Chapter 9
NINE
Lainey
Sixteen Years Ago
A s I sat across from Rhett on the other side of his dining room table, I could no longer hear his fingers typing on his laptop or the deep sighs, followed by, what I assumed, was the pounding of the Delete key.
His silence wasn’t the only sign that told me he was staring at me. I could feel his eyes on my skin. On my face. A stare that I could sense even in the dark, which would cover me in goosebumps, which would make it almost impossible for me to be still.
It had that much of an effect on me.
I glanced up, the screen of my laptop hiding my smile, but it was there, bigger than ever.
“What are you doing?” I asked.
His hands went behind his head as he leaned back in his chair. “Staring at you.”
Noises outside drew my attention to the window, where I could see Penelope, Ridge, Rowan, and several of Rhett’s teammates splashing around in the pool. We should technically be out there with them. Rhett’s dad was out of town this weekend, and since his parents were divorced, he’d opted to stay here with no supervision rather than go to his mom’s place. And since he’d had a game last night, he had today and tomorrow off from football. So, his house was now a free-for-all until we had school on Monday.
“But by staring at me, you’re not getting anything done. We promised we’d finish up these college apps and then shut off our computers and have fun.”
We were going into the third week of our senior year, and it was already hitting hard. I had more homework than I knew what to do with, which was why I wanted to attack the college stuff on the weekend, wrap it all up, and get it submitted.
The glimmer in Rhett’s eyes told me his plan was much different from mine, regardless of what he’d agreed to.
“I should be doing that, yes. I’d much rather be looking at you.”
I wiggled in my chair. I couldn’t help it. “Have you finished any of the applications?” I checked my watch. “We’ve been at it for over an hour.”
“Nah.” He grinned. “But we really only need to complete one. We’re going to USC. We decided that over summer break.” He licked his lips. “So, there’s no need to apply to Stanford or the University of California, Berkeley.”
Aside from having an epic summer that had been spent at the beach, in his pool, and with all our friends, we’d narrowed down our top school choice.
“Except what if we don’t get in?” The worry was in my chest, beating away, keeping my hands on the keyboard of my laptop, refusing to lift until I was done. I couldn’t imagine what would happen if one of us got in and the other didn’t. That thought had been haunting me. “It’s a tough school, Rhett.”
“Don’t worry, we’ll get accepted.”
“But what if we don’t?” I looked at my screen, the cursor blinking on the third paragraph of my college essay, which I’d already rewritten a handful of times, each draft continuing to get worse. I shut the screen and rested my hands on the back of it, the metal cold against my skin. “We need to apply to each of the schools, Rhett. Because I don’t care what you say, there’s always a chance.”
“False.”
I let out a short laugh. “How is that false?”
“We get good grades, and we have high SAT scores. You’re involved in extracurricular activities, and I’m on the football team. On paper, we look sick. We’re a shoo-in, baby.”
“Same for almost everyone else at our school.”
“But they don’t have my dad. He’ll pull strings if he has to—and I’m not saying it’ll even get to that, but he has the power to make it happen. All it’ll take is a phone call. I’ve already talked to him about it.”
“You have?”
He nodded.
The thought of Rhett sitting down with his dad, talking about our future plans and how we wanted to go to college together, had me asking, “What did you say to him?”
“I told him I was going to college with my girl. That I don’t want to be apart from you and that I had no doubt we would get in, but if we needed some extra help, I’d let him know.”
“He was cool with that?”
“Sure was.”
When I’d had the same conversation with my parents, they hadn’t been surprised to hear I wanted to attend college with Rhett, considering he was the reason I’d pushed so hard to move back to LA. But they didn’t want him to be the reason I attended a certain college over the other. They’d reiterated multiple times that their biggest concern was my education and they wanted that to be my top focus.
Dad was a graduate of Stanford. He preferred I go there instead of USC. Rhett’s father, Ray, was a huge fan of USC football and donated to the team, which probably had something to do with Rhett wanting to go there.
“What about your parents?” he asked. “You never told me what they said when you talked to them about it.”
I slowly filled my lungs.
“Shit,” he groaned as he studied my face. “It went bad?”
“Not bad.”
“But not good either?”
My head dropped, no longer holding eye contact. “They want me to put school first.”
“And me second.”
I pulled my arms back and wrapped them around my stomach. “Something like that.”
“Is this going to get messy, Lainey?”
“No.”
“You sure?”
I let in more air and exhaled it out. “There’s no question in Dad’s mind that I’m going to college with you. He just wants me to make the right choice school-wise, you know? Like, if you want USC and I want Stanford, I won’t settle just to go with you.”
“Are you settling?”
“Definitely not.”
“Then, you’ll just have to make Dean’s List every semester, so he stays happy and off our backs.”
I laughed. “That would please him, for sure.” I glanced out the window, where Penelope was play-wrestling with one of the offensive linemen. A tower of beer cans—from what the group had already drunk today—was next to them. “I still think we should apply to the other two schools. Not as backups, but as possibilities. In case … I don’t know.”
“In case what?”
My stomach did a flip. “What if, at the last minute, we decide Stanford is a better fit?” Or if my dad threatened not to pay for school, but I wasn’t going to bring that up. “Or what if UC Berkeley is more our mood? I don’t want to be stuck, and I don’t want you to be stuck. I want to do this right … it’s a big decision.”
“Come here.” He pushed away from the table and tapped his lap. When I didn’t move, he repeated, “Come here, Lainey.”
A tingle suddenly moved its way through me. “Why do I feel like the second I reach you, you’re going to try to get me naked?”
He laughed. “Because you know me, and that’s normally the case.” He nodded toward his patio. “But I wouldn’t do that here, not when my teammates or siblings could see you. Even the thought of that makes me fucking crazy.” He leaned his elbows on the table and pushed his chest into the edge of the wood. “Come here.”
I rose from the chair and walked over to his side of the table, wrapping my arms around his neck, my lips positioned in front of his. “I’m here.”
He kissed me, softly at first and then with much more hunger. “This is what I wanted.”
He buried his face in my neck. I rested my face on top of his head, my eyes briefly closing as I breathed in his cologne. The woodsy and liquor combo was a scent I still couldn’t get enough of.
“Can I tell you a secret?” I whispered.
A secret I wouldn’t tell my parents.
A secret I wouldn’t even admit to Penelope.
“Of course.”
“I don’t care where I go to school as long as I’m with you.”
He lifted his head, which made mine do the same, and I gazed into his eyes.
“I fucking love you.” His admission earned him a smile. “College is going to be so much better than high school. Just wait. You’ll see.”
“Why do you think so?”
He pecked a spot close to my ear before he moved on to my cheek. “There won’t be football on my schedule—no practice, lifting—or even any work at Dad’s office to occupy my time. You won’t have a curfew either, so if we’re not in class, we’ll be together, and you’ll be spending every night in my bed.”
Now, there were so many things that got in the way of us hanging out. Many evenings a week, Rhett worked at his dad’s office, and with it being football season, he had practice and lifting after school. Besides that, my parents wouldn’t let up on my midnight curfew, and I couldn’t stay the night at his house under any circumstances.
The little time we had wasn’t enough.
I found myself constantly missing him throughout each day, craving the summer when he hadn’t been as busy.
Which was why, when I’d found out Rhett and his siblings were going to be left alone this weekend, I had come up with a fib to tell my parents so I could spend both nights at his house. I hated not telling them the truth, but I also hated the thought that a ton of girls would show up, who would want nothing more than to be all over the hottest guy at our school.
“Every word of that sounds so amazing.” I pressed my forehead against his. “I’m ready to go. Right now.”
His hands went to my face. “We still have a shit ton to look forward to this school year. It’s going to fucking rock, and I wouldn’t fast-forward time even if I could. That would mean I’d miss out on my last season of football and skip out on us walking across the stage for graduation.” He nuzzled my neck. “I’m already dreaming about taking off your prom dress.”
I giggled as his lips tickled me. “You’re right. This is going to be the best year ever.”
“Make me a promise?”
“Okay.”
“You’ll stop stressing about us getting in.”
No matter what, I wouldn’t be able to relax until the acceptance letters were in my hand.
But I still replied, “I’ll try my hardest.”
The sound of shouting and laughter caused me to look outside. Penelope was in the pool, on the shoulders of the linebacker, and Rowan, Rhett’s little sister, was on the shoulders of the running back. The girls were trying to knock each other into the water.
“I love how they’re all outside, drinking their faces off, having a blast, and we’re inside, working on college stuff.” I took in his expression. “And you haven’t bitched about it once.”
“You wanted to get this done before Monday. This was the first chance we got. I’ve got all night to get hammered with those fools.” He winked.
Still, he hadn’t complained when I told him I wanted to finish our essays and applications before we partied. Not once had he tried to rush us through it so he could go outside and join his friends. He seemed perfectly content in here, with me, which made him my favorite person in the world.
And it made me love him even more.
“Just so you know, you’ve blown my mind.”
“Yeah?” His head cocked to the side. “Does that mean I’ve earned myself a beer? And some pool time?”
“Have you finished a single application? And your essay?”
He laughed.
I tapped his chest. “I know you think this is a riot, but let’s just get it done, Rhett. I don’t want to put it off any longer and miss the deadline—we’d be screwed.”
“You’re underestimating the power my father has.”
“That’s not it at all. I’m just hoping we won’t have to use him and we’ll be able to get in on our own. I want the admissions department to love me on paper. It’ll be the most rewarding feeling to know all my hard work has actually paid off.”
“That’s fair.”
“So, we finish, and then we go join the group.” I paused. “Cool?”
He smiled as he shook his head. “Lainey …”
“Yes?”
“Lainey, Lainey …”
“ Yesss ?”
His face was warming, and there was a bit of mischief in his eyes. Before I could ask what he was plotting, he was lifting me in the air.
“Rhett? What are you doing?” My legs wrapped around him, and I held on to his shoulders.
He moved us through the dining room and living room to the sliding glass door. “Probably what I should have done an hour ago.”
“Which is?”
The door opened, and he brought us outside. “Get you wet.”
“Wet—” The word was barely out of my mouth before he was running us across the patio and jumping into the pool.
With my legs and arms still around him, we sank under the water.
I didn’t have a bathing suit on, just a pair of cutoff jean shorts and a T-shirt, both sticking to me as I surfaced, pushing my dripping hair off my face.
Rhett’s arms stayed around me as I bobbed. He chuckled as he looked at me. “Sorry. I had to. It was the only way to get you to focus on fun instead of obsessing over these applications. We’ll get them done, don’t worry.”
“You’re the worst.”
“But I thought you loved me?” His smile was bigger than I’d ever seen it.
I wiped the water out of my eyes. “I did. Past tense.”
He tugged my bottom lip into his mouth, releasing it to say, “I don’t believe you.” He kissed me. “And what I believe is that you know I’m right.”
“Right about what?” Penelope asked as she swam over, pulling me out of Rhett’s grip and giving him a playful push before she surrounded me in a hug.
“That I need to stop working on college apps and start having fun,” I groaned to my sister.
“You’re so fucking right about that.” She gave Rhett a pound. “Lain, I’ve been waiting for you and your hottie to come and join me out here, and you’ve been taking forever . Shots! We need shots! Where’s the tequila?”
I tried to keep us afloat in the deep end while holding the weight of my sister. “No shots for me.”
“Come on. You never get wasted with me.” She dragged me to the edge of the pool, where there was a bottle of tequila close by that she could grab without even having to get out of the water. She poured some into three plastic cups and handed a cup each to Rhett and me, holding hers high in the air. She then wrapped her arm around Rhett’s shoulders, using him to stay above the water. “To spending the weekend at lover boy’s house”—she tapped her forehead against Rhett’s cheek—“and to hooking up with that sexy linebacker.” Her gaze shifted to the shallow end. “Oh my God, he’s so hot.”
“You’re done with my quarterback?” he asked Pen.
She sighed. “He was summer. I’ve moved on to fall.”
“And both of the guys know that?” he pressed.
“Who cares? It’s not like things are ever serious or I’m going to marry one of them. And once I’m done with the linebacker, I’m moving on to the lacrosse team. Those boys know how to party, and I love that.”
“They’re also nothing but trouble,” Rhett said. There was an edge of concern in his voice that I didn’t miss.
I wondered where it had come from, considering the football team had a reputation for getting rowdy too.
Did he know something I didn’t?
“It’s our senior year,” Pen replied, pulling him even closer to her. “You’re the one who’s harping on having all the fun, not me. Maybe you should take your own advice.” She released him and held the edge of the pool, putting her glass in the middle of us. “Oh, and don’t be surprised if I climb into your bed in the morning and cuddle between you two. Lain knows I like to spoon.” She laughed. “Cheers.”
Rhett moved slowly, but he met her cup, and I did as well.
Then, the two of us said, “Cheers,” in unison.
While they leaned their heads back and downed the liquor, I pretended to do the same, except the tequila went into the pool instead of my mouth.
The last thing I was going to do was get drunk.
Someone needed to watch out for Penelope this weekend and make sure Rhett’s party didn’t get out of control—roles no one had asked me to take on but that I’d assigned to myself.