3. Sophomore Year #2
Shit. My eyes dart back to Laney, who's no longer with Sydney but Noah, and I rub my thumb along my bottom lip as Fisher's words and my thoughts collide.
She didn't get to keep them. That's why she shot me down.
I thought it was because she wasn't into me, that she had moved on after a summer apart, but Fish is right.
He has to be. Why would she wear my shirt tonight if not to get my attention?
"Well, if that's the case, make your move, golden boy. If she's yours...prove it."
"You think I won't?" I say, keeping my eyes trained on her and Noah beside the keg, watching for any sign I'm reading this wrong, anything that says don't do it, not because you don't want to but because she's happy—happy with someone else.
"I got a Benjamin that says you won't." Cooper pulls his wallet out.
"Is that a bet?" Fish asks.
I walk over and grab his shoulder. "I don't want your money, Coop, but I'll take your bet.
" I squeeze his shoulder and head downstairs with a renewed pep in my step.
I'm not betting on her. I'm betting on me.
I'm making a play. You play to win. You might lose, but dammit, you play.
I can't predict how she'll react. It doesn't matter if the odds are in my favor.
I'm going to do it anyway. She means too much not to.
She's important, and I'm done watching her from the sidelines.
Laney made a move, showing up in my shirt.
The proverbial ball is in my court. It's time to play.
Noah Donovan doesn't get to take my girl.
"I'm glad you came tonight. I've been wanting to take you out on a date," I hear Noah say to Laney as I follow a few feet behind them, sticking to the shadows as they make their way down to the boat dock where Sydney is hanging out with her boyfriend, Justin, and a few other random party goers.
They had already started walking toward the boat dock when I got downstairs.
Noah Donovan has been a thorn in my side for the past year.
There is nothing notable about Willow Creek.
It's a small town that tourists accidentally happen upon on their way to the more desirable Lake Texoma towns, but his family sure has taken an interest in it.
Noah's father won the mayoral election by a landslide, and it was no surprise to anyone, seeing as how his family is loaded, and the town isn't. Mayor Donovan offered a lot of promises on his ticket, the main one being jobs.
I wondered why a man with his fortune would be interested in a Podunk town off the beaten path until three new stores opened this past year: Donovan Hardware, Donovan General Store, and Donovan Flowers.
The mayor is slowly buying the town, and I have no doubt he plans on making it a tourist destination with his name stamped all over it.
We don't get to choose our family, and I don't dislike the guy because I think his dad has ulterior motives.
I dislike him because he's all too happy to ride his coattails.
He's not above using his influence to gain Laney's attention, and I don't like it.
I didn't think Laney would either. She's not the type to give a shit about money and status.
However, I haven't interrupted whatever this is to talk to her, because maybe I'm missing something, and I need to know.
I need to know if part of her wants him.
"Yeah, I needed to get out—" catches on the wind before she trips over the transition between the ramp and the shore.
It hasn't gone unnoticed that things have been off with her the past few months.
I convinced myself it was all in my head, that the unease crawling up my spine whenever she entered a room was just my perception shifting.
Somewhere along the line, she became more than just the girl next door, more than just a friend, and because of that, I stopped trusting my own judgment when it came to her.
But hearing those words confirms it wasn't just me.
"Sorry, the dock grabbed my foot," she jokes as Noah stabilizes her with his free arm.
"It's not a problem. I like it when you touch me," he lays it on thick, and I shake my head.
I don't want to hear this. The last thing I care to listen to is another guy flirting with my girl.
"Shit!" I pinch the bridge of my nose. My subconscious is already claiming her, and she's not even mine.
"Or is she?" I question, returning my gaze back to them.
She is wearing your shirt. It's why you came down here.
"You're cute, Noah Donovan." Her back is to me, but I can hear it in her voice. She's smiling.
"Come on, I saw her go this way," Riley Heron's unmistakable high-pitched shrill says somewhere behind me, and I duck behind a tree.
I've been avoiding her all night, and the last thing I need right now is for her to find me.
She'll latch on, and that'll be it. I could lose my chance to talk to Laney, and I refuse to lose the opportunity to ask her why she showed up tonight wearing my t-shirt while she's in it.
Once she and her entourage pass, I move closer to get a better view.
It's dark now, but the dock has Edison lights strung all around the metal roof and the railings, which helps, but still it's hard to see.
I quickly scan the group gathered on the dock, curious who her target might be as she tramps down the ramp on a mission.
My curiosity is short-lived when I see her stop right behind Laney.
"Shit," I mutter as I start toward the dock.
"London." Two hands slide around my bicep, catching me off guard. "We've been looking for you all night," one of the girls from Riley's cheer squad says in a seductive come-hither tone.
I stare at her blankly. I've seen her face a million times, but I can't remember her name for the life of me.
I also don't care to remember it. She's pretty, but I'd never be into a girl who would go behind her so-called friend's back and try to bait the guy she's talking to.
If she's genuinely trying to help Riley find me, there's no need for the flirtatious tone or the batting of her eyelashes.
"Yeah, I think I found her," I say, nodding toward the dock when a splash followed by Riley's obnoxious laugh meant to garner attention has both our heads turning toward the commotion .
Everyone is now staring over the edge into the water when I ask, "What the hell was that?"
"Probably time for skinny dipping," she guesses.
I'm scanning the onlookers, searching for Laney, when Noah dives in. "What in the actual fuck?"
I brush her hand off my arm and continue toward the dock, only to take off in a sprint when Noah pops up out of the water and yells, "She's stuck!"
I don't need to search the dock to know which shadowy figure is missing. Laney.
I'm beyond soaked, my clothes are a second skin, weighing me down, determined to drag me back into the depths that nearly claimed her.
My lungs aren't just burning; they're screaming for mercy with each ragged breath while my muscles tremble and threaten to give out completely as I battle against the shoreline.
Her blonde hair is plastered against her face, and blood is streaming down her right leg, but it's the faint, erratic flutter of her heart against my chest that terrifies me most. I have to focus on that fragile drumbeat because if I don't, I'll lose myself to the panic that gripped me when I thought I might lose one of the only people I've ever truly cared about.
Each shallow breath she takes, each weak thud of her heart as I carry her toward safety, is the only thing keeping me from completely falling apart.
If I hadn't been there…if I hadn't had my grandfather's knife in my pocket…
I shake the thought away. I don't want to know what an existence without her looks like, and I sure as hell never want to feel it.
I feel her fingers tighten around my neck, and I look down at her motionless body.
Our eyes lock, and though no words are shared, something profound passes between us, a silent acknowledgment of what was nearly lost. Not just a life, but a future.
Our future. My eye twitches with the thought, wondering if the "our" part is flicking through her mind the way it is mine .
In the distance, I hear familiar voices.
"Laney, thank god you're okay," Sydney says, coming to my side, but I don't stop walking.
I won't. I can't. Not until she's safe. I can't be sure what put her in that lake, but I know damn well I don't trust anyone else to take care of what is undoubtedly the reason my heart beats.
"London," I hear Noah call out, his footsteps heavy as he runs up the grassy hill beside me as I reach the yard. "Thanks for helping. I can take her home. I offered to take her home. What happened back there didn't change that."
My fingers instinctively grip her tighter. "Go home, Donovan," I grind out without slowing. There's no way she's leaving here with anyone but me.
"I'm her date, Hale!" he attempts to assert, but I ignore it. Laney didn't come here with him. She came with Sydney. His wanting this to be a date and it being a date are not the same.
"You can stop staring, asshats. You're all gawking like you've never seen someone get wet," I hear Sydney say at my back as she follows behind us as we pass the people gathered around the bonfire.
The sound of the music fades once I get past the backyard, and Laney asks, "Is there anything sticking out of my knee?"
"No," I answer, eyes forward.
"Well, how would you know? You didn't even look," she argues as she squirms to get a better look.
My jaw tightens with the memory. The second I came out of the water with her in my arms, my eyes scanned her entire body from head to toe, ensuring I was pulling her out the same way she went in—in one piece.
"Trust me, Laney. I looked," I say, my tone a little thorny.