Chapter 11 #2
Connor’s throat bobbed, and he shook his head. “Sorry, you look amazing.”
I blushed, completely overwhelmed by the heat in his eyes. “Thanks,” I murmured.
Connor reached behind his back and tugged his shirt off. Suddenly, there wasn’t a single thought in my head except—
Muscles on muscles on muscles.
Connor’s abs flexed as he laughed. “You okay, pretty girl?”
Shaking my head, I pulled our linked hands over my shoulder and dragged Connor toward the keg set up on the shore. People waved and said hi as we passed, their eyes staying on Connor, trying to figure out who he was. Mona, Jamie, and Meg were pouring beers and happily chatting.
Then they saw us.
Mona beamed at me, her eyebrows wiggling as she looked between Connor and me. Jamie shook his head, grinning from ear to ear, which made sense considering the Connor hype man routine he pulled after he missed the trip to Pancake Town.
Meg stilled, and her face went slack like she was in a boring lecture instead of at a party.
Good times.
Connor let go of my hand, but before I could think too much about it, he gripped my hips and brought me back into his chest. Against my ear, he whispered, “Fun. Remember?”
The heat of his body against mine short-circuited my overactive brain. Suddenly, I was facing a pissed-off sorority sister with zero wits about me.
Plastering on my “I’m having fun, I swear” smile, I led us to the keg and gave Mona a hug.
“This is going to be so messy,” she murmured in my ear, huffing out a laugh. I pinched her side, but that just made her laugh harder.
“So, you actually got him to come?” Jamie handed us beers, and his face lit up like a Christmas tree.
“You act like I’m a hermit.” Connor playfully glared.
“You aren’t?”
“Fuck off.” Connor laughed and wrapped his arm around my waist. My whole body flushed at the gesture. He was making it clear that we were together, and despite my earlier reservations, I loved it.
Meg sized us up, a wry smile twisting her mouth. “You guys match. Cute.”
I had a decision to make. Either I could cower and try to make nice with Meg, or I could take a page out of Connor’s book and own our date, or whatever it was.
“Great minds, and all that.” I snuggled into Connor’s side and dipped my chin to take a drink.
“Yeah.” Meg dismissed us and tugged Jamie’s arm. “Let’s play beer pong.”
Shrugging, he let her lead him away.
I blew out a breath, and Mona let out a husky laugh. “Damn. I was hoping for more.”
“Sorry, we couldn’t provide you with the type of entertainment you’re accustomed to.”
“It’s not your fault. You’re new to the game. I’ll give you a couple of weeks to catch up with the rest of us.”
“Why don’t you just go over there?” Hailey snapped from the dock, shoving Carter away.
“Babe, I—”
Hailey glared at me and then stomped off.
I can’t catch a break.
Connor tucked some hair behind my ear. “Are we getting another shouting match?”
“From Hailey? Nah. She prefers a closed-door fight. We might get some more Kat fireworks once she gets here. Mal and Duncan are pulling up now.”
Flashing his dimples, Connor took a sip of beer. “Here’s hoping.”
I gasped. “Who would’ve guessed Connor McCormick is a messy drama queen?”
He put his hands up and took a step back. “Hey now, keep your voice down. I don’t want anyone to know how much I’m rooting against their peace.”
“Messy.”
Eventually, we got called over to play a spirited game of flip cup. More and more people showed up as the afternoon went on. Just as I was feeling pretty damn good, Connor got dragged away by Jamie and some of the other Gammas, while I was cornered by Kat and Mona.
“So . . .” Mona bounced a little. She’d been giddy for the past few weeks.
“Can we not?” I looked at their eager faces, realizing that for the first time I was the main attraction.
I didn’t like it.
“Fine. I like Connor. I’m pretty sure he likes me, but I have no idea what will happen next.”
Kat stepped in front of me like a shield. “And that’s all we need to know. Now, can we please go jump in the lake?” She swung around, her long pink hair slapping me in the face.
I followed them, keeping an eye out for Connor.
And there he was, next to Meg, with a blank expression while she leaned into his arm, chatting with Jamie.
“Huh.” My eyes narrowed as she brushed her breasts against his bicep.
“What?” Kat stopped while Mona kept walking. “Oh. Huh.”
“I mean, we’re not together, together.”
“But he is here with you.”
“That he is.” As I tried to decide my next move, Connor and I locked eyes. His shoulders relaxed, and he raised the arm Meg was propped against to wave, causing her to stumble back.
“I guess you don’t have anything to worry about.” Kat patted my butt and shoved me toward him. “Come find us in a few.”
I waved her off and weaved between drunk bodies until I joined the tiny circle. Jamie pulled me into a hug, drowning me in the scent of “dude” soap and cheap beer. It wasn’t pleasant. “My sweet Sarah. I wondered where you’d gone off to.”
“Just hanging out. I was about to go for a swim.”
“Emily here yet?” Meg asked, taking a step closer to Connor, but he reached out and tugged me away from his brother, putting me in front of him.
You’d think that would’ve been enough for Meg to back off, but nope. She was so close, her vanilla-scented whatever smacked me right in the nose. I really wanted to stomp on her foot, but I couldn’t overcome the years of manners instilled in me by Margot Tilney.
Resting his free hand on my stomach, Connor inched me away until his front was flush with my back.
All I could focus on was the weight of his hand across my belly and the cold coming from his red cup against my arm.
He flexed his fingers, his thumb brushing across the exposed skin between my high-waisted bottoms and bikini top, sending goosebumps all over.
I tilted my chin up, our lips just inches from one another, the blue of his eyes drawing me in until I forgot where I was.
“Well?” Meg’s loud voice broke the trance.
Without looking at her, I said, “Yeah. She’s swimming.”
“We should go join her.” Meg’s voice was tight.
Connor bit the inside of his cheek, and it took all the training my mom had given me to not roll my eyes. Instead, I smiled sweetly at Meg and nodded. Pressing back into Connor, I brushed a light kiss on his jaw. “You coming?”
“Sounds good.” He squeezed my hip, then let me go. “I’ll be there in a minute.”
Yet again, he’d leveled up our relationship, gone full-on boyfriend, and I was giving a very convincing girlfriend impression.
Whatever. We’re cute.
Distracted by all things Connor, I stepped right into a hole.
Before I could face-plant, Meg grabbed my arm and pulled me up. “Watch where you’re walking.”
“Thanks.” I carefully stepped away from her, putting some necessary distance between us. The alcohol in my body whispered, pushing me to tell her to back off Connor. I needed to resist the urge.
When the guys were out of earshot, Meg asked, “So, you and Connor?”
“Yup.”
“How long?” Meg wasn’t facing me. No, with a tense smile on her lips, she looked everywhere but at me.
“This is our first date.” I sounded light, confident, and not at all like this conversation made me want to crawl out of my skin.
We reached the narrow dock, and neither of us slowed down. Pushing past, I took an elbow to the ribs but shouldered myself past Meg and made it to the end first.
It really is the small things in life.
Blowing a piece of hair out of my eyes, I adjusted my boobs and turned on Meg. “Listen, I don’t want to do this.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Meg twisted her hair into a bun that was as artful as it was messy.
I took her elbow and moved us away from the edge of the dock. “This passive-aggressive back and forth. I know you liked Connor, but he wasn’t interested.”
Not the most tactful way to say it, but she’d pushed me past manners. She yanked her arm from my hold and scowled.
“What I don’t know is why you’re doing—” I waved my hand around. “All of this.”
Meg bit her upper lip, dragging her teeth over it. “I’m just having fun.”
“Yeah, okay.” I crossed my arms, my fingers tight around my biceps to keep from fidgeting or worse, smacking her.
“Maybe I’m tired.”
Cocking my head to the side, I waited for more. There had to be more.
“You wouldn’t understand.”
“Try me.”
She blew out a breath. “You have everything. Even after you got cut off, you found a way to have it all. The job with College Bound—”
“Mona’s the one—”
“I know! “She let out a humorless laugh. “Don’t you think I know that she went above and beyond to get you in with Christie? Do you know how hard I had to work to get a spot as a counselor? And there you were, being handed a job because of Mona. And then you just had to get a job at the Welkum!”
“You told me to apply!” I shrieked, glancing out at our friends in the water, who were now staring at us. Lowering my voice, I said, “There’s nothing I can do about that now. I need the money.”
“For the first time in your life.” I opened my mouth, but she held her hand up to cut me off. “So here I am, bartending with the guy I’m very into. But of course, he’s head over heels for you, and I get a front-row seat to your will-they-won’t-they bullshit.”
“That’s not my fault.” I normally operated on guilt, but not today. Meg could kick rocks if she expected me to take whatever bullshit she thought I deserved.
“No. No, it’s not. But it doesn’t make it any easier to swallow.”
“So, what do you want me to do? Quit? Blow off Connor? Let you rub up against him like I’m not standing right there?” I was beyond irritated.
“I don’t know, Sarah.” Every muscle in her body was tense.
It was clear that our friendship would not recover from this.
She’d apparently had a problem with me for a long time.
Ironically, of the things she hated the most, I didn’t even have anymore.
Except for Connor, and I didn’t plan on giving him up.
“Great.”
We stared at each other while the party continued around us. From where I stood, I could see my roommates watching us from shore, clearly ready to jump in if need be. This whole day was turning into a disaster, which sucked because I’d been excited to spend time with Connor and my friends.
“How about we stay away from each other? Connor and I can swim later.”
Meg scoffed, but her body relaxed. “So, you get Connor, and I get the lake?”
“If that’s how you want to look at it. I see it more as me trying to ease an awkward situation so our friends can have a good time.”
She glanced over her shoulder and wiggled her fingers at the girls. “Fine.” Without another word, she jumped off the dock, splashing lake water all over me.
“You’re welcome,” I mumbled, turning and going back to my friends.