“He was practicing something original,” Jenks said.
“Hmm. Impressive,” I said, hoping it wasn’t a love song. Because we’d only just broken up and he’d told me he still had feelings for Emmie.
Awkward to the nth degree.
But all that was quickly forgotten when the music began and the curtain went up, revealing Len Miles standing in the middle of the stage, wearing a warm-up suit and grinning like a lunatic.
“What’s he doing?” Emmie said. But then it became very obvious.
“Oh my God,” Celia said. “He’s dancing to that ridiculous I’m Sexy and I Know It song.”
Not just that; then he was stripping to it, too.
~ ♥ ~
Miles’s dance didn’t last very long—only long enough for the dean to lose her mind and pull the plug. Chelly and Declan and the rest of the production went on next doing a couple of scenes from their hilarious rendition of Romeo and Juliet where they traded gender roles.
Declan and Chelly were both really great actors and were believable in their roles, even though Juliet towered over the very curvy Romeo. I knew Emmie and Celia were right there with me holding their breath when it came time for the kiss that we knew Kaylee had been nervous about, but it went off without a hitch and we all stood up and clapped for our friends (Jenks even did a few wolf whistles) once their part was over.
The third act was a guy juggling. He was okay, but it wasn’t the most exciting thing I’d seen and was glad when it was over and they announced Jared and Chelly’s magic show. I couldn’t help the smile as I got really excited for them.
The curtain went up and Hunter whistled quietly. I looked up at the stage and had to agree with his whistle. Chelly did look amazing (because I knew Hunter wasn’t whistling about Jared looking hot in his tux).
Emmie muttered something beside me, her eyes glued to the stage.
“Huh?”
Her eyes darted to me and then back to the stage. “Abe. He’s totally in love with Chelly. Watch the way he looks at her.”
I followed her gaze and had to wait a second until he turned toward her as part of the act, but there it was, all over his face. I hadn’t noticed it before, but Emmie was right, his heart was right there in the way he looked at her.
We’d dated, but only for a short time and while I didn’t doubt for a second that he’d liked me, he’d never looked at me like that.
“Does she know?” I whispered.
“I don’t think so,” Emmie said back. “They’d make a cute couple, though, don’t you think?”
I thought about that for a second, looking at my roommate to make sure she was serious. She seemed to be and the more I considered it, the more I liked the idea of Jared and Chelly together. I opened my mouth to say as much when Emmie gasped, her eyes widening.
As a hush fell over the crowd, I turned and looked up to the stage to see that somehow Chelly was naked from the waist up. Time seemed to slow to an impossible crawl as a look of horror washed over her face.
“Oh no,” escaped my lips as I watched helplessly, jumping to my feet beside Emmie. A few snickers erupted around me, loud as cannons in the deafening silence. Then, the cellphone cameras started clicking and flashing.
Jared seemed to be the last to notice, the crowd’s reaction obviously telling him something was wrong. He turned toward Chelly and his mouth fell open. He started to shrug out of his jacket, but before he could even get it off his shoulders, Chelly yanked up her dress and ran off the stage. It all happened in a manner of seconds that felt like hours. Seconds that could completely ruin one of my best friends.
The crowd erupted into hoots and hollers, including Hunter who sat in our row. Emmie pushed her way past Celia and Jenks to punch his shoulder. “Shut up you giant dick!”
“What?” he said, innocently. “I didn’t take her clothes off. Just enjoying the show.”
Jenks turned toward him and told him to shut his mouth. But we were done with him anyway. Emmie, Celia and I pushed past the boys and out into the aisle. Amid the chaos, I turned and saw the curtain come down to the stage, but it didn’t matter, no one was left on it anyway.
~ ♥ ~
We made our way out into the hall and around to the back of the theater, but of course, Chelly wasn’t there. Jared was, standing with Mr. Stratton, looking so distraught my heart broke for him. But Chelly was my priority.
“Where is she?” Emmie asked before I got the chance.
Jared and Mr. Stratton turned toward us but it was the teacher who spoke. “She ran out before I even knew what had happened.”
“Up to her room, probably,” Emmie said.
“Or the bathroom to regroup,” Celia suggested and it seemed like a reasonable thing since she probably had to get her outfit sorted before... As I thought this, my stomach rolled over in humiliation on Chelly’s behalf. There had to be close to a thousand people in that crowd and every single one of them...
“I need to find her,” Jared said. “Where’s Naomi to let me into her room?”
“Whoa there,” Mr. Stratton said, a hand landing on Jared’s arm. “You know you’re not going upstairs.”
Jared stared at him for several seconds and he actually looked like he was going to argue, making me realize Emmie had been right. I mean, Jared’s always been a nice guy and of course he would be concerned, but he looked completely wrecked over this.
“I’ll find Naomi,” I said, grabbing Jared’s other arm and giving him an encouraging squeeze. “I’ll let you know when we find her.”
He searched my face—though for what, I had no idea—and then nodded. “Thanks, Brooklyn.”
I turned to Emmie and Celia. “You check the bathrooms and places down here she might go. I’ll find Naomi and head upstairs.”
I turned away from Jared and Mr. Stratton to start down the hall.
“Brooklyn?”
I looked over my shoulder at Jared.
His devastated face just about killed me. “Tell her I’m so sorry.”
~ ♥ ~
After we found Chelly and (figuratively) talked her off the ledge, she needed some alone time, so we respected her wishes and instead focused on doing damage control. As we knew they would, pictures turned up, but we managed to shut most of the mean girls down before the pictures got very far. We knew it was a losing battle, but it was the least we could do for our friend. I mean, can you imagine exposing yourself to the student bodies of not just the girls’ school, but the boys’ as well? Ugh. Poor thing.
Anyway, while we were trying to search and destroy, photo by photo, Jared took the big picture approach and got the two school deans involved. They both sent out e-mails, threatening immediate expulsion for anyone who shared any photos, either privately or on social media.
Rosewood had a zero tolerance policy for that kind of thing already, but it didn’t hurt to remind everyone of it in times like these.
It ended up taking several exhausting days to get everything under control, though I suspected things weren’t completely back to normal. Some other weird stuff started happening, too, including Mr. Stratton disappearing, and then Hunter dragged Chelly back down into the drama at the dance.
But finally that was done and in the end Abe and Chelly started dating, which I think made it all worth it because while they were really different, they just worked together. The stars were aligning for all my friends and they were finding love, which made me happy.
Well, maybe ninety-percent happy.
Deck the Halls
I was catching up on homework the next Saturday afternoon when Emmie texted me. She had left before lunch to go over to the Westwood campus to meet with their new school liaison guy to discuss upcoming events. Dave had somehow managed to switch when he found out Emmie was returning to her old job, taking my place as Rosewood’s representative.
Just saw horse coach on campus, her message said, setting my heart to pounding. My fingers hovered over the letters as I tried to figure out what to sen
d back that wouldn’t make me seem too eager but also wouldn’t let on that I’d seen him recently.
Still on crutches? I typed.
No, she sent back immediately. And then after a moment: He looks gooooood. Not that tanned for being in Cali, tho.
He was probably stuck inside a lot, I reasoned. I felt a pang of guilt over this little white lie but supposed the being stuck inside part was true enough.
Maybe. Christmas in the sun is pretty nice.
Not that he’d actually spent Christmas in the sun. In fact, the opposite. He’d spent his holiday by himself in a concrete hole in the ground. Sure, a very nicely outfitted one, but nonetheless it had to be lonely, even for a guy like Brady who didn’t seek out a lot of company.
My heart ached as I thought of him without a Christmas tree or even some holiday foods and the company of family and I suddenly wanted to make it up to him. I wanted to give him the Christmas he’d missed.
And I knew just how to do it, too.
Since I knew he was back on campus, I sent Brady an e-mail telling him that I needed to meet with him privately at ‘our meeting place’ (though not urgently) and was surprised that he got back to me within minutes saying he’d see me there on Thursday after dark. I was both glad for the time to prepare and also a bit sad that I’d have to wait that long to see him.
As soon as I put my phone down, I felt like my idea was lame and he’d think it was ridiculous. But it was too late to go back on it now; if I cancelled right away, he’d think I was nuts for sure.
~ ♥ ~
Thursday finally arrived, though it felt like the longest week ever, what with the early-morning equestrian practices and all that schoolwork that I was still struggling to catch up on. Also, the waiting to see Brady, obviously.
That night, I texted him as I was leaving the main building to let him know I was on my way to the bunker. He texted back that he was already there.
“No backing out now,” I said out loud to myself as I started down the path toward the bunker shed. It had started to snow, so I hustled quickly, wanting to get there before I left tell-tale tracks.
When I got inside the dark shed, before I got the door shut behind me, I crashed into something. Something that almost made me scream, but steadied me with warm hands and made me realize it wasn’t a something but a someone. The someone I was there to meet.
“Brady?” I squeaked, but I knew it was him, his warmth and amazing smell enveloping me.
“Yeah, sorry,” he said, his voice seeming deeper and sexier in the dark. “I heard you unlatch the lock and was reaching for the door, but you beat me to it.”
Speaking of the door, I closed it behind me, squinting as the automatic lights came on. I turned and looked at Brady because I couldn’t not look at him. He was so close that I took a step back to get out of his bubble, or maybe get him out of mine.
Something rustled at my feet and I realized I’d dropped the shopping bag full of stuff I’d brought.
“So...” he began as I reached down for the bag. “You wanted to see me?”
I straightened and motioned toward the stairs. “Should we go down?”
He cringed. “Do you mind if we stay up here? My foot’s killing me today.”
“Oh, sure,” I said, hiding my disappointment as I looked around the small space. Then I was struck again by how lame my idea had been. “You know what? Never mind. It was dumb.”
He frowned and cocked his head. “What was dumb?”
My face heated as I shook my head, avoiding his eyes. “Nothing...”
His finger pulled my chin up so I had to look at him. “Brooklyn? What’s going on?”
“Nothing...I...” I exhaled and then blurted out, “I felt bad that you didn’t really get a Christmas, so I thought I’d make it up to you.”
He glanced down at the bag and then up to my eyes. “What do you mean?”
I shrugged. “I brought some Christmassy stuff.”
Brady grabbed my arm and tugged me over to a tiny bench along the wall of the shed that I hadn’t noticed before. “Sit,” he said, pulling me down beside him.
The bench didn’t allow for any room between us and I tried not to focus on his hip and thigh pressed into mine.
“What did you bring?” he asked.
“It’s stupid.”
“I think it’s sweet,” he countered, making me look up at him. He nodded, reassuring. “I’m serious. It’s really thoughtful of you. Now let’s see.”
I snatched the bag away when he reached for it. “Impatient!”
“Yes,” he said with a smirk, seemingly unashamed, which made me laugh. “Come on. We can’t stay here all night.”
Which was a sad truth that brought me back to my task. I reached into the bag and pulled out the pine air-freshener. “To set the mood,” I said, waving it around, hating that it sort of drowned out the smell of him which was way better than the smell of a stupid piece of cardboard.
“What, no tree in there?” He asked as he craned his neck to look into the bag.
“Sorry,” I said. “My ax needs sharpening.”
He snorted. “What else?”
“Jeez, you are impatient.”
He leaned his muscular shoulder into me, making my heart speed up a little. “We already established that.”
With an exaggerated eye-roll, I pulled out my phone and hit the cued playlist, starting with Here Comes Santa Claus.
“Nice touch,” Brady said.
I smiled at him as I pulled out the slices of banana bread. “You have to use your imagination and pretend this is fruitcake.”
“Do you mind if I don’t? I hate fruitcake,” he said, taking one of the slices. “But I love banana bread.”
So that was a relief since I’d actually really wanted to get some fruitcake, but I hadn’t thought of it until the last minute. Pulling out the thermos, I said, “And I couldn’t get any eggnog, but how’s a vanilla milkshake?”
He grinned. “Perfect.”
“I forgot glasses, but the lid is a cup, if you don’t mind sharing.”
He glanced down at my mouth. “Not at all.”
Gulp. His warm body pressed up against mine suddenly felt like it was almost too much. Glad for something to occupy my hands, I unscrewed the top and handed it to him to hold while I poured into the lid, hoping he didn’t see the slight tremble to my hands.
“This is really nice,” he said softly. “Not dumb at all. Thank you.”
I nodded, avoiding his eyes. “Not done yet.”
“What? You got some mistletoe in there?”
“Brady...”
He took a sip of the milkshake and then handed it to me. I drank some, more for something to do than because I wanted any.
“I heard you and Davidson broke up,” he said, making me almost spit out the milkshake. Instead, I sort of choked on it.
“Sorry,” he said as he thumped me on the back. “You okay?”
“Yeah,” I said after a few more coughs. I noticed his hand was still on my back, no longer thumping but now rubbing in slow circles.
“Anyway,” he said. “Sorry about my bad timing, but...yeah, about Davidson...Why didn’t you tell me?”
Because I needed it between us to keep my distance. “Because it doesn’t make a difference.”
He pursed his lips before he said, “I guess not. But...I...” He seemed to stall out and shook his head before he went on. “Please don’t keep stuff from me. I can’t...I don’t do well with half-truths. My parents’ marriage fell apart because of lies and half-truths.”
Panic churned in my stomach as I thought of the half-truths and outright lies that made up everything he knew about me. It couldn’t be helped, but I hated myself in that moment. The only thing keeping me from feeling like a totally horrible person was the fact that we weren’t dating.
“I’m sorry. Dave and I weren’t even really dating. I left and came back and I guess we both thought we’d...” I trailed off realizing I really didn’t wa
nt to talk to Brady about any of this.
“So what happened?” he asked, though I couldn’t figure out why he would want to know.
I cleared my throat. “He’s still hung up on Emmie.”
“So he broke up with you?” Brady asked, almost sounding mad, which seemed weird, considering.
“It was a mutual thing,” I said. “I was...I guess I knew it wasn’t going to work, so if he hadn’t brought it up, I was going to end it anyway.”
He nodded and took a bite of his banana bread, chewing for a long time. The tension between us became almost unbearable but finally he broke the silence. “So now what?”
I handed him the cup. “I don’t know.”
He took a drink and handed the cup back for me to refill. “Well, we’ve just spent our first Christmas together.”
I laughed as I passed the cup back. “I don’t think it counts.”
He looked into my eyes and I wanted to look away but found I couldn’t. “Brady...” I whispered right before his lips touched mine. It was a light kiss, his mouth barely brushing my own. But it sent tingles all the way to my toes. I wedged the thermos between my knees so I could press my palm to his chest to feel if his heart was pounding as hard as mine. That it was shouldn’t have been a surprise, but it ratcheted up my need for him even more and it was me who deepened the kiss, parting my lips and tasting him as I fisted my hand in his shirt, pulling him even closer
He groaned against my mouth as his warm palm moved down my neck until his fingers dug into the back of my hair.
I heard a splatter and pulled back, seeing where he’d spilled the milkshake on the floor.
“Oops,” he said, not taking his eyes off mine. Instead, the cup fell to the floor with a clatter, leaving him to use both of his hands on my face to pull me in for another kiss. This one was definitely more than just a press of his lips. His tongue met with mine and my eyes rolled back as my brain went offline. I felt instantly drunk on him and had the sudden thought that while Tristan was maybe a more practiced kisser, his kiss was like swimming in a kiddie pool and Brady’s was diving into the ocean.
Hitting the Target Page 3