2. Blake #2
I stared, transfixed by her movements and the slow reveal of smooth, tanned skin as she took a seat beside me.
She dipped her toes in, the fabric rustling in her lap as she held her skirt above the water.
“What are you doing out here?” I finally asked.
Her mouth twisted into a frown, and the tiny dip between her eyebrows deepened. Fixing her stare on the pool, she watched the water swirl around our feet. Then her lower lip trembled.
My hands tightened into fists, some deep-rooted instinct flaring to life in my chest.
“Do I have to kill Todd Weebly?”
She huffed a laugh, but it rang hollow as silence fell around us again.
My hands twitched as that instinct grew stronger, and I tapped her leg to settle the sudden discord inside me. “What happened?” I prodded gently. “You can tell me. I won’t judge.”
Skepticism written all over her face conveyed her disbelief. “You live to judge me, Blake. It’s like your favorite pastime besides football and boning chicks.”
“Fair point. At least about football.” I huffed, and when she shot me a pointed look, I gave her one right back. “I think you might be confusing me with you.”
“What’s that mean?” She pursed her lips, her skepticism deepening but her question lacking heat.
I shrugged. “It means I’m not the one who believes every rumor I hear.”
As she tilted her head, a lock of her light hair fell out of her clip. She’d curled it for the dance, pinning the top half back in a jeweled hairpiece I recognized as one of her mom’s.
It looked beautiful.
She looked beautiful.
Forcing my focus off that errant golden strand, I met her gaze. “I’m not screwing my way through every girl in our senior class, that’s all it meant.”
“Oh.” Her forehead wrinkled as she fell quiet.
My admission hung in the silence between us.
Both equally lost in our thoughts, I waited for a few minutes before I nudged her with my shoulder. “Spill it, Addie. What happened?”
She threw her hands in the air. “You were right, alright!”
As soon as she released it, the skirt of her dress fell into the water.
“Oh, shoot!”
Grappling for the fabric, she tipped toward the pool.
Like a reflex, my arm slung around her waist, keeping her from falling in and pulling her into my side. She sat back with her dress bunched in her hands, her eyes jumping from my arm holding her close around her waist up to my face.
Her breathing hitched.
I forced a swallow.
And the realization that I hadn’t been this close to her in years hit me like a ton of bricks. I could see every freckle dusting the bridge of her nose. The hints of the sun in her hair. The deepest flecks of violet in her blue-green ocean eyes.
I should’ve released her, but I couldn’t get my hold to loosen. “What was I right about?”
Addie’s eyes fell to my lips, equally distracted by the sudden huskiness in my voice.
As I swallowed again, I forced down a different instinct. One that rose so suddenly, I almost couldn’t fight it. I cleared my throat, praying she’d refocus before I crossed a line that cost me the Barrows’ trust.
She blinked up at me. “What?”
“Before you almost fell into the pool.” My hand squeezed her hip reflexively. “You said I was right. What was I right about?”
Her shoulders sagged. “It was a mistake,” she admitted, dropping her gaze.
My whole body tensed, and I silently vowed to make that prick pay for hurting her.
Her eyes flashed to mine. “Todd didn’t hurt me,” she clarified. “You don’t have to kill him. I just…It wasn’t—”
Tears filled her eyes. She turned her face away, fixing her stare on the edge of the pool.
Her next words came out so quietly, I knew exactly how much they cost her.
“I wanted to believe it didn’t matter, but I was wrong.”
Her voice broke, and I tightened my hold on her. Pulling her into my chest, I tucked her head under my chin. As she buried her face, I pressed a kiss to the crown of her head.
She hiccupped a quiet sob, her tears seeping into my white dress shirt as she fought to hide them.
“Hey, it’s okay,” I whispered into her hair, the words heavy on my tongue as I hugged her tightly. “I’ve got you, Addie. You’re going to be just fine.”
Her fists tightened their grip on my shirt, and the urge to find Todd Weebly and beat the snot out of him anyway coursed through me.
Regardless of what she’d said, she was here, upset. He hadn’t given her what she deserved. He hadn’t seen—
Guilt prickled beneath my skin.
I tipped her chin up, searching her blue-green eyes for license to pummel the little shit. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find it.
And on some level, I recognized that my anger wasn’t about him. I just didn’t care. That idiot hadn’t realized what he held in his hands, and he fumbled it like a bad pass.
Just like I’d called it.
Fucking tool.
But our argument before prom forced me to draw a steadying breath.
Addie didn’t need my misdirected anger at Todd right now. That hadn’t protected her from this. I wouldn’t let it keep me from giving her what she needed right now.
“Do you want me to take you home?”
Her brow furrowed. “But…your date. Your entire night. I don’t want to ruin it.”
“Not possible.” I waved off the concern. “I was ready to go anyway.”
She didn’t seem entirely convinced, but after a quick glance at the hotel, she nodded, resting her head back against my chest. “Yes, Blake. I want—Take me home, please.”
My heartbeat raced over her words, and I took a deep breath to settle it, holding onto that thought and her for one more minute.
Once I got to my feet, I pulled her up with me. We grabbed our shoes, and I led her to my truck in silence. With one hand on the small of her back, I unlocked the cab and helped her climb inside, making sure her dress wasn’t caught before I shut the door.
As I walked around to the driver’s side, I shot a quick text to Adam.
Addie stared out the window the entire drive home, her mind racing over how her night had turned out. Every fleeting and painful emotion etched into her expression, as if she’d written each one there for me.
I wanted to ease them all, especially her sadness. As I stole careful glances at her out of the corner of my eye, I hated that I couldn’t.
When we pulled up to the house, Adam waited under the porch light. Addie waved at him before turning back to face me.
“Not tonight.” I answered the question in her eyes.
“I’m expected at the house tomorrow, and if I stay over, I—” My grip tightened on the steering wheel reflexively, but I forced a smile, not wanting to add my worries over the time between now and then to her plate.
“I’ll see you all soon for the big day.”
She nodded, and I scanned her over one more time, checking for any sign of harm. But other than her lips pulling down at the corners and her lashes clinging together with remnants of her tears, she was perfect.
Even if her big night hadn’t been, she was home. Safe.
I couldn’t change how her night had gone, but I wanted to leave her with something—anything—to make the lingering sadness in her eyes fade.
“You know what I’ve always thought?” I swiped my thumb over her cheek, wiping away a streak of makeup. “I think when it happens again, with the right person…none of the times before will matter.”
She peered up at me. “You do?”
“I do.” I nodded. “But I don’t think that’s something we really believe until it happens.”
After thinking about it, she mustered up a smile.
“Well. I hope you’re right again, Blake.” She leaned forward and pressed a quick kiss to my cheek, her lips curving as she failed to contain an impish grin. “Not just for my sake. Definitely for yours.”
“Har. Har.” I returned her teasing grin. “Guess we’ll see, kid.”
Her brow furrowed, and a frown slashed across her face before she brushed off the fleeting thought and rolled her eyes at me. “Alright, old friend. Thanks for the ride.”
She climbed out of the car, and I followed her progress until she was safely inside the house. After Adam waved and shut the door, I sat there, one hand brushing over the lip gloss she’d left on my cheek, with the image of her by the pool in my mind.
No matter how I tried to clear the vision away, it lingered.
Even once the porch light went out and I took that as my cue to leave, the memory of her bathed in moonlight drove out the thoughts of going to my house. Long after I pulled out of the driveway, my mind remained on the one with the white picket fence and cobalt blue door.
Because the only place I called home—the only family I wanted—was theirs.
As I drove around, I hoped somewhere along the way I’d forget they weren’t mine.