I'd already asked myself the same thing and the reason I wanted to see her with another guy was because I felt like I needed to prove it to myself that I didn't care what, or better yet who, Meredith Blake did.
"I wanted to be able to observe your skills," I lied. "Plus, your brother has us on a short leash."
Meredith advanced on me until we were standing toe to toe. She tugged me down as she reached up to whisper in my ear. "My brother can go screw himself, and as far as the kiss, my skills are more easily observed first hand."
I looked at her with a confused expression, and then offered her my ear as if I hadn't been able to hear her the first time. That was another lie. I heard her say her skills were better first hand, but I pretended not to hear her. I did it because the feel of her breath on my ear seemed essential for survival at that point.
"I said I'd rather be shown by you than someone else, and I thought I already made that clear," she said. She spoke more loudly that time, but I still pointed at my ear like I couldn't make out what she said. Again, I turned so she could tell me again. The next thing I felt was the gentle, hot puffs of air that meant there was an open mouth near my ear. Only instead of speaking words, like I expected the mouth to do, it licked my earlobe. I closed my eyes and enjoyed the sensation of the tip of her tongue touching the sensitive skin on my ear.
"I think you could hear me the first time, Zack Larson," she whispered. "You just didn't get enough and wanted to feel my breath on you ear again."
I pulled back and regarded her as if it were the silliest thing she'd ever said then I bent to whisper in her ear. "The limo's still out front. If we leave now, we'll have a few minutes alone before everyone else starts going out there."
"I'm not riding home in the limo. I'm too mad at my brother, and I already told everyone I was finding another ride home."
"Are you doing that just because Collin didn't want me kissing you?"
She looked a little shy, but nodded.
"Collin's harmless," I continued. "Just ride home in the limo. The whole point was for it to be a birthday thing. Where's the fun if the birthday girl ditches us?"
She thought about that for a second then smiled at me. "You're right," she said. "And besides, I'm not scared of Collin."
"I'm a little scared of him," I said. "But what he doesn't know won't hurt him."
"That's exactly what I've been trying to tell you," she said. "But let's get back to the news that if I go out to the limo right now, I'm going to get an uninterrupted kiss from Mr. Olympics."
"That's kind of nasty since your brother is mister Olympics," I said.
Meredith regarded me through narrowed eyes as if she were saying she was onto me.
"What?" I asked.
"Don't try to act like you don't know you're the hot one. My brother might have more sponsors, but you're totally the hot one."
"Oh yeah," I said sarcastically. "Because your brother and Ethan are so ugly." Her expression shifted from thoughtful to quizzical.
"You really don't know, do you?"
I seriously didn't know what she was talking about. I'd never heard anything that led me to believe the media had anything to say about the level of hotness of the Olympic team. I thought we were all pretty clean, actually. No one ever told me I was the hot one, but I'll take it, for sure."
"You are the hot one. And it's not just me who says it. Seems like I saw someone Tweet about it during the Olympics."
I didn't want to burst her bubble by telling her that two girls' opinions don't really count as general consensus, so I just smiled and took the compliment. "Someone Tweeted that I was the hot one?" I asked.
She pushed at me. "You know you are. Quit playing."
I bent and tapped on the table to get everyone's attention. Bailey and Caleb were the closest to the edge, and they both looked up at me. "We're going to the limo. We'll see you guys out there." Caleb looked from me to Meredith with a knowing smirk on his face. He checked his watch. "It's almost time to meet out there anyway, isn't it?"
"Yeah," Meredith said, "that's why we're going out there. We just wanted to let you know so you guys wouldn't be looking for us."
Caleb smirked. "You want me to try to stall them?"
"No," I said, "It's not like that. We're just going to hang out in the limo for a few before we take off."
"All right, if you say so." Caleb looked up at Meredith. He had a peculiar expression on his face, as if he was really noticing her for the first time. Obviously, she was more desirable now that someone else was taking her to the limo. I knew his type, and yes, maybe it was because I was just like him.
"Hey bro, just let everyone know we're in the limo when they start looking for us," I said.
Caleb and Bailey both nodded. The music was so loud that we decided not to say anymore. We just nodded and smiled as I took Meredith's hand and made our way outside.
The limo driver had managed to get a good spot. He was parked on the street near the front door when we came out. There were quite a few people with us, so it wouldn't have surprised me if a couple of them had already had the same idea.
"You think someone else is in there already?" she asked, reading my mind.
"We'll see in three, two—" I opened the door and peered around to look inside. I was relieved and surprised to find it was empty.
"Nobody," I said. I shrugged and turned to focus on Meredith. She gave me a smile that made me wonder for a split second why in the world I would have ever said we needed to wait three months. She scooted past me and climbed up into the enormous limo. I climbed in behind her. She had on dark grey pants that were a perfect contrast to the ivory, leather seats. Her shirt and hair were both close to black, and even though I knew her eyes were dark blue, they appeared to be black in the dim light. She looked dangerous in more ways than one.
I left a little space between us when I sat down.
"Did you have a good birthday?" she asked.
I smiled and held up my arm to show my watch. "Definitely. And I scored some good gifts too."
"You like it?"
I glanced down at it. It was a style I'd have chosen myself.
"I love it," I said.
We'd been in there for forty-five seconds when the limo door opened, and I saw Rachel's dark head of hair peek around the threshold and look into the cabin. She smiled when she caught sight of us. "Collin's right behind me," she said. She looked at us as if she expected us to part like the Red Sea. We didn't. Meredith actually scooted a few inches closer, although we still weren't sitting close enough to touch.
"We had no idea you guys were out here," Rachel said guiltily. They got situated in their seats and Collin looked up at us, taking us in for the first time. He knew there was ultimately nothing he could say or do, especially when we'd only been sitting there talking to each other.
Collin smiled at us. It was slightly reluctant, but he was smiling nonetheless. "Have fun little sister?" Meredith sprang up and crossed five feet of ivory leather to reach out and put her arms around his neck. "The best," she said. Apparently, she was excited about him not giving us a hard time. She put a quick kiss on his cheek and then slid down the seat back in my direction.
At that point, the door opened, and more people started piling into the limo. I was glad for the distraction because when Meredith came back to sit next to me, she left no space between us whatsoever.
Chapter 7
Meredith
My brother totally surprised me by not freaking out at the sight of Zack and I in the limo together. There was nothing for him to react to anyway since there was at least a foot of space separating us when he and Rachel came in. I got up and hugged my brother for deciding to be a rational human being and not flip out on us. I really just wanted the excuse to readjust my position next to Zack.
Just as I hugged Collin, people started to pour into the car, and I quickly went back to my seat, conveniently sitting much closer to Zack than I had been before.
I turned to hi
m and spoke softly so no one could hear. "So much for me getting kissed," I said. I twisted my face into a disgruntled frown.
"The night's not over," he said. He flashed me a gorgeous, sly grin before shifting his focus to whoever had just come in the limo. It was a guy I didn't recognize. In fact, Zack seemed to be the only person there who knew who the guy was. "What's up Logan?" he asked, crossing over to the door to slap hands with the newcomer.
"Dude, Big Mike told me this was your ride, but I didn't believe him. What's going on, Bro? It's yo birthday, or what?"
"Yeah it's my birthday," Zack said.
"What you doin' leavin then? We're just getting started."
"Naa, we already checked it out for a couple hours."
"Anybody up in there?"
"Natalie and that whole crew."
"She got Dawn with her?"
"I didn't see her, but I was hanging with Celeste, so I coulda missed her."
Logan held a fist over his hand and made a whistling noise. "I know you were hanging out with Celeste, son. That girl's loco about you."
He and Zack both laughed. I just sat there feeling like I'd like to get in a catfight with someone named Celeste. I didn't know why I was letting it bother me so much. After all, Zack didn't owe me anything. I knew he'd been talking to a girl earlier that evening, it just kind of sucked to put a name to the face. What was even worse was that according to this guy, Celeste and Zack were old pals.
"Y'all have to head home?" Logan asked.
"Yeah, I think the rest of our group are on their way out here and we'll be taking off."
Logan made a noise of disapproval. "Why don't you stay, Bro? I'll get you home."
"I'm good," Zack said. "These are my people anyway. They're the ones who hooked me up with the ride for my birthday." Logan, who was apparently oblivious to the fact that several of Zack's friends were sitting right there while he urged Zack to ditch us, ducked and left the limo with just a smile and nod in Zack's direction.
I made eye contact with my brother as Zack was settling back into his seat next to me, and his facial expression said it all. He thought a guy like Zack would break my heart, and hell, he was probably right for thinking that. I chose to act like I hadn't even noticed Collin's warning, and turned to look at Zack as he sat next to me.
"How kind of you to stay with us when you had such a tempting offer," I said. I was smiling playfully, trying to remain aloof.
Zack looked down at me with those ice blue eyes. "It wasn't really that tempting," he said. "The last time I hung out with Logan, I ended up taking a nap next to a couple of homeless guys on the street because their spot looked so comfortable, and another time, I slept half the night in some bushes."
I giggled. "What's the guy do? Give you sleeping pills or something?"
Zack breathed a laugh and shook his head. "No, he just goes all night. I like to party, but that dude's crazy."
"I'm glad you didn't stay," I said. "And not just because you're way too good for that girl Celeste."
"What's that mean?" Zack asked.
I shrugged. "You're out of her league, obviously."
"Oh yeah? And just what league am I in?"
"The bigs, baby. And there's an element of natural beauty that one has to possess to make it here." I paused dramatically. "I'm sorry, but Celeste just doesn't have it." I'd been swirling my finger in front of my own face when I was talking about natural beauty. I loved to smack talk, which left Zack looking at me perplexed, like he didn't quite know how to take my confidence. "Just so you know," I continued, "there was only one other girl in that club who was pretty enough for you, and she's not in this limo, so it looks like I'm your only choice."
Zack smiled at me and settled back into his seat looking all cozy as if there was nowhere else in the world he'd rather be. He and I talked a good bit on the way back to Gretchen's house, but Zack was the life of the party and was busy making conversation with not just me, but everyone else in the limo.
We didn't make any physical contact aside from our thighs rubbing against each other when the vehicle bounced and turned. Every time we touched, I felt a fizzy sensation in my whole lower body. Even though it was through layers of fabric, just the act of brushing against him caused waves of anxious anticipation to wash over me. I urgently wanted to be closer to him, and it took everything I had to sit there not touching him. I had to rely on the shifting of the car to help my body bump into his, and the waiting in between contact was no fun at all.
It was after two by the time we made it back to our cars, so everyone just decided to call it a night. We stood around in the courtyard for a few minutes before the group had dwindled to Brit, Josh, Zack and I. Brit lived in the guesthouse out back, so she and Josh were home for the night.
"I guess we need to get inside," Brit said to Josh, pinching at his side. "I'm surprised Arlo's not already going crazy."
Josh turned to follow Brit to the guesthouse. "You heading home?" Josh asked. The question was directed at Zack, but he quickly looked at me like he was interested in my answer too.
"Yeah, I'm gonna go home and check out my loot." Zack held up the bag full of birthday goodies he was carrying.
Josh and Brit both looked at me.
"Are you okay to make it home?" Josh asked.
I rolled my eyes. "My brother already asked me that twenty times."
"Well, are you?" he pressed.
"Of course I am. I've driven in much worse condition. Plus, you're just assuming I'm going home. You never asked me that. I was thinking about staying out a little bit longer."
"Who are you going out with? By yourself?" Zack seemed a little angry at the thought, which made me feel all fizzy inside again.
"Bailey said Caleb and Cali were going somewhere. She told me to text if I wanted to meet them."
"Are you going?" Zack asked.
They all stood silent and stock-still, waiting for my answer. I felt like they all expected me to do something stupid just like everyone else in my life.
I shrugged and made a face that told them they didn't need to worry about me. "I'm good. I haven't decided if I'm meeting them or not, but if I do, I'll find my way. You're never lost with Google maps, right?"
"I'll make sure she gets home," Zack said. He gave a wave to Josh and Brit, and turned me by the shoulder to lead me to the place where we'd parked. Josh and Brit yelled goodbye to us, and walked off in the direction of Brit's place.
I shrugged out of Zack's arm. "I never said I was going home."
"Well you're definitely not going out alone."
I gave him a confused look. "Did you miss that whole exchange when I said I was going to meet Caleb and Cali?"
"No, but you'll still be going out alone even if you're meeting them once you get there."
"Is it because you think I can't handle myself in a dark parking lot? Don't worry about me. I carry an open pocket knife in my hand whenever I'm by myself at night."
"I'm sure you can take care of yourself just fine," he said. "I just feel a little responsible since I told Josh and them I'd see you home."
"Here's a key piece of information. The same little piece my brother, mother, and everyone else in my life seems to be missing." I stared into his eyes begging him to understand as I carefully pronounced every word. "I am twenty years old and I'm perfectly capable of being responsible for myself."
"It's because you look like an elf."
"What?"
"Maybe not an elf. Fairy might be more like it. But you look like a cute little mythical pixie-girl who couldn't possibly function in a harsh world. That's why everyone wants to take care of you I guess. Plus, you're fucking crazy and we're all scared you're gonna overdose on coke."
I gasped and clapped my hand over my mouth. "I really hope you're kidding about that, Zack Larson. And who are you to talk? You go out all the time."
He shrugged and offered me a half smile. "I'm just playing with you, but seriously, be careful," he said. "This town's full of profe
ssional partiers, and it's really easy to get into all sorts of shit you're not ready for."
"So you're worried about me. Get in line." The frustration was obvious in my tone.
"Better to have people to worry about you than no one who cares."
I shrugged, still a bit perturbed. "I guess you're right."
We were approaching our cars by that point.
"You know what?" I said, "I think I'm just gonna head home after all." I was lying like a rug, but I was just mad enough about the whole responsible comment to want to try to ditch Zack and find someone else to kiss that night just to spite him.
"Quit lying. You're not going home." He said. He was wearing an easy smile that nearly had me undone.
I looked at him, slack-jawed. "I just said that's where I was going. You need to get your hearing checked."
"My hearing's fine, but you keep glancing at your phone and you broke eye contact with me when you told me you were going home. I know you're lying."
"This isn't poker. And I don't know why you're so concerned. I've been living in this town for six nights and you're suddenly interested in my whereabouts. Why is that?"
"I already told you. I don't want you going out alone. I feel respons—I'd like to know where you end up tonight since I was the last person with you, that's all."
I laughed. "Whatevs, Zack. I'm fine."
Before I knew what was going on, Zack had run headlong into me, pinning me against my car. He pushed against me so tightly that I wasn't able to escape his pressure despite my attempts to wriggle and jerk. "Where's your knife? Why don't you pull it out and use it on me Meredith?"
He was just being an asshole because it was impossible to move with the strategic pressure he was using on me. I let out a defeated breath that ended with a frustrated moan. "Okay, you got me tough guy. You're a foot taller than me and probably a hundred pounds or so heavier. You should really be proud of your skills."
"I'm not trying to show you my skills. Believe me, if I were, you'd know it. I was only trying to prove a point. A girl who looks like you shouldn't be going out alone."
"I'm not going out alone, I'm meeting people, and I didn’t have my knife in my hand because I was in a private driveway and I freaking trusted you, stupid."
Three Months and You're Mine (In Too Deep) Page 5