Aurora answers me with a smile.
Chapter 19
Instead of waiting in the school hallway for JD to come out, I decide to wait for him at his Jeep. Several of the girls on the cheer squad are standing next to the boys’ locker room like vultures circling fresh carrion. Shelby spots me and comes skipping over as I try my best not to be noticed so I can make a hasty escape out the exit doors.
“Hey, Rory!”
Five feet from freedom, I slow down so she can catch up. “Hey, Shelby. You guys did a great job tonight. I loved the new routine.”
Her smile is instant and bright. “Thanks!”
Just because I don’t like three of the cheerleaders at our school, doesn’t mean I have to be a petty bitch to the one who is nice to me. Shelby is one of those people that you can’t not like. She’s bubbly and positive, always the first to give you a compliment or a smile. Not to mention, she is gorgeous. Size two skinny, hazel eyes, long dark hair that is so glossy, the sun reflects off it. She reminds me of Snow White. Shelby and I have known each other since middle school, and it’s probably more my fault than it is hers that we haven’t spoken much or hung out. I always felt so beneath people like her. Shelby is beautiful and sweet; she drives a Beemer and wears nice clothes. Next to her, I feel unworthy. Dirty. Poor.
She walks with me to JD’s truck and helps me lower the tailgate. She’s still in her cheer outfit so she has to hold her tiny skirt down to jump up onto the back to sit. I sit next to her, and we swing our legs back and forth for a few minutes, watching other students and families pass by and get into their vehicles to make the drive home. This evening was a perfect day for a football game. The day started cloudless and sunny, which then turned into a cool, starlit evening. The autumnal temperatures are crisp, just how they should be at this time of year.
Shelby taps my foot with hers. “Can I make an observation?” she asks me.
“Go for it.”
“I thought I would swoon when I saw JD make that heart and hold it up to you. I didn’t realize you two had gotten so close. I mean, you guyshavebeen eating lunch together every day this week, and hehasbeen waiting for you outside your classes. And then today, he’s all up on you at your locker. But last week, you were shoving his note back at me and not wanting to talk to him. What changed your mind?”
All her points are valid and true. “JD can be very persuasive,” I give as an answer.
She snorts. “Yeah. I know the effect of JD’s dimples all too well.”
My head is whipping around so fast, I might have pulled a muscle. “You and JD?”
“What? Oh! No. Nope. There has never been a me and JD. I just meant that he has that effect on us females. Crap! That didn’t come out right either. I’m going to shut up now.”
Shelby is breaking out in a sweat with embarrassment.
“I think I get what you’re saying.”
“He really likes you, you know. He’s a great guy.”
“I know.”
“He’s never had a girlfriend before. I think that’s why everyone is so shocked you guys are dating.”
“I know that too.” Mary Beth made that factveryobvious.
“Hey, since you’re in with the guys now, do you know if Prez is seeing anyone?”
I decide to tease her a little bit. “Shelby, do you like Prescott?” Her legs start swinging faster, making the back of the truck rock. “You do like him!”
She tries to hide the blush on her face by looking at her lap. “I never said that.”
“You don’t have to. And no, I don’t think he’s dating anyone. I like Prescott. He’s funny. Want me to name drop for you?”
She hops off the back of the truck. “Um, no. I’m really not that interested. I was just wondering because Prez was so caught up with his last girlfriend, Candace. She left town this summer. He was pretty broken up about it.”
I turn my phone on to look at the time. JD’s been inside for thirty minutes. It shouldn’t take him that long to shower and change. “I wonder what’s keeping JD?”
Grabbing my arm, Shelby pulls me down off the tailgate. “Let’s go raid the locker room and find your boy. More than likely, he and the guys started talking about the game and he lost track of time. If we’re lucky, they’ll still only be wrapped in their towels when we get there. If we’re luckier, they won’t.” She winks at me.
I think of JD’s freshly showered body with only a towel circling his waist, and a pulsing heat starts to burn me from my toes to my cheeks. Fantastic. Now I’m thinking about how his kisses cause my entire body to go off like a bottle rocket every time his lips touch any part of me. The boy is potent and, if I’m not careful, I fear JD has the power to tear downallmy walls and defenses. When that happens, I’ll be left bare and exposed. Vulnerable.
Falling in love.
