Love Story
Page 25
With a grin, Reece turns and plops on the couch, patting the cushions with both palms, before draping his arms over the back of the sofa. “Fold-out bed, am I right?”
“Ah—” It probably is. I think I remember the guy at check-in say something about that, but I was in such a daze….
“You can’t stay here tonight,” I say.
“Sure I can,” he says, leaning forward and linking his fingers between his spread thighs. The confidence is damn sexy. Also, annoying. “I’m all for you celebrating the end of that shitty relationship, Luce, but I can’t afford another night here. For that matter, neither can you. We’ll split the cost of this room tonight.”
It’s a practical idea, but not a smart one. Reece and I in the same car is bad enough. In the same bedroom…
But the way his attention’s on his cellphone tells me I’m the only one whose thoughts are headed that direction. “Hurry up. We’re grabbing cocktails before dinner.”
I blink at him. “Cocktails. Who are you?”
The Reece I knew hated restaurants. Was more the type to make sandwiches and take you to a secluded pond somewhere to kiss you senseless rather than out for cocktails.
Then again, to be fair, we were teenagers.
Still, it’s a little jarring to realize that he can surprise me. For so long, I’ve thought I had him pinned, could anticipate every move.
Now I’m realizing that I knew the boy. I knew the boy better than he knew himself.
But the man? The man is new. The man is hot.
And even as I bite my lip and contemplate the wisdom of spending an evening in his company, I know that I’ll do it anyway.
Because suddenly I’m desperate. Desperate to know the man as well as I knew the boy.
For the first time I realize that maybe there’s hope for me and Reece to get back to what we were before. Friends. Good friends.
Just…minus the whole messy falling in love part this time.
Because that shit hurt.
Chapter 18
LUCY, SEVENTEEN, REECE, EIGHTEEN
Lucy sat at the big round table, her thumb clasping and unclasping the magnetic fastener of her pink lace clutch over and over, even as she tried to look relaxed.
Tried to look like she was sitting here all alone at prom because she wanted to be.
Next year, she told herself. Next year will be better.
At Jefferson High, both juniors and seniors could attend prom. She’d never really understood why you were allowed to go two years, but she did now.
It was in case you needed a do-over.
Kayley caught Lucy’s eye across the room and gave her a sympathetic wave over Mike Chevron’s beefy shoulder.
Lucy faked a smile and waved back. I’m fine.
A shadow appeared to her right, and she glanced up, fully braced for Craig to demand Luke’s whereabouts so he could beat the crap out of Lucy’s missing date.
It wasn’t her brother.
“Hi!” Lucy said in surprise.
Reece jerked his chin in greeting, using the foot of his rented dress shoes to pull out the flimsy folding chair beside her.
Lucy fixed him with a look the second he sat down. “Did my brother send you?”
Instead of answering, he studied her, his sharp eyes no doubt taking in the red nose and mussed eye makeup. “Where’s Dickson?”
Lucy sighed. Luke Dickson was one of the most popular boys in the junior class. Starting pitcher for the baseball team, ASB treasurer…
And entirely incapable of handling the tequila his idiot friend DJ had snuck into the limo on the way over.
“Puking his guts out in the dumpster, probably,” Lucy said. “Mrs. Gomez caught him and called his parents to come pick him up.”
“What about you?”
Lucy resumed her fiddling with her clutch. “I’ll call Mom or Dad in a few.”
Reece was silent for a moment more. Then he nodded and, apparently satisfied with her answer, stood just as the DJ announced the last song of the evening.
But instead of walking away as she expected, Reece held out his hand. Lucy blinked at the hand, then up at him.
He lifted an eyebrow. “This is the part where you say, ‘Yes, Reece, I will dance with you.’ ”
Lucy’s heart fluttered as she registered the heat of his hand against hers when he pulled her to her feet. “What about Abby? The DJ said this is the last dance of the evening.”
Reece shrugged. “I checked with her. She doesn’t mind. She doesn’t like to dance much. And she knows you’re practically my sister.”
Just like that, the happy butterflies making Lucy’s heart beat too fast had their wings ripped off.
Still, she swallowed her disappointment. Dancing with someone dismissing her as a sister was still better than not dancing with him at all.
Reece led her onto the dance floor as a sappy ballad trickled through the sound system, and as she stepped toward him to put her hands on his shoulders, she could have sworn she saw something a bit like panic flit across his face.
Lucy licked her lips nervously as his hands reluctantly found her waist. “You look nice.”
His big shoulders shrugged beneath her arms. “You can blame your mom. She dragged me and Craig to the rental store this afternoon.”
There was a moment of awkward silence, and his fingers tightened just the slightest bit on her waist before he cleared his throat. “You look nice too. Pretty.”
Lucy smiled against the rough fabric of his suit jacket, even though he couldn’t see her. She felt pretty. Her dress was light pink, with a fitted, beaded bodice, and a poofy skirt, which she hoped distracted from her small chest size.
“Ah—” It probably is. I think I remember the guy at check-in say something about that, but I was in such a daze….
“You can’t stay here tonight,” I say.
“Sure I can,” he says, leaning forward and linking his fingers between his spread thighs. The confidence is damn sexy. Also, annoying. “I’m all for you celebrating the end of that shitty relationship, Luce, but I can’t afford another night here. For that matter, neither can you. We’ll split the cost of this room tonight.”
It’s a practical idea, but not a smart one. Reece and I in the same car is bad enough. In the same bedroom…
But the way his attention’s on his cellphone tells me I’m the only one whose thoughts are headed that direction. “Hurry up. We’re grabbing cocktails before dinner.”
I blink at him. “Cocktails. Who are you?”
The Reece I knew hated restaurants. Was more the type to make sandwiches and take you to a secluded pond somewhere to kiss you senseless rather than out for cocktails.
Then again, to be fair, we were teenagers.
Still, it’s a little jarring to realize that he can surprise me. For so long, I’ve thought I had him pinned, could anticipate every move.
Now I’m realizing that I knew the boy. I knew the boy better than he knew himself.
But the man? The man is new. The man is hot.
And even as I bite my lip and contemplate the wisdom of spending an evening in his company, I know that I’ll do it anyway.
Because suddenly I’m desperate. Desperate to know the man as well as I knew the boy.
For the first time I realize that maybe there’s hope for me and Reece to get back to what we were before. Friends. Good friends.
Just…minus the whole messy falling in love part this time.
Because that shit hurt.
Chapter 18
LUCY, SEVENTEEN, REECE, EIGHTEEN
Lucy sat at the big round table, her thumb clasping and unclasping the magnetic fastener of her pink lace clutch over and over, even as she tried to look relaxed.
Tried to look like she was sitting here all alone at prom because she wanted to be.
Next year, she told herself. Next year will be better.
At Jefferson High, both juniors and seniors could attend prom. She’d never really understood why you were allowed to go two years, but she did now.
It was in case you needed a do-over.
Kayley caught Lucy’s eye across the room and gave her a sympathetic wave over Mike Chevron’s beefy shoulder.
Lucy faked a smile and waved back. I’m fine.
A shadow appeared to her right, and she glanced up, fully braced for Craig to demand Luke’s whereabouts so he could beat the crap out of Lucy’s missing date.
It wasn’t her brother.
“Hi!” Lucy said in surprise.
Reece jerked his chin in greeting, using the foot of his rented dress shoes to pull out the flimsy folding chair beside her.
Lucy fixed him with a look the second he sat down. “Did my brother send you?”
Instead of answering, he studied her, his sharp eyes no doubt taking in the red nose and mussed eye makeup. “Where’s Dickson?”
Lucy sighed. Luke Dickson was one of the most popular boys in the junior class. Starting pitcher for the baseball team, ASB treasurer…
And entirely incapable of handling the tequila his idiot friend DJ had snuck into the limo on the way over.
“Puking his guts out in the dumpster, probably,” Lucy said. “Mrs. Gomez caught him and called his parents to come pick him up.”
“What about you?”
Lucy resumed her fiddling with her clutch. “I’ll call Mom or Dad in a few.”
Reece was silent for a moment more. Then he nodded and, apparently satisfied with her answer, stood just as the DJ announced the last song of the evening.
But instead of walking away as she expected, Reece held out his hand. Lucy blinked at the hand, then up at him.
He lifted an eyebrow. “This is the part where you say, ‘Yes, Reece, I will dance with you.’ ”
Lucy’s heart fluttered as she registered the heat of his hand against hers when he pulled her to her feet. “What about Abby? The DJ said this is the last dance of the evening.”
Reece shrugged. “I checked with her. She doesn’t mind. She doesn’t like to dance much. And she knows you’re practically my sister.”
Just like that, the happy butterflies making Lucy’s heart beat too fast had their wings ripped off.
Still, she swallowed her disappointment. Dancing with someone dismissing her as a sister was still better than not dancing with him at all.
Reece led her onto the dance floor as a sappy ballad trickled through the sound system, and as she stepped toward him to put her hands on his shoulders, she could have sworn she saw something a bit like panic flit across his face.
Lucy licked her lips nervously as his hands reluctantly found her waist. “You look nice.”
His big shoulders shrugged beneath her arms. “You can blame your mom. She dragged me and Craig to the rental store this afternoon.”
There was a moment of awkward silence, and his fingers tightened just the slightest bit on her waist before he cleared his throat. “You look nice too. Pretty.”
Lucy smiled against the rough fabric of his suit jacket, even though he couldn’t see her. She felt pretty. Her dress was light pink, with a fitted, beaded bodice, and a poofy skirt, which she hoped distracted from her small chest size.
