Ace presses out a sad smile before heading for the exit. I watch as he piles into Gavin’s truck, and they speed off in a plume of dust.
There’s no way in hell Ace forgot about our heated exchange. And I’ll be damned if we don’t share even more than that tonight.
Ace
The sun magnifies through the windshield and blinds me until we make our way west, past Pleasure Point and up into the woods. If I didn’t break my back this morning trying to add an extra hour to my routine, I’ll be sure to finish it off in the woods.
“So where were you last night?” Gavin’s cheek twitches. That usually signals bullshit like maybe he’s lying, but in this case I’m betting he knows exactly where I was. “Did you do that whole eighties thing at Kennedy’s?”
“She invited me.” My chest bounces with a silent laugh. The last thing on the agenda was hanging out with a bunch of stoned preppies, unless, of course, Reese was there, then I would have gone. “I wasn’t up to it, so I stayed home, chilled out. And you?”
“I was at the party.” He shakes his head. “I thought maybe you had some chick in the back. Rumor has it, those sorority girls are hot and wet in all the right places.” He blinks a smile.
“You can always get your ass back in school if you want. Lots of girls roaming those halls down in Collingsworth.” It’s been a sore spot with him recently especially since I announced I’m transferring to Yeats in the fall. Gavin has pretty much taken care of himself after his parents died in a car accident his junior year of high school.
“Nice try, but let’s stay on topic. I saw your shiny white ass crawl out of the lake on my way home. And whose beautiful ass did I spy crawling out with you? And is she free tonight? Because if you’re done, send her my way, bro. She looked like she had a serious rack to contend with.”
Shit. I let out a breath.
Gavin’s not a player. He’s just enjoying the hell out of himself while he breaks my balls.
“It was Reese.”
I watch as his eyes widen then retract before he straightens out the wheel.
“And, no,” I continue, “I’m not sending her your way.” I let him in on the arrangement she tried to haul me into.
“Are you shitting me?” He swerves for a moment.
“Nope, I’m not shitting anyone.”
“So, are you in?” He slows the truck down as he parks in the clearing.
“Hell, no. She’s got Warren. She was probably pissed at him for not getting her latte right, or, who knows, maybe it’s some game to get him worked up.” That kiss we shared pulses through my mind, and the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. I didn’t think it was possible to feel that way with just a simple kiss, but nothing about that kiss was simple.
“Maybe she doesn’t want Warren.” He swings open his door and pauses. “Maybe she’s into you. You ever tell her how you feel?”
“Not going there.” I shake my head at the thought. I’ve made the mistake of mentioning my emotional hard-on for Reese one too many times before.
Gavin tugs on his ball cap. “If I were you, I’d tell her how I felt. But, if you’re too big of a pussy to own up, I’d take her up on the offer anyway. Might be the last chance you get to hook up with the girl of your dreams. And for the entire summer?” He shakes his head while staring at the trees. “Something is definitely up. I’m betting she’s feeling it for you, too.”
“No way.” Even if she were, I’d never be enough for her.
“I think you’re wrong.” He tosses out a knuckle bump. “Let’s go hack down a forest.”
“Let’s do it.”
I step out and secure my baseball cap over my head.
That final exchange with Reese at the coffee shop runs through my mind. I tried to put out the signal that I wasn’t interested—that she shouldn’t venture in my direction, but if she does make an effort to find me tonight maybe I will take her up on her offer.
Hell—I know I will.
In the evening, after hours spent decimating an entire forest with Gavin, I sit my ass on the front porch of the cabin and nurse a cold one. I pretend not to notice the fact Warren’s Beamer is still missing from his driveway, even though it’s a quarter to ten. I know for a fact they left around six because I passed them on my way down to the dock to help tie my dad into his slip.
The heat of the day still radiates from the boulders like a furnace. Loveless is socked in with hillsides in all directions, so the heat tends to settle and pretty much turns the lake into an inferno from May to September.
A beat up Chevy Impala pulls in front of the cabin like it belongs here, and A.J. Goodman, my sister’s boyfriend, hops out clad in black with his combat boots laced to his shins. He’s got at least a dozen piercings I can see and probably a dozen more I don’t care to know about.
