Chapter Fifteen
T he days leading up to homecoming were nearly perfect.
Stephanie had finally lessened her hold on us and canceled morning practices.
Zack had brought me a purple present every day, ranging from a stuffed cat, to a CD with my name in purple sharpie, to grape flavored gum.
He walked me to class and texted before bed.
It helped the memory of the cafeteria fade into the background and validate that I’d been right to let it go.
Though I had a difficult time reconciling his recent behavior with the fact that he hadn’t even brought up the word “girlfriend.”
“So, Vanessa,” he said with mock formality, “your boyfriend’s a little intense. Like, should I be worried that he’s going to tackle me out of this chair right now?”
“Shut up. And he’s not my boyfriend.”
“Well, good for you. He’s kind of a dick, honestly.”
“We’re still dating. Jesus. You are…” I couldn’t put my finger on the word I needed.
“Dashing. Handsome. Drop dead—”
“Presumptuous.”
He only laughed. “I’ve been called worse. By your non-boyfriend even. I just wanted to say I’m down to hang out sometime. This town is boring. Like really fucking boring. I thought college towns were supposed to be fun, but the bartenders here act like they work for the FBI looking at IDs.”
“Well, you’re not wrong. It is boring if you don’t have party invites. Unless you like to bowl. There’s a big competitive bowling scene here in Fox Falls,” I teased .
“While I fully believe I could rock a bowling shirt, parties would be better.”
“I’ll keep that in mind,” I offered as class began.
* * *
I dug in my bag for the keys while I was on my way to my mom’s car in the lot.
With practices being as crazy as they’d been, she’d loosened the reins a bit and let me drive the Durango.
It was like a whole new world of freedom.
I had been taking the longest way home possible every day just to have a little more time by myself with my music blaring through the speakers.
I felt his presence before he reached me and slung his arm around my shoulders, pulling me into his side.
“Hey baby,” he greeted. “Why do you park allllllll the way over in the corner?”
I shrugged, though I knew exactly why. I was a terrible parker and the turning radius on the SUV was terrible. I didn’t want people watching me re-park fifteen times.
“My mom doesn’t want anyone to ding the door, and she has made me swear to park it somewhere safe. So here I am, far, far away from the other cars.”
“Gotcha. She’s intense, your mom. Anyway, we’re good to go to the river tonight after the game, right? I’ll meet you outside the stadium after I shower.”
“Yeah, of course, I’m excited. I’m also super excited for this halftime to be over, and for regionals to be over, so I can get a fucking break from everyday practices.”
“And spend more time with me,” he grinned, stopping at my car.
“Except you have crazy practices for the rest of the season too, but after that, yes. More time,” I agreed.
He leaned in and I placed a brief kiss on his lips, but he pressed for more.
I dropped my bag and stopped caring that we were still on campus.
A contented sound built in my throat as his knee worked its way between my thighs, effectively pinning me to the vehicle.
I was practically panting by the time he finally pulled back.
His pretty blue eyes stared down at me.
“Please tell me we can be alone. Soon. Like, I need you to come to Vader’s lake house tomorrow night. I know there’s your mom, and honestly, I get it. But I’m worth it, right? I promise I will make it worth it.”
The knee between my legs pressed against me with more pressure, and I gripped his biceps. At that moment, I may have agreed to join the circus if he’d asked.
“I will try. I will.”
“I know you’ll figure it out. Because you want to be with me too, right?”
The way he said it wasn’t really a question.
I mean, I did want to be with him. He’d been amazing lately, and I finally felt like we were settling into something good.
And the way he touched me was better than good.
I was just having flashbacks of the last time I lied to my parents and how hard I’d worked just to get this far with them.
Your mom is ridiculous. This is what normal couples who have normal adult relationships do. They spend the night together. They have sex.
“I do,” I assured him, running my nails lightly down his arms. He grinned against my neck, pulling me in one more before making his way to his own car.
My hands shook when I turned the key in the ignition, though I wasn’t sure which emotion was causing it.
* * *
Lying to my parents was risky in a town as small as Fox Falls.
I had already decided to use Kim as my alibi, though.
She lived on campus, but she did have a futon in her dorm, so it wasn’t totally crazy that I’d want to stay after the dance rather than driving home.
And it was a much better option than saying I was going to sleep over at Liv’s house.
Even though she still lived at home, it would warrant an automatic “no,” for obvious reasons.
My parents had known Kim since forever, and she’d never been in trouble a day in her life.
When I asked my mom, I barely got a second glance before the “sure, that’s fine” came out.
My heart raced. I didn’t think it would be that easy, and I’d been preparing to have to tell Zack I couldn’t go. Except now I could…and that presented a whole new set of worries. I swallowed and pushed those aside. They could wait until after the game.
At the sound of the Jeep outside, I grabbed my cheer bag and silver poms before running out the door. Our hair was in the highest form of ponytail imaginable, adorned with a comically large black sequined bows and covered in glitter hairspray.
“You look like a disco-ball,” Liv commented.
“Right back at ya,” I returned, wishing there was a way to get that glitter out before the party.
During the drive, I took a deep breath. “So, I told my parents I’m sleeping at Kim’s dorm tomorrow so we can go to Vader’s, and I think Zack wants to like, I don’t know, ya know?”
“Are you channeling me tonight? Because I caught like forty percent of that,” she complained, turning down the music.
“I don’t know. I’m sort of freaking out, I think. I’m not wrong, though, am I?”
“Well of course you’re not wrong. He’s a twenty-one-year-old man, and he likes you.
That doesn’t mean you have to do anything about it.
You can maintain your purity pledge or whatever reason you have for not ditching your V-card before college,” she said, and I couldn’t quite decide if I should be offended by that or not.
“Shut up. You know it’s not like that.”
“Sure, sure. Do you want to sleep with him or not?” Liv asked, point blank.
I ignored her and turned up the music for the rest of the short ride to the game.