7. Winnie
“Win,” Reese complains for, like, the tenth time. “We’ve been at this for hours. You gotta almost be done.”
“I need to get the best photos, Reese. Your mom is trusting me to take your senior photos. That’s a really big deal.” I lower my camera and puff my bottom lip out. He hates it when I give him this look, but it always gets me my way. “And you promised I could send one in for that competition.”
“Last I checked, I said maybe.”
“Yeah, but we both know you’re going to say yes.” I flutter my eyelashes and cup my hands together under my chin, really laying it on thick.
He rolls his eyes but sighs, and I know I’ve got him. “Shit, Win. Why do you make it so difficult to say no to you?”
“That’s the charm.” I grin and wiggle my eyebrows. “Now smile, pretty boy. Let’s see those missing teeth.”
He’s not actually missing teeth, but I still think it’s funny to say.
“Not all hockey players lose teeth.” He groans. “You keep saying that shit and you’re going to jinx me, and it’s you who will have to see it all the time, not me.”
Lately, Reese has been saying things that make my stomach flutter. Like he is hinting at there being something more than friends between us. I know he’s not, but my mind sure likes to put ideas in my head. I don’t know when I caught feelings for Reese—when our relationship shifted in my head—but it’s been a real bother reminding myself that he is seventeen, going to be a senior, and is not interested in me in that way. Like at all.
But every so often, when we are alone on my roof, or like right now when his smile is just right. I wonder if maybe someday I won’t just be his best friend’s little sister.
Oh. My. Freaking. Gosh! Reese is never going to believe what I just got in the mail. I hope he’s as excited as I am. I jump out of Dad’s truck before he pulls to a stop. “Reese!”
A few of his coworkers stop their work and glance my way, but I’m looking for one in particular. I’ve never bothered him at work before, but I couldn’t wait any longer.
“Reese,” I shout again, and some guy points across the large yard toward a group of five guys. They’re all wearing the same thing, but I immediately spot Reese among them and take off running. It’s a hot summer day, and it’s not long before a thin sheen of sweat coats my body. I cannot imagine working outside all day in this. No wonder he’s the first to pass out when he stays over.
“Win? What’s wrong?” He jogs in my direction, but not as quickly as I am, so I reach him first.
“I—” I pause and bend at the waist, unable to speak. Maybe I need to start going on those morning runs with Dad and Eli after all.
He pulls his sunglasses off and leans down to see my face. Blades of freshly cut grass are stuck to various places on his exposed skin, and it makes me want to grin, but there’s a lump in my throat. He’s had this job for a couple years now, but by the time I see him, he’s showered any remains from the day off. He looks… well, he looks hot. “What the hell is going on, Win? Are you okay? Is Eli?”
I wave him off, hoping he understands that’s my way of saying nothing is wrong. After a few minutes, he’s tapping his work boot at me. I suck in another breath and stand, allowing a grin to contort my face.
“Winnie Lewis, tell me—”
“I got it.”
He pauses, his eyebrows furrowing before quickly jumping up his tanned forehead. Is he using sunscreen? “You got it?”
I nod vigorously. “I just got the letter. They loved my photo and—”
Reese wraps his strong, sweaty arms around my body and spins me around without needing to hear the rest. We’ve been waiting for this letter for what feels like weeks but has really only been days since they said they would start sending them out. I was beginning to think I didn’t get it, but Reese made sure to do his best to erase any thoughts like that from my head.
“Holy shit. You’re going to be famous!”
That’s a little extreme. But winning a national photography competition and getting to fly out to New York and sit in on a real-life professional photo shoot is super cool, so I don’t correct him.
He sets me down but keeps his arms around my waist. I wonder if he realizes, though I’m certainly not going to tell him to move them. He’s so warm, and it bleeds from his hands through my shirt.
“Well, it was your face that helped me, so I guess I should thank you.”
He drops his head and flashes my favorite boyish grin. “My good looks might have caught their attention, but it was your talent that convinced them. Not me, Win. That’s all you.”
“I can’t believe I’m going to get to sit in on a real photo shoot. They didn’t say who it would be with, but what if it’s, like, Boris Arcadia or something—it probably won’t be, but whoever it is, I get to see them in real time!”
“I’m so fucking proud of you, Winnie.” He pulls me into his body once more and squeezes tightly. I bury my nose in his chest and suck in a deep breath, inhaling his intoxicating scent of freshly mowed grass and sweat. I kind of love it. Maybe it’s gross, but I’ve been stuck between him and Eli in the car after hockey games, and nothing is worse than that.
He lets his hands fall when we release this time, but mine stay planted on the smooth planes of his chest. He’s still smiling, but it’s sharing the spotlight with confusion as he looks down and sees I’m still touching him.
Reese and I have always been close. We touch a lot, but usually, it’s not so… intimate. I’m only touching his chest, but something feels different, and I think he feels it too.
“Thanks, Reese.” My voice is hushed—full of nerves. Whatever I’ve been feeling for him is back and raging full force. My eyes drop to his lips like a bee seeking honey. I think I want to kiss him. Without thinking about the consequences of kissing my brother’s best friend, I lean forward, jump, and smack my lips against his. They touched for less than a second, yet it was still the best moment of my entire life.
I kissed him. I actually kissed Reese Larson.
Holy crap, I can’t believe I kissed Reese Larson.
I don’t think he can believe it either. His mouth is parted, eyebrows furrowed, and he looks… oh. He looks kind of mad.
I drop my hands and take a step backward, putting space between us. “I, uh…” I retreat, the repercussions of what I just did weighing heavy on my feet, but I push against them so I can get the frick out of here.
His coworkers are huddled together, staring at the catastrophe that just occurred. I can’t believe I just kissed him while he’s at work. I can’t believe I kissed him at all, but especially in front of a bunch of guys who will no doubt make fun of him for it. I’m sure they know he doesn’t have a girlfriend, and I probably look like some weirdo stalker now. That’s if they didn’t hear our conversation, which I’m guessing they did since it’s now dead silent outside, not a single lawn tool running anymore.
Embarrassed tears burn the back of my eyes. Reese takes a step toward me, but I turn and book it to my dad’s truck before he can say anything that’s going to make it worse between us. I hope I didn’t just ruin our entire relationship. Reese and Elijah might be best friends, but I’ve always considered Reese my best friend too—at least the closest thing I have to one.
I slam the door behind me, but Dad makes no moves to go, and I know he must have seen everything. This couldn’t be any worse.
“Can you drive, please?”
He throws the truck in drive, and I let out a small breath. The tears I was holding back streak down my cheeks as Dad’s stare burns into me.
He lays a heavy hand on my leg. “Oh, Win…”
“Please don’t tell Eli. He’s going to be so mad at me.”
Dad chuckles. “I’m not going to tell your brother about your first kiss, Pooh Bear.”
The truck falls into a heavy silence. My stomach is in knots, and I can’t find the humor anywhere in this situation. I drag my arm under my nose and across my stiff cheeks. “I can’t believe I did that,” I mumble.
“Sometimes we do things without thinking.” To say the least. “I’d much prefer if you didn’t do that anymore, though.”
I peek over his way. He’s scowling, but there’s amusement in his warm eyes. At least someone thinks this is funny, because Reese definitely did not, and I don’t think I could laugh right now even if I were at a comedy show.
“At least not until you’re older.”
“I don’t think you have to worry about that, Dad. Did you see the way he looked at me after?” I groan just thinking about it. I hope this is something I can laugh about in a few years—or forget about altogether. If I had my choice, it would be the latter.
I pull my feet onto the seat and drop my head between my knees. Dad moves his hand to my back, and it’s comforting, but it does little to get rid of the embarrassment burning a hole inside me.
“He probably hates me now.” My voice shakes with emotion. “I think I just lost my best friend, Dad.” It’s beyond pathetic that I consider my brother’s best friend my best friend when he probably doesn’t see me as anything but Elijah’s little sister, but that’s the cold hard truth.
“I don’t know about all that, Pooh.”
I lift my head just enough to rest on my knee. “Why? You couldn’t see his face. He looked mortified. Betrayed even, maybe. Whatever he was feeling definitely wasn’t good, Dad.”
“Why’d you kiss him?”
“What?”
He repeats the question, even though I heard him the first time. I just don’t know the answer.
“I don’t know. I thought…” My brows furrow as I look out the window. Houses pass slowly, and I realize Dad isn’t heading home. These houses are on the opposite side of town to ours. “Where are we going?”
“I thought you could use a little time before we go home.”
I scoot across the seat and buckle into the middle one, leaning my head on his shoulder and breathing in his comforting scent of pepper and those cigars he doesn’t think we know he smokes behind the garage.
“I just wanted to kiss him, so I did. No real reason, I guess. I obviously completely misread the situation and am never going to kiss anyone ever again.”
Dad’s body rumbles with a low chuckle. “As much as I wouldn’t mind that, I think you just need to give it time. You’re still so young, Pooh Bear.”
I don’t tell him that I think I’m the only one in my grade who hasn’t kissed someone, but it’s true. “Well, older, younger, all I know is the next time I kiss a boy, I’m letting him initiate.”
I can feel his smile when he kisses the top of my head. “Smart girl. But remember what I said, not for another ten years.”
“Daaad,” I groan, a hint of a smile ghosting my lips.
He grins down at me and pokes my nose. “Okay, five.”
Right now, I don’t care if I ever kiss anyone again, so five years doesn’t sound too bad. “Deal.”
“That’s my girl. I love you, Winnie.”
I really lucked out in the dad department. Most girls’ dads, at least according to movies and stuff, aren’t cool to talk to about kissing or boys in general. Maybe it’s because he and Mom are so in love. I hope one day I can find a love like my parents’—a love that grows each day. A part of me hopes it’s with Reese, but I’m not sure if he’s ever going to look my way now, let alone marry me eventually.
A girl can dream, though.