Chapter 10
Scotty: Last night on the porch is living rent free in my mind. Tell Lyss I’m sorry, and I’ve got Sunday off. I’ll fix the porch for her then.
Laura: Look at you being our knight in shining armor.
Scotty: Say “knight” again, Princess, and I’ll show up Sunday ready to fix your porch…and finish everything we started on that swing.
I stare at the screen, rereading his message and blushing. I should not be getting this hot over a text message and a broken porch swing while dressed as a damn princess.
Who the hell gave Scotty permission to send me texts like that?!
Me. When I willingly crawled on his lap and rode his hoagie dick, fully prepared to…what? Take him there on the porch? Is it bad that I wouldn’t have said no? That the idea of getting caught kind of turned me on more?
Stop it, Laura. Stop!
I shake my head, desperately trying to stop thinking about Scotty for one second. It’s just hard when I can practically feel his breath against my neck, and the way his fingers dug into my hips, pulling me closer.
I quickly type back a response that I’ll no doubt regret later.
Laura: Finish what we started? I don’t know what you mean, Knight. Be specific.
Bubbles appear and then disappear; my hand is shaking a little as I wait for him to type back. It’s just a little flirting with my… boyfriend. No. I can’t call him that. It’s too soon, and we barely know each other. Not to mention that I asked him to keep it all a secret.
Scotty: If I get specific, you’re not leaving the house today. Is that what you want? Because I could skip practice to come over and show you.
I hate it. I hate how he’s so willing and eager to put me first, but I also kind of love it. No one has ever made me feel as important as he does. Knowing I’m going to have to say no to his proposition, I take a quick selfie, pouting my lips with my princess makeup and tiara already on.
Laura: Can’t stay in today. I’ve got some five-year-olds to entertain.
Scotty: I’m literally biting my fists over here, Princess. I need to see you today. Is your car still being worked on? Can I pick you up?
My stomach flutters at the thought of him seeing me like this after everything has shifted.
Laura: Sure. It’s at the Covey rec center. I finish around 12:30.
Scotty: You’ve just made my day, Princess. Pretty good timing since it’s my birthday and all.
Laura: Your birthday?! Scotty, you can’t just drop that into a text like the weather. I had no idea.
Scotty: How could you? I didn’t tell you.
Laura: But I didn’t get you anything.
Scotty: Picking you up is enough of a gift. Heading to practice. Hopefully, thinking of you won’t distract me too much.
Laura: See you soon, Knight.
“Laura, are you ready?” Lyss calls from downstairs.
“Coming!” I tuck my phone into my pocket and adjust my tiara and hair one more time before grabbing my oversized party bag and heading down the stairs.
When I’m outside, I lift my princess skirt and pass the very swing that’s now half-hanging on Lyss’s porch and walk down the steps to her car where she’s already waiting for me.
“Thanks for taking me,” I say, stuffing my giant gown into the car.
“You know it’s no trouble,” Lyss waves me off. Her hands are gripping the steering wheel, and she’s staring out at Aiden’s house with narrowed eyes.
“Is everything okay?”
“Yeah. I’m just trying to think about how I’m going to pay Aiden back for screwing up my porch swing.”
“Aiden? Porch swing? No, Lyss, Aiden had nothing to do with the porch swing breaking.”
“Oh, he totally did. How else do you explain it breaking while you were reading a book? He must’ve loosened the fixings because he wanted to see me fall on my ass. Well, what he doesn’t realize is I have Bluetooth speaker and a plan.”
“Oh no.” I slide down in my seat and cross my arms.
“What? It’ll be easy. All I need to do is sneak into his house, and stuff it in the stair vents. Then I’ll play pigeon noises.”
“Aiden didn’t break your swing.” I sigh, wishing this stupid prank war between the houses would end. “It was me.”
Lyss starts to drive out of our neighborhood. “Yeah, but it wouldn’t have happened if Aiden hadn’t meddled with it.”
“He didn’t though. It broke because… because I was kissing Scotty on it and things got out of hand.”
She brakes, stopping right at the end of the street. “Excuse me?”
“I’m sorry! Scotty said he’d come over on Sunday and fix it.”
“The swing isn’t my problem right now. You made out with hoagie dick Hendricks and didn’t tell me?”
My brows furrow. “Hoagie dick Hendricks?”
“I can’t believe you didn’t tell me. Explains why you’ve been in a good mood all morning, but damn, you guys kissed so hard, you broke my swing.”
My cheeks heat. “It’s an old swing, and he’s a big guy.”
She raises a brow, but I’m not about to admit that it was probably to do with the fact that I was grinding on him more than anything.
Beep!
The car behind us honks, and Lyss grabs my headrest and turns her body to the back. “I’m moving!” When she sees who it is, her lip curls. “Aiden.”
Beep! Beep! Beep!
“Move it, Alyssa! Unless you want me pressing up your backside,” he calls, his blue eyes twinkling with amusement, right before another round of honks.
Lyss rolls her eyes and turns back to the front, and turns the corner, muttering under her breath, “If Aiden Matthews ever presses up on my backside, it’ll be because I’ve reversed the car and run him the hell over.”
I bark out a laugh.
“Have you ever thought that having sex with Aiden would make all of this tension stop?” I ask bluntly. We’ve discussed this topic before, many times, in fact, but I always get the same answer.
“I am not fucking Aiden Matthews. Not now. Not ever.”
“Sure. That’s what I said—”
Lyss gasps, not stopping this time. “Hold up, are you fucking Scotty?” She grimaces. “Please don’t tell me that’s what you were doing on the swing because no amount of bleach will get that image out of my mind.”
I roll my eyes. “I didn’t fuck Scotty on your swing.”
I thought about it… too much.
“He’s not fixing it so you can do it, right?”
“We will leave your swing unharmed,” I say, and can’t help the smile playing on my lips.
“Good. Because that swing has survived tornadoes, raccoons, and Aiden’s giant ego. It does NOT deserve to die because you got horny.”
I laugh, shaking my head just as Lyss pulls up to the rec center.
“What time do you need me to pick you up?”
“Uh.”
She raises her hand, stopping me. “Don’t tell me you’re going to take the bus home. The route is ridiculously long. It only takes ten minutes.”
“I was actually going to say that you don’t need to worry. Scotty is going to pick me up.”
“Wait. He’s picking you up?”
I nod, holding back my smile.
“Wow. Okay. So I’m guessing the broken porch swing brought you together? You’re welcome…I guess.”
“Thanks. We’ll fix it. I promise, and thank you for the ride.”
“No problem, Laura. I’m always here to help, but when you get back tonight, I want to hear everything.” She pauses and squints at me. “Actually… not everything. If anything happens with you and Scotty, I don’t want to hear it through the walls. Please spare me that trauma.”
“Okay. I’ll see you back at the house.”
I lean over, give her a quick kiss on the cheek, and make my way out of the car. Admittedly, in this dress, it takes me longer than usual.
When I have my bag hauled over my shoulder, I shut the door and head straight to the rec center doors.
My feet pound against the concrete, my heels doing little to protect them.
Note to self: Get new princess shoes.
Once I’ve passed through the front desk, I head straight to the hall where the birthday party is being held.
When I open the doors, I freeze.
“Uh…”
Nothing. There’s nothing in here at all.
Where are the balloons? And the parents, for that matter?
There’s only a single chair sitting in the middle of the room.
“Hello?” My voice echoes—it's that empty in here.
The double doors to the catering kitchens open and a guy wearing a baseball cap enters, freezing when he sees me.
Then he just stares. So much that it’s a little awkward.
“Hi,” I say in my perfectly pitched princess voice, and smile. “I’m here for Junior’s birthday party.”
He clears his throat and shakes his head, letting out a little laugh. “Of course. I’m sorry. I wasn’t expecting you to look so realistic. I'm Junior, the birthday boy’s brother.” I shake his hand, and he gives me a wide grin.
My brows furrow. “Do I know you from somewhere? I feel like we’ve met.”
He drops my hand. “Ah, I’ve lived in Covey my entire life. You’ve probably seen me around.”
When he shrugs it off, so do I. I’ve done so many parties since I started here and have met so many people that I’m probably just mixing him up with someone else.
“I just got here.” He looks around the room. “My parents told me to set up. They didn’t tell me that nothing had been done.”
I let out a small laugh. “Explains the lack of decorations. Do you want me to help?”
“No, don’t worry. I can do it.”
I check my watch, noting we have twenty minutes before the party starts. “Let me help you. There’s no way you’re going to have the set up done in time.”
“You sure? I don’t want you to ruin your dress.”
“It’ll be fine.”
He points back into the kitchen. “I’ve got a helium tank and some balloons in there. If I get them out, would you be able to blow some up?”
I lace my fingers together and push forward in a stretch. “You're talking to a pro balloon blower.”
He grins. “Thanks. I appreciate it.”
We spend fifteen minutes getting the place ready, and although it's not usually in my job description, I'm always happy to help.
When the place is set up with blue and gold decorations, we take it in.
“You know, when my parents said you were the best entertainer in Covey, I thought they were being polite. Turns out, they know what they're talking about. Who knew?” he jokes.
“Ah, well, I'm not sure about that, but I'll definitely put all my effort into making sure Junior has a great day.”
“Fantastic. He loves Iced Out. I can't wait to see his face when he sees you. It's going to blow his mind.”
Why does he sound so familiar? I try to think about where I've heard it before, but the pins in my hair are itching my scalp and the corset of this dress threatening to cut off my oxygen supply, means I don't have the mental bandwidth to figure it out.
“I hope so.”
He checks his watch and then looks at his phone. “Oh, you know what, I've just got a text that Junior is on the way.”
He points his thumb to the double doors he came through. “Would you mind hiding in the kitchen? I don't want to ruin the surprise for him. Thought maybe we could go big and introduce you with the lights off, carrying his birthday cake.”
“Oh. Usually we do the cake at the end. I do games and a few songs before it.”
“Cool. I think my parents wanted to do the cake first because my brother will be less distracted by the cake.”
“Okay, sure. I'm happy to work however you'd like. Once the lights are back on, I'll do all the games and sing a couple of songs.”
“Great. This is going to be perfect.”
I follow him through to the kitchen, frustrated that my feet are still aching, but there's nothing I can do about it now. I need to stay in character.
The food for the party is laid out in the kitchen, and there’s a Princess Blanca-inspired cake with the words 'Happy Birthday Junior!'
Well, at least they seem better prepared for the party on the food front.
I place my bag on top of one of the counters and turn back to Junior's brother. “I’ll need about ten minutes to warm up my voice,” I tell him. “Then I’m ready whenever you are.”
“Perfect.” He points his thumb over his shoulder. “I'm going to check out front and see where they are so we don't spoil the surprise.” He checks his watch. “They should be here any minute now, but I’ll come and get you when it’s time.”
When the doors shut, I shake my hands and neck out, limbering up for an afternoon of entertaining kids.
While I’m doing my vocal exercises, I pull my phone out and send Scotty a quick text.
Laura: I hope you're doing better at concentrating than I am. All I can think about is you…and when you’re going to pick me up.
Then I quickly stuff my phone into my bag and start to sing again. I stop when the brother—I’ve already forgotten his name—pokes his head back in. “Ready, Princess? It's showtime.”