Chapter 4 Adventures In Chaperoning #7
Despite my frustration (or perhaps because of it), I grab his face and crush my lips to his.
It’s the first time I’ve truly kissed him tonight, and somehow, it feels like every little tiff has built up to this moment of unleashed passion.
Weston lights up as he kisses me back hungrily.
I melt at his touch, my lips softening, my heart thumping against my ribcage harder than the bass line of the music rumbling through the sound system.
Somehow, I know this is a bad idea. But now that I’m kissing him, I can’t stop. His hands tighten around my hips, fingers hooking through my belt loops, and I blindly follow his lead, cradling his face the whole time, saying everything I want to say with my lips on his.
He runs his fingers through my hair, his breath skimming across my left cheek, then lingering at the hollow beneath my ear. I shiver at the mere sensation of his skin on mine, but when a sting of pain comes instead of a kiss, I jolt back.
“Ow! What are you doing?”
Weston laughs, looking rumpled and far too pleased with himself. “I’m giving you a hickey to prove you went to a ‘crazy, inappropriate party.’”
“That was not a hickey,” I argue, reaching up to touch my neck. “You straight-up bit me.”
“Sorry.” He grins sheepishly, tucking a strand of hair behind my ear. “Want me to try again?”
“No. This is ridiculous; we’re supposed to be looking for Henry—”
“Well, you’re the one who started making out with me.”
“I kissed you,” I correct. “You’re the one who started making out with me.”
“You enjoyed it.” Weston winks at me. “Admit it.”
I open my mouth to say something witty and scathing, but that’s when Nicky appears in our corner of the basement, shouting, “Did you guys get drinks yet?”
“Better question.” Weston raises his voice to be heard over the music. “Have you seen my brother Henry tonight?”
Nicky nods. “Yeah, he showed up with Vivi Reynolds—a while ago. They went upstairs, I think.”
Weston shoots me a look over his shoulder, eyes wide with panic. “Upstairs?”
WESTON
Mom’s going to kill me.
That’s all I can think as I grab Tessa’s hand and drag her up the stairs of Nicky Savage’s basement, leaving the party behind.
Henry and Vivi did come here. Hours ago. And apparently, they graduated beyond drinking and dancing and making out… to sneaking upstairs.
My hands are slick with cold sweat as I shove through the basement door and race up another flight of stairs, Tessa on my heels. At last, we reach the second floor—and that’s when Tessa stops me.
“What are you thinking, Wes?” she whispers fiercely. “We can’t just snoop around someone else’s house!”
I put a finger to my lips. “Shhh. Listen.”
Tessa falls silent, and we both stand frozen for a moment, ears open.
Moving as quietly as possible, I creep down the hallway, pausing outside each closed bedroom door, dreading what I might hear on the other side.
Hoping my suspicions are wrong. Maybe he didn’t take Vivi upstairs. Maybe he took her home. Maybe—
A girlish laugh sends a wrecking ball through my train of thought. Vivi’s muffled voice comes from behind one of the closed doors. “Henry, stop—that’s cheating.”
My brother’s unmistakable laugh echoes after hers, and it’s enough to make my stomach plummet to my shoes.
Neil Ferguson’s sneering jokes from earlier come back to haunt me. The kid’s gonna have his eyes opened tonight. Might even beat you to losing his V-card.
Tessa’s eyes flare with anxiety as I approach the door, dread coiling in my gut. My hand reaches out and closes around the knob. I don’t want to turn it. I don’t want to throw open this door and catch my little brother red-handed. But I have no choice.
This is just about the most mortifying position I’ve ever found myself in. And yet, my gut tells me it’ll be worse if I turn a blind eye.
So I take a deep breath and throw open the bedroom door.
“Henry—”
The rest of my sentence freezes in my throat.
Henry and Vivi sit cross-legged on the floor beside a fluffy pink bed, along with another girl—Nicky’s little sister, Florence. All three of them turn to gape at Tessa and me as we stand in the doorway. There’s a Monopoly board on the floor between them.
“Weston?” Henry blurts out, stunned embarrassment all over his face. “What the hell are you doing here?”
Vivi and Florence burst out giggling into their hands, and Henry’s face goes bright pink. He springs to his feet and steps over the Monopoly board, marching across the room to look me in the eyes.
“What are you doing here? Are you following me again?”
“Uh—no,” I stammer, shaking my head. “No, we’re not. We just…”
“How did you find me, then?”
“Nicky said you were up here.”
Henry’s eyebrows arch as he looks between me and Tessa.
“You guys came to Nicky’s party?” His suspicions are confirmed as he studies the two of us—clothes rumpled, hair a mess.
I’m pretty sure I have lipstick on my jaw from Tessa’s kisses, and there’s a visible red bite mark taking shape on her neck.
Henry makes an expression between a smirk and a grimace when he sees it. “So that’s why you made up the whole story about going to the skating rink. I knew you were bullshitting me.”
Tessa’s cheeks blaze with color, and her hand flies up to cover her neck.
“We weren’t planning on coming to Nicky’s party,” I defend myself quickly. “We went to the movies and bumped into Ferguson, and he said you were coming here tonight. What was I supposed to do? Stand by and let you…”
Henry narrows his eyes, waiting for the end of that sentence, but it never comes. “You went to the movies? Why, because I told you I was going there with Vivi?”
I suck in a deep breath, then let it all out in a defeated sigh. “Yeah,” I admit. “I lied, okay? I didn’t want to… but I promised Mom I’d keep an eye on you.”
“Unbelievable.” Henry shakes his head. “I can’t believe this—”
“Well, hey, you lied too.”
“I didn’t lie. I thought we were going to go to the movies, but then I found out that Vivi has epilepsy and can’t watch movies like that in a theater.”
I glance over his shoulder at Vivi, who is sitting on the floor beside her best friend, the two of them giggling over something on her phone.
Henry continues in a low voice, “She knew Florence would be on her own tonight because she doesn’t do her sister’s crazy parties, and… Vivi thought it would be nice to keep her company. So we decided to come over here and play Monopoly instead.”
I am an idiot. The biggest idiot of all time.
“That’s so sweet of you,” Tessa says, with an indulgent smile for my brother and a critical look for me. “Weston didn’t want to embarrass you, Henry. He was just worried, that’s all.”
Henry scoffs. “Worried? What the hell, man?” He shakes his head, looking at me like I just ran over his dog. “I never would’ve expected you to be worried.”
“I wasn’t worried,” I argue. “Mom was worried, and you know how she gets. I was just… trying to make her happy. I’m sorry, okay? It was out of line. I should’ve given you your space.”
“No shit you should’ve—”
“And I said I was sorry!” I toss up my hands. “What else can I do, man?”
Henry takes his sweet time thinking about it before cocking his head to the side and saying, “You could do all my chores for a week.”
“A whole week?” I sigh, tipping my head back defeatedly. “Okay. Deal.”
That manages to resurrect Henry’s grin, the leftover anger melting from his eyes. “I’m looking forward to telling Mom all about what happened tonight,” he says. “Next time, I’ll be the one she’s asking to keep an eye on you.”
Henry returns to his board game, and Tessa pulls me back into the hallway, shutting the door before she bursts out laughing, covering her mouth with her hands.
I shake my head, giving up and laughing with her.
It is pretty funny, in retrospect, to think about all the stupid, crazy stuff we did tonight in the name of protecting my little brother—and, meanwhile, he was staying out of trouble just fine on his own.
“You were right,” I admit. “Henry’s too good for his own good.”
“I’m always right,” Tessa declares with a righteous little smirk. “And you know what that means: I win the wager.”
I nod in dismay. “You win the wager. But mark my words; you’re going to have a hard time finding something I hate to torture me with on our next date.”
“Maybe so,” Tessa murmurs, clasping my hand as we head back down the stairs. “But I’m sure I’ll think of something.”