“Harper, wait.”
The melty things exploded into little sparklers inside my chest. “Huh?” I stopped walking, spun in place, and set my eyes on Jett in the bluish gray light.
“I waited for you by my locker this morning.”
I gulped.
“How come you didn’t come?”
Wow. This was a forward, new Jett, wasn’t it?
I shrugged.
He leaned a shoulder against the wall. “I heard you broke things off with TJ.”
That surprised me. “You did?”
“Tasha texted me,” he said with a nod.
The sound of her name made my shoulders tense.
“Listen …” Jett glanced at the floor for a blink. “I’m sorry that happened with TJ and Tasha last night. And I don’t want to rush you or anything, but…”
Why did I like the sound of that but so much? Maybe it was because I’d been the one perceivably chasing him all along. First on the playground when we were six years old. Then at the party when the spinning bottle had stopped on him. Heck, if I’d been the one to walk in through those east doors and step up to Jett’s locker this morning, that would have been me going to him once again. But if we ended up kissing right here, right now, it would be Jett initiating all of it. The idea to go get the paints was his. Stopping on the way to the stockroom where they were blocked from onlookers—that was his idea too.
“But what?” I urged, lifting my chin.
Jett held my gaze. “But before TJ tries getting you back…” He pulled away from the wall, stepped closer, and slid both hands onto my hips.
Holy smokes! They felt nice there. Warm and strong. A million parts of my body responded, like the entire system was going haywire.
Jett’s gaze dropped to my lips. It was one of the telltale signs that a person wanted to kiss, and we both knew it. I could feel all the physical symptoms erupting inside me. Face warming. Heart pounding. I glanced at his lips in return. I couldn’t help it. I wanted his kiss more than anything, and something about that fact scared and thrilled me all at once.
Jett lowered his head slowly, pausing once his mouth was a breath’s space from mine. So close I could feel the warmth of his breath on my lips. I pulled in a heavenly breath and sighed. He must’ve just eaten a mint or something because the fresh scent was undeniable.
My eyes drifted shut just in time, and I tuned into the soft, testing touch of Jett’s mouth on mine. Euphoria—a word used in one of the articles—poured over me.
I slid my hand up his broad shoulder and lifted my chin the slightest bit, causing our lips to touch once more. So good. Unimaginably good. I braced myself for more, knowing that Jett was just warming up.
He tightened his grip on my waist, tilted his head, and came in at last for a longer, more sensual kiss.
Yes. I tuned in to the gentle push and pull of his heavenly kiss as some sort of whimper echoed in my throat. Jett let out a raspy sigh of his own, igniting even more flames in my chest. This was how kissing was meant to feel, and I never wanted it to end.
Just as the thought ran through my mind, Jett slowed the kiss, pressed his lips to mine once more, then pulled away. He brushed his cheek against mine in the quiet space. “I’ve been dying to do that since junior high,” he confessed in a whisper. His breath grazed my ear, making it very hard to pull out of the spell.
“You have?” I asked, shifting my focus to what he’d said.
“Of course.” He’d said it like he was surprised I’d ever question it.
“Huh.”
“Sure taking a long time to get those paints,” a voice came from somewhere beyond the stage. I was pretty sure it was Connor.
Jett dropped his hands. “We better get back there.”
I nodded. “Yeah. Why don’t you go ahead? Tell them the paints weren’t where I thought they’d be, so I’m checking another place.”
He nodded, the mischief in his brown eyes making him look like an adorable—albeit guilty—child. “Good idea.”
I bolted for the utility room when Jett spoke up once more. “Hey, Harper?”
I stopped short and spun on one heel. “What?”
He rushed back over to me and pressed his lips to mine once more, short, but oh, so sweet. A grin eased onto his face. “That’s what.” He disappeared behind the curtain.
I sat there staring into the black fabric folds as my limbs went weak. My legs like noodles, I leaned back against the wall and replayed the entire thing in my mind. From the incredible feel of his hands on my hips (was that one in the chick magazines too?) to the perfect way he led into the kiss. Slow and smooth and so so yummy.
TJ’s last comment ran through my mind. Have fun with Pastor Boy.
I traced my fingers over my freshly kissed lips and grinned. Don’t worry, TJ. I will. I wasn’t exactly sure what was happening between me and Jett, but after a kiss like that I felt certain things would go someplace. Heck, maybe I’d even ask him to the Sadie’s Hawkins dance.
It was then that I realized just what made that kiss better than it might have been had we kissed last night at the Burger Bar or at Jett’s locker this morning—the absence of Tasha. I loved knowing that, though his ex-girlfriend was nowhere in sight, Jett still got me in some dark, wonderful place and kissed me. Kissed me in the most heavenly, dreamy way I could imagine.
With that happy realization putting a grin on my face, I hurried into the utility room, snatched the box of brushes and paints, and shuffled back through the narrow space as quickly as I could.
I’d barely made my way out of the heavy fabric folds when I heard someone speak up. “He doesn’t actually like you.”
I froze in place, my stomach dropping as I placed the voice in my head. I glanced over one shoulder to see that I was right—Tasha. She was hanging off the side of the ladder leading to the maintenance rafters.
“You didn’t know we were watching, did you?”
I glanced up and spotted a few cheerleaders in uniform on the ledge.
“Yeah, well Jett knew. It’s the only reason he kissed you. Sorry to crush your dreams, but I’m the one he was thinking about.”
A sharp knot of acknowledgment darted through the center of my chest.
I turned away from Tasha’s green, glaring eyes and let the curtain fall behind me. Another horrific ache tore through me as I considered what Tasha had said. Suddenly it all made sense. He’d been doing it to get back at Tasha after all. I felt like an idiot. Not only did my newly ex-boyfriend like Tasha, it seemed Jett hadn’t fully gotten over her.
I glanced over to Jett and the rest of our group where they sat hovered over posters on the floor. I had acted in several musical productions over the years, and I’d always been confident in my ability to play certain parts. But as I wandered back over to the group on the floor with the box, I realized I had nothing in my acting bag of tricks to make this right. Suddenly, I had no idea how to act around Jett.
Chapter Nine
“I thought Tasha was suspended from cheer,” I griped before dunking my strawberry into a bowl of sour cream. Times like these called for a carpet picnic in the privacy of my room. Thank heavens Mom had gone on a fruit binge at the market.
“She is suspended,” Summer said. “But that’s not the same as kicked off the squad. She can’t cheer at games or anything, but she still has to show up.” Summer dropped a strawberry stem onto the tray and reached for another. “And she’s not allowed to wear her uniform until the suspension is lifted.”
I dabbed the tip of my strawberry into the brown sugar, rolling it until all the sour cream was coated, and paused before bringing it to my lips. “When we were researching the kiss,” I started, “this article said that women were, like, instinctively drawn in by men whose immune systems carried what their own lacked, so their babies would have strong immune systems.”
“That’s cool,” Bailey said. She was sitting up to my vanity rifling through my jewelry box and trying on my rings.
I
replayed the effects of his kiss in my head and sighed. “I swear Jett and I would have kids with like, out of control immune systems. Probably superhero strength.”
It took me a moment to realize that both Summer and Bailey were staring off in some sort of daze. “That good, huh?” Summer asked dreamily.
“Indescribably good,” I assured. In fact, it was possible Jett had some super power of his own. “But I don’t even know what to do now. What, are we in some dumb…let’s-pretend-we-like-each-other-in-front-of-our-exes type of thing?”
Bailey gasped from her seat at my vanity and looked at me with wide eyes. “A fake relationship. Yes, I’ve seen that a million times. The couple starts out pretending like they’re going out, all to make someone jealous or make a parent happy or something like that, but then they actually end up falling in love.”
“Oh my heck, yes,” Summer joined in. “That’s perfect. If he’s really just trying to make Tasha jealous, play along for now and it will turn into something more.”
I hated how convinced they were that Jett was, in fact, just making Tasha jealous. Hated it because I was trying to convince myself otherwise. But what else did they have to go on? They hadn’t seen the way Jett had flirted with me when Tasha wasn’t there. Plus, I hadn’t explained how very chivalrous he was when we were together. Although, he was probably just as chivalrous to random ladies at the store, being raised as he was.
“The idea that he was only kissing me to get back at Tasha…” It hurt to even say the words aloud. “That just ruins everything.”
“I’m sure he likes you too,” Bailey said. “I doubt he would’ve used just anyone.”
“True. I hate the word used though. It’s enough to make me just…wish I could forget about the whole thing.”
“Yeah, but you still have to finish the assignment with him,” Summer pointed out. “My vote is for you to jump into this whole fake relationship ruse with both feet. Ask him to the Sadie Hawkins dance even.”
“Good idea,” Bailey cheered. “Hurry and do it before Tasha does.”
I gasped. “She would never do that. They’re broken up. It would make her look desperate.”
“Yeah, well TJ probably can’t go since he’s already graduated, and Tasha would never skip a dance.”
I didn’t volunteer the fact that TJ hadn’t exactly received his diploma since he’d missed too much school. It was one of the things I’d been working on with him. Who knew what would happen with TJ’s future now. Meanwhile, I wasn’t even so sure Jett liked me the way I liked him. Which was bad.
If I thought I’d been crushing on Jett Bryant before all of this, now that he’d kissed me the way he had, I liked him so much it hurt.
I dropped the strawberry I was about to eat and groaned. A hot and pounding sort of ruckus clanked around my heart. It felt like a pair of fists were tightening around the inside of my throat. “Just thinking about all of this is making me sick. I don’t know why. I guess I’m just…”
“Afraid of rejection?” Summer guessed. “Worried about looking like an idiot? Scared that no matter what you do Jett will never feel the same?”
I shot her a glare. “Sheesh. Yes. All of the above, I guess.”
“I know the perfect way to start playing the part,” Bailey said with a clap. She hurried over to the goody tray and grabbed a big, lopsided strawberry. She wore a ring of mine on every finger including her thumbs. “You should go to his basketball games. They have a home game tonight.”
Tonight’s game wasn’t exactly news to me since I’d overheard Connor and Jett talking about it. In fact, I could have sworn he hoped I was listening. Like he actually wanted me to show up.
If hope had a scale of zero to ten, mine moved from point-five to point-six. Maybe point-seven.
“Let’s do it,” Summer said.
The idea of seeing Jett Bryant in his element was definitely tempting.
I nodded. I might not agree to staging the whole fake romance idea like Summer and Bailey suggested, but I could go to his basketball game, couldn’t I?
“Okay,” I said with a nod.
A rush of new anticipation pushed through me as I agreed, as if I’d somehow agreed to a whole lot more. I pushed back the odd dose of fear that came along with it. “Let’s do it. Let’s go to the game.”
Somewhere in the back of my mind, I’d been entertaining what Summer and Bailey suggested. Tasha wasn’t going to be able to cheer, but she would be at the game. And guess who else would probably be there? TJ.
And he was.
And so started the fake relationship ruse. That night I showed Tasha and TJ that Jett and I could play their little game too. Not only did I cheer from the bleachers as Jett played like a rockstar, I raced up to him after he’d tossed the winning basket during the last two seconds of the game. (Did I mention he plays like a rockstar?)
I locked eyes with Little Ms. Benched-from-the-Squad before propping myself onto my tiptoes and planting a kiss to his cheek. Sure, he had sweat dripping down just about every inch of his skin but the only word that came to me at the sight was sexy. A word that had never belonged to my vocabulary until that moment.
I kept this up on Monday by staying after school to watch Jett practice. This time was probably more convincing than me attending his game since TJ, of course, wasn’t there and Tasha wasn’t even in the gym. She was, however, on the grass beyond the window practicing cheers she wouldn’t perform until her suspension was through.
As soon as Jett and I walked outside the double doors, he tossed his arm around me and pulled me close. He kissed the top of my head, which I thought was a cute addition, but I would have much preferred the kind of kiss he’d given me behind the curtain.
Then came Tuesday. In class that morning, Jett tapped my arm and leaned dangerously close to my ear. “Want to go to the Burger Bar tonight? It’s supposed to be nice out. We can study in the back of my truck.”
I had to rub my hands over the goosebumps he’d aroused on my arms before answering. “Yeah, that’d be good.”
The problem was, I couldn’t exactly tell if we were doing this to keep up the fake relationship ruse or because we had mutual feelings for one another. I knew where I stood, of course, but with Jett it wasn’t so easy. Even as he told me he would pick me up at 6:00 that night, I realized that Levi was right there. Levi hung out with the MG’s and was sure to get word back to Tasha.
Things like that kept me from knowing where Jett stood. Kept me from getting too excited about things between us. They also kept me wondering if I’d made a big mistake breaking things off with TJ, because who knew what his life was going to look like now? That’s when I’d remind myself about the fact that TJ had locked lips with Tasha while we were together, which fueled my need to keep things up no matter what Jett’s feelings were for me.
I couldn’t help but think I needed to somehow put things to the test.
“The sooner you ask him to the dance, the better,” Bailey said as we filed out of theater on Friday.
“I know,” I mumbled, spotting the very Sadie’s sign we made last week. “I’m thinking about it.”
“Well, don’t think too hard,” Bailey warned. “I bet you anything that Tasha’s going to ask him. And I heard that Pastor Bryant makes all his kids say yes to the first person who asks—no exceptions.”
That was a frightening thought. One she hadn’t shared with me before then. “Who told you that?” I asked.
Bailey dodged a group of guys shoving each other by the lockers. “Ava and Ivy Bryant are in my Spanish class,” she explained.
“Huh.” I pulled the theater binder to my chest, curled my fingers around the edges, and sighed.
I stared blankly toward the east hall, wondering if I’d see Jett there.
“Guess what else they told me,” Bailey said. “With Jett being the captain and all, he got Coach to agree to early morning practices on Fridays instead, so the team gets their weekend nights free. Unless they have a game, that is.”
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An unwarranted thrill shot through my chest in a hot streak. “You’re kidding.”
Bailey popped her brows playfully. “Trying to free up his Fridays for you.”
I hated that a grin came to my lips as I denied it. “I’m not the reason he wants them free,” I assured. Though I wished I was.
“Oh,” Bailey suddenly blurted. “I told Summer I’d meet her in the back parking lot. Call me later?”
“Yeah, I’ll call you.” As I shuffled down the hallway, I thought back on my week with Jett. We hadn’t shared an actual kiss since that incredible one last Friday. But on Tuesday night at the Burger Bar, we’d come very close to it.
We had scored wifi access long enough to pull up yet another article about kissing. Then, as I read the article aloud, Jett scooted closer to me, bringing his delicious smell and incredible warmth. He rested his forehead against mine and toyed with a lock of my hair, sending tingles to zip throughout my body. That alone had me feeling like my heart might stop. But then he added to the deliciousness of the moment by saying that he’d been dying to kiss me again. That he hadn’t stopped thinking about that moment backstage.
I swear he was about to come in and prove that point when a startling horn blasted and jolted the two of us apart. I glared at the other side of the parking lot to find that—lo and behold—the offending honk had come from TJ’s stupid truck. Tasha and her cronies had shown up after all. Dino and Jessie were piled into the flatbed with Olivia, Stacy, and the rest of the MG crew, while TJ and Tasha cozied up to one another in the front cab.
The mere recollection made me groan; the sound was swallowed up by the chaos in the hallway, squeaking shoes, slamming lockers, and distant conversations.
As I neared the end of the east hall, I glanced up from the array of high tops and fashion pumps to an entirely new sight. One that caused pleasure and pain to push through my body all at once. Jett Bryant—tall, dark, and proving to be dangerous for my health. He shot me a grin that revealed his dimple, which had me wondering if he was more a remedy instead.
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