Troy stilled immediately, his hands landing on the backs of my thighs. I lifted my head and dizzily found Gina’s amused gaze. “Albert?” we said in unison.
He squeezed my thigh and slid his hand up just below my ass. I squeaked again and hit his shoulder.
The waitress went on, “I don’t know what you think you’re doing, son. But I raised you to be a gentleman.”
He squeezed the back of my thigh again, forcing me to agree with the waitress. “He is definitely not being a gentleman right now.”
For that comment, he spanked me. Actually spanked me.
“Troy Albert!” I hollered. “Put me down right now.”
Glancing around at the diner from my point of view, I could see that we had captured everyone’s attention. My cheeks warmed with embarrassment, but my entire body heated for an entirely different reason.
A reason that still had his hands all over me.
“Do as the lady asks,” the waitress pleaded, sounding exceedingly exhausted. “Before the whole town is gossiping about it.”
“Yes, Aunt Grace.” Troy sounded sufficiently reprimanded and I couldn’t help but feel like the winner.
I heard Troy’s aunt move back behind the counter and I was worried I’d lost my ally, but Troy’s hands landed on my waist next and he lowered me to the ground. He kept my body close to his, sliding me down the front of him. When I landed back on my feet I grabbed his jacket to steady myself.
My head swam from all the spinning, but it was Troy’s piercing blue eyes that left me truly unbalanced. “Sorry,” I whispered. “I’m dizzy.”
His hands stayed on my waist, holding me in place. The heat of his body burned through my flimsy shirt. My breath caught in my throat and my heart fluttered wildly.
Troy’s mouth dipped towards mine and he teased, “Are you saying I make you dizzy?”
“I’m saying…” What was I saying? What was I doing?
This night was supposed to be about Jake Turner, about the one guy I had wanted my entire life. This night was supposed to be about forgetting all of my problems and just letting go.
Gina’s voice cut through my confused haze, shouting, “Get a room you two!”
Troy’s expression turned murderous, but I was thankful for the interruption. I jumped out of his arms and tugged at my skirt, terrified that I’d mooned the kids eating the waffles.
I stepped around Troy and slid into the booth next to Gina. I couldn’t look at her or at Mikey, so I stared at the Formica table and tried to catch my breath.
I felt Troy slide into the booth across from me more than saw him. He had this energy that I could suddenly feel. It buzzed over my skin and made my stomach flip with anticipation. I didn’t know what to do with it.
In an hour I was going to be screaming for Jake and then hopefully hanging out with him backstage. His invitation to find him after his set had gone way better than I could have hoped. All I had to do now was get to the show.
The tip of Troy’s boot found mine under the table. He nudged me once, then twice, then three times until I finally lifted my gaze and looked at him.
“Get the waffles, Carmichael. I’ll even pay for them if you don’t like them.”
I lifted one eyebrow. “Are you serious?”
He tapped the table with one of those ridiculously long fingers. “As a heart attack.”
My teeth sunk into my bottom lip. It was too good to pass up. “Fine,Cameron, you win. I’ll try the damn waffles.”
The waitress reappeared. This time Troy stood up and kissed his aunt on the cheek. “Grace, these are some friends from school. Everybody, this is my Aunt Grace.”
Grace, a no-nonsense squat woman with big hair, bright makeup and tan pantyhose beneath a blue uniform dress and white apron, rolled her eyes at her nephew. “Names, Troy. I need names.”
He smiled at her, apparently used to her attitude. “You know Mikey from the team,” he started. “That’s Gina. We just met today. And this is Cassandra Carmichael. We have English together.”
Grace’s face softened at the mention of my name. I shifted uncomfortably as she stared at me with a secret smile on her face. “Cassandra Carmichael, I think I’ve heard my nephew mention that name once or twice.”
