.”

  He steps out of the trailer, and I call after him, “You may not need or want mine, Ryan, but you got it, and you have my respect for love, man.”

  He looks back and nods. “Appreciate it, man, truly.”

  Standing at Tommy’s final resting place, hands deep in my pockets, I look up at the sky, and there isn’t a cloud up there.

  “Gonna guess you’re aware that Ryan’s asking Jade to marry him. Just wanted you to know he’ll do right by her. Also gonna let you know, if you were reading my thoughts back when I was convinced I was supposed to marry her, take care of TJ and shit, I would have.” I shake my head and look down at his name. “I would have also broken the bro code because I’d have done her, but it would have been for you. I wouldn’t have pushed for anal, and that’s also for you. You’re welcome.”

  I laugh at how stupid I sound, and then I laugh harder because, if he can see me, he’s laughing his ass off right now.

  “Okay, good talk.” I let out a breath, and my eyes fill up. “Miss you, Tommy. Love you, brother.”

  When I get in my SUV and start it, my cell rings.

  “I’m not good at clothes, and rings, and shit,” Ryan says, sounding nervous but serious as shit.

  “You asking me to go shopping with you?”

  “Just meet me in Downtown Ithaca, yeah?” He sighs.

  “Guessing Jack said yes?”

  “He said, if she said yes, then that was permission enough.”

  I smile. “You’re serious, aren’t you?”

  “Of course. I need to know, though: does it bother you?”

  “No, man, I’m actually pretty proud of you,” I admit as I put the SUV in drive.

  “Don’t tell Tessa, please. I want it to be a surprise. But I want you both there if she agrees.”

  “You asking me to be your best man, Ryan?”

  “I guess I am.”

  “No bachelor party?” I laugh.

  Ryan laughs, too. “I don’t think that would go over well, for either of us.”

  Thankfully, I don’t have to hide shit from Tessa, since she’s busy with final wedding details for Molly and Cory’s wedding this weekend.

  I walk into Dad’s rental house, and the girls bombard me. I love this—the excitement they feel when they see me. Honestly, I can’t wait to have two, maybe three, of my own someday. After going pro, of course.

  “Hey, you two. Missed you.” I give them raspberry kisses on their cheeks, and they laugh. They laugh so damn hard, too. I briefly wonder if I ever laughed this hard, but there’s no sense in going back, not when things are looking good. Hell, I just thought about going pro for the first time since Tommy was taken.

  “Hey.” Audrianna smiles and waves me to the counter. “Have a seat. Dinner’s done. Just waiting on your dad to—”

  “Get his butt off the phone.” Ally giggles.

  Audri points to her. “Watch your mouth, sassy pants.”

  Dad never does get off the phone. Clearly, things haven’t changed all that much, but Audri isn’t at all upset; says she’s glad they’re all under the same roof again.

  I read to the girls—princess stories, of course—and when they pass out, I give them each a kiss then quietly leave the room.

  Audrianna is finishing up dishes when I tell her, “I’m gonna head home. Tell Dad I’ll see him tomorrow.”

  “Hold up, Lucas.” Dad walks out of what I assume he uses as his office here. “I have a question for you.”

  “Shoot.”

  “This job really gonna be done that far ahead—”

  “Yeah.”

  He scratches his head.

  “You
wanna know the secret?” I ask.

  “You think a few weeks running a job and you know the answers?”

  “You bet your ass I do.” I laugh then tell him, “Those guys have been on the job a long time. They see two punks leave high school, on their way to college, showing up on time, leaving late, working side by side with them, and they straight up want to school us.”

  He motions for me to continue.

  “That’s it, Dad. We leave our egos at the door. You should be proud of me; I haven’t told any one of them to fuck off.”

  He chuckles. “Job’s not over yet.”

  As he contemplates something, it hits me like a punch in the gut. “Ryan should run the next one.”

  “Ryan’s playing ball at Cortland this fall.”

  “I hope he does, but he’s also head up his ass for Jade, and she’s having a kid, Tommy’s kid.”

  “Been there.” He nods to me.

  “Would give him options.”

  “You were going to be in the same situation, son. You figured out how to do both. If I were to consider it, what makes you think he’d do any differently than you?”

  “I wasn’t in love with Sadi.”

  “So, if it were Tessa?”

  “We wouldn’t be having this conversation, because I’d be staying on as project manager.”

  The next day, Tessa is at work when Ryan calls the company phone.

  “Busy tonight?”

  “Not too busy for you, man. So, tell me, am I planning a G-rated bachelor outing or am I renting a chick flick and grabbing comfort food?”

  “Jade’s on her way to ask Tessa to go shopping for a dress. We’re doing this tonight.”

  “Getting married on a weekday?”

  “Doesn’t really matter the day. I love her; she says she loves me. Hoping it lessens her worry.” He forces a laugh. “Maybe TJ’ll kick for you, huh?”

  Hanging up the phone, I exhale and shake my head. I even ask my one-winged buddy to shoot up a prayer that this ends up being the real deal for them. Tommy’s kid deserves a happy home. Jade and Ryan do, too.

  I’m so in my head that I don’t hear Dad come it.

  “Hey, Dad, what are you doing here?”

  “Just stopping in to check on things.” He looks around. “Ryan still on lunch?”