Chapter Twenty-two Summer
Chapter Twenty-two
Summer
“I might need to transfer to Frost Lake,” Charlotte says as we walk into the party.
“Same.” Jill nods her head. “It’s a hot-guy-palooza in here.”
Rowan’s laugh is close to my ear. He’s walking behind me, arms wrapped around my middle. The position makes us slow as we shuffle together, not breaking apart, but it’s so packed in Boone’s living room that it doesn’t matter.
“Let me introduce you to some of them then,” Rowan shouts over the music. “My friends are likely outside.”
The four of us make our way through the house and out back. The soccer guys are here, exactly like Rowan predicted. They’re off to the side, standing in a circle.
“Oh my gosh.” Jill stops walking and turns to face me. “Your teammates are here.”
“Yeah?” Surely she realized that was a possibility, given we’re at a Frost Lake house party.
“Are they going to kick our asses?” She gives Charlotte a side-eye.
“No. Why would they do that?” I ask.
“We’re the enemy, invading their territory hours before we face off tomorrow.” Each word is a little more frantic than the last.
I fight a laugh because she sounds a whole lot like me a month ago. “Relax. I told them you were coming and they’re cool.”
“But maybe don’t talk about how you’re hoping to kick their asses or anything,” Rowan suggests.
“Whose side are you on?” I tip my head back to glare at him.
His response is to brush his lips over mine. I guess that answers that.
On cue, MJ runs up to greet us.
“Finally. We’ve been waiting for you to get here,” she says to me. “These must be the besties.”
“Charlotte.” I tip my head to one side, then the other. “And Jill.”
“I know who you are,” she says to them. “I’m MJ.”
“We know who you are too,” Charlotte says. “Every day at practice I picture your face inside the net, trying to stop me.”
Rowan’s deep chuckle vibrates through me.
MJ’s brows rise. Jill starts coughing. Charlotte’s expression turns to one of horror. “I don’t mean like I’m trying to kick the ball in your face. I meant you’re the goalie I am always trying to beat.”
MJ’s the first to bust up laughing. The rest of us join her. Everyone except poor Charlotte. She looks horrified.
“It’s cool. I get that a lot,” MJ says. “Nice to officially meet both of you. Do either of you like to play cornhole?”
“Yeah,” Jill says. Then Charlotte adds, “Definitely.”
“Awesome.”
“I’m going to introduce them to the guys first,” Rowan says.
“Okay. Catch you in a bit,” she says, and then we’re heading toward the circle of Rowan’s friends.
They open up to let us join them. Rowan does the introductions. Vaughn, Lacey, Austin, Claire, Hunter, Eddie, and Eli. The last two stare unabashedly at my friends.
“Can I get you something to drink?” Eddie asks.
Eli rolls his eyes at his twin. “They have a game tomorrow.”
“There’s water and soda and stuff,” Eddie insists.
“I’d love a Dr Pepper,” Charlotte says.
“My fav,” he says, stepping forward and tipping his head to the middle of the yard. “Cooler is this way.”
Eli moves toward Jill. “You want something?”
“Yeah, that’d be great.”
The four of them take off. Rowan is still wrapped around me. He rests his chin on my shoulder. “Well, that took no time at all. Now I have you all to myself.”
“Ditching my friends was the plan?” I ask, twisting in his arms to face him.
“You make it sound so bad when really the plan was just having you all to myself.” He smiles. “I like your friends.”
“They like you too.”
After I picked them up, we went to Rowan’s house to get him and ended up hanging out for a bit. Charlotte was in awe of his house and demanded a full tour. I think Rowan was a little embarrassed, but he was a good sport.
“I think Charlotte is planning to move into your theater room,” I tell him.
He chuckles. “For sure. Those recliners are comfy.”
When the twins reappear with Charlotte and Jill, we’re immediately pulled into a game of cornhole.
MJ and Charlotte take on me and Jill. Then some of the other guys, including the twins, join in and me and Charlotte team up against Eddie and Rowan while MJ pulls Jill into a circle with some of our other teammates. Eli is stuck to her side.
“I think the twins are in love,” I say.
“I’m just glad they stopped ogling you.”
“Me?”
“Oh yeah. They were into you big time.”
“No they weren’t.” I shake my head as I think back to my first interactions with them. I don’t remember either of them doing anything that would have given me that idea.
“Oh yes. You’re the first girl I’ve ever seen them both interested in.”
“Is that supposed to be a compliment?” I ask with a chuckle.
“Hell yes. You’re universally hot, Lindsey.”
My face heats. “You’re not so bad yourself.”
His lips quirk up on one side as he brings his mouth to mine. My pulse quickens and my body lights up. I’m a little bit addicted to his kisses. To his touches. To him.
“Your turn,” Charlotte yells from the opposite side.
As I pull back, my gaze snags on Amanda. She’s standing with Sophie on the outskirts of the circle with MJ and Jill.
I saw Ronnie on our way into the party with some of the football guys.
I guess they’re really truly broken up. I thought, and maybe hoped, that their breakup last weekend was a temporary thing, but as the days have become a full week, I have to admit that maybe the reason I’ve not wanted to think about it is because I’m not sure what it means for me and Rowan.
As far as I know, he hasn’t heard about the breakup. At least, we haven’t talked about it. I know I should have told him as soon as I found out, but I don’t want to deal with whatever it means. I like kissing him and hanging out and whatever it is we’re doing. It’s selfish but true.
I take my turn, spinning all this information through my mind again. Then Rowan takes his turn. After, he nudges me, bringing my attention back to the present. “You said earlier you had something to tell me.”
“Oh right.” I shake my head. “I got an email back from Kristy.”
“She read your college application letter?” Rowan’s eyes light up like he’s as thrilled by the prospect as me.
“She did and she loved it.”
“Of course she did. I knew it.”
I roll my eyes. “You could not have known that.”
“I did,” he insists. “You worked so hard on it. There was no doubt in my mind you weren’t going to ace that letter.”
His confidence in me is completely unwarranted but sweet anyway.
I lift onto my toes. Charlotte is yelling at me that it’s my turn again.
“One second,” I call back without tearing my gaze away from Rowan.
He’s smirking hard at me as I bring my lips to his. We linger that way, mouths fused together, but neither of us deepening the kiss. He slides his hand to my waist and threads his finger through my belt loop. Goose bumps dot my skin as his thumb glides against my bare skin above the waistband.
“Come home with me tonight.”
I pull back far enough to study his expression. “What?”
“My parents are gone, and I keep thinking about the first time we kissed in my bed. Every night it replays over and over in my head. Tonight we could recreate it.”
“I’m supposed to be sleeping over at Charlotte’s house.”
“So sleep over at my place instead.”
I consider it for less than a second before I find myself nodding.
“Really?” His grin is big and happy.
“Yes. But I can’t stay up all night.” The game isn’t until noon, but I still need sleep. Going up against all my old teammates is going to be brutal enough without feeling like crap. Still, the idea of being with him, just the two of us all night, is too good to pass up.
“I promise to let you sleep…a little bit.” He winks and then bounces in place. “Fuck. Now I just want to drag you out of here. This is going to be so fun.”
While he’s celebrating, a nagging feeling eats away at my excitement.
“Wait. Before we go though, I need to tell you something.”
He’s still beaming but he waits for me to continue.
“Amanda and Ronnie broke up.”
His smile falters.
“I found out last week at the football game. I should have told you, but…” I summon up whatever courage I can find. “I was afraid you’d want to end things so you could be with her.”
“Seriously?” His brows lift.
I nod.
“I don’t know how you could think that.”
“It was the whole point of us getting together. Make Amanda jealous so you can win her back and you’d help me fit in and introduce me to Kristy.”
“And look at you now. You and your Oakley friends fit right in, and Kristy is helping you with your application.” He’s right. It did work out well. Better than I could have imagined. At least for me.
“Do you still want to be with her?” I ask.
“No.” He says the word slowly like it’s a realization he’s just now piecing together. His expression smooths out and he smiles at me. “And I already knew about Amanda and Ronnie.”
“You did?”
“Yeah, I overheard some people talking about it at school this week.”
“When?”
“Does it matter?”
It shouldn’t, but yes. If he’s known since Monday and he’s still hanging out with me, that has to mean something. But if he just found out today, then maybe he hasn’t had time to process it.
“Wednesday, I think. Though I should have realized it sooner with how she was playing last weekend.”
“And you aren’t even a little bit curious to find out if she might want to rekindle things again?”
“This might have started out as a ploy to get Amanda back, but it stopped being about that the second I kissed you. Before that, even.”
“I would understand if you were confused or wanted to cool things down until you were sure about us.”
“I’m not confused. I appreciate you looking out for me, but I’m good.” He gives me that smirk again. “Let’s get out of here.”
“Now?”
“Yes. Now. I just want to hang out with you.”
“What about Charlotte and Jill?”
Shit. Charlotte. I look over to the other side of the game, but she and Eddie have abandoned us. I don’t blame them. They’re now over with Eli and Jill. The four of them are dancing, along with MJ and a couple of juniors.
“Okay.”
“Yeah?” His grin widens.