Shirley is eyeing Lane. “Introduce us!”
“Meet… Shirley and Rona,” I stammer.
Lane is still staring at me. He hasn’t moved an inch since I kissed him. Slowly, he blinks, and turns back to our audience.
“Lane. Nice to meet you. You guys are Lois’s friends?”
“They’re Kirk’s friends,” I say slowly, looking at him meaningfully.
“Same-same!” Rona chirps.
There’s a glint in his eye, and I don’t like this one bit.
“We were just telling Lois she definitely has to come to the party tomorrow night.”
I rearrange my face in a smile. “That’s not exactly what you said.”
Actually, they said the exact opposite. Just before Lane arrived, dear, sweet Rona had been listing all the reasons why I definitelyshouldn’t come: according to her, it would be way too much for me to handle—seeing Kirk hand in hand with Rona’s cousin, the girl who spent our high school years trying to steal him from me.
Bitch, please!
“I thought you were still getting over the breakup?” She pouts, her voice thick with faux concern.
“She’s never been better.” Lane smiles, shooting me a quick glance.
Now he gets why I threw myself at him earlier. He moves to stand behind me, slipping his hands under my arms and laying them over my belly, hooking a finger in the waistband of my jean shorts. I tighten my grip on my water bottle, wincing as I hear the plastic crinkling between my fingers.
He keeps his eyes locked on the girls. “You wanna go to the party, babe?” I can feel his breath on my cheek. “I had plans, but…”
I try my best to play it cool, but his lips brushing against my neck make it hard, and it’s harder still when his finger slips lower, grazing the edge of my panties. There are butterflies going crazy in my stomach, and my senses are buzzing.
“We’ll think about it,” I manage.
Lane slings an arm around my neck, leaning into me, his cheek pressed to my temple.
“Listen, this has been fun—but Lois has a very, very busy day planned for us.” He winks at the girls. “Have a great day!”
“See you tomorrow, then, maybe?” Shirley isn’t letting this go.
“Yeah, maybe,” he says, saluting her.
In my head, I’m flipping them the finger, but instead I just wave goodbye and let Lane drag me away from the vipers’ nest.
Once we’re out of sight, I wrestle free, staring straight in front of me, pretending not to notice his sideways glances.
“Don’t say a word.”
“Oh, don’t you worry. My lips are still swollen from that passionate kiss back there.”
I shoot him a dirty look.
“I thought you were about to rip my clothes off and start grinding against me. Show your girlfriends what they’re missing.”
“First of all—they’re not my girlfriends. And second—I wasn’t trying to prove a point.”
“So you just got this uncontrollable urge to suck my tongue off?”
“I didn’t do anything to your tongue!” I throw my hands up. “Jesus! I just wanted them to back the hell off.”
