by Hazel Kelly
"I didn't tell her for the same reason you didn't."
"And what reason do you suppose that is?" she asked, cocking her head.
"Because-" I stole a glance at her lips and felt a streak of heat travel up the back of my neck. "This is between us."
She narrowed her eyes at me. "What is?"
"Whatever is going on here."
"You mean the fact that you're getting ideas?"
I smiled. "What makes you say that?"
"Oh please, Shane. It's written all over your face."
"What is?"
She let her head fall back against the tall bus seat behind her.
I let my eyes linger on the bare flesh of her delicate neck before looking back at her face. "Well?"
"You want to make trouble for us," she said. "Or you wouldn't be looking at me like that."
"Like what?"
She crossed her arms and legs. "Like you want something from me."
I laughed.
"Is it the pigtails? Are they really that powerful? Cause I can take them out if they're making you stupid." She reached for the elastic on the one hanging between us.
"Don't you dare," I said, wrapping a hand around hers and pulling it away. "They didn't do anything wrong." I angled my body towards her, the muffled sounds on the loud bus making me feel like we were in our own little bubble. "Besides, they have nothing to do with this."
"With what?"
"The fact that you want to make trouble, too," I said. "Not that I would've personally chosen the word trouble."
"Oh? What would you have said?"
I let my eyes roll up until a word came to me. "Fun would've been better."
She pursed her glossy lips. "Mmm."
"And as far as me wanting something from you-"
She raised her eyebrows.
"You're absolutely right."
"I thought so."
I let my head fall back against the seat and rolled it towards her. "But I don't want anything from you that you don't want from me."
"Is that so?"
I fixed my eyes on hers. "Yeah. It is."
She broke our eye contact.
"And I haven't had any ideas that you haven't already had."
She glanced at me out of the corner of her eye.
"Am I right?"
"Would you believe me if I said no?"
I lifted my head. "Would you lie to my face?"
She swallowed.
"Good," I said. "So it’s settled. We’ll leave Izzy out of this for the moment and just have a good time."
She nodded, her eyes on me like I was an unpredictable animal.
"Besides," I said, hearing the bus crunch onto a gravel driveway. "If I get my way, there won't be any room between us for an extra person."
She pushed my arm. "Don't be ridiculous."
I craned my neck back. "What?"
"Don't try to put me in some kind of sexual trance with your steely eyes and your chiseled jaw and your-"
"Please go on."
"You wish."
"No really,” I said. “It's nice to hear that you're as attracted to me as I am to you."
She rolled her eyes. "You're not attracted to me, Shane. You just can't help yourself from wanting what you think you can't have."
"That doesn't make any sense."
"Doesn't it?"
"Not at all," I said, shaking my head as the bus pulled to a stop. "Because I think I can have you."
Her lashes fluttered.
"And I think I will."
"I'm really flattered, Shane, but-"
"Good."
"Get off the bus."
I smiled. "Sounds like somebody needs a drink?"
"Yeah," she said, standing up and smoothing her skirt down. "A beer for me and an animal tranquilizer for you."
I backed into the aisle and made some space so she could step in front of me.
"Thanks," she said, sidestepping out of the seat.
"And it would be my pleasure to get you a drink as soon as we get off the bus."
"Glad to hear it," she said.
"But as far as the animal tranquilizers, this isn't that kind of party."
"Shame."
"Besides," I said, leaning down to whisper in her ear as the line scooted towards the front. "It'll take a lot more than that to make me change my mind about having you."
She turned around and stuck a pointed finger right into my chest. "Behave yourself."
"Or what?" I asked, my mouth curling into a smile. "You'll make me behave? Because that would be fine with me, too. In fact, I'd probably love nothing more than-"
"Unbelievable," she said, throwing her hands in the air and shaking her head as she turned back towards the front of the bus.
"Yeah," I mumbled to myself. "You are."
Chapter 23: Andi
I wished I could put it all out there like he was, wished I could just flirt with him like it was second nature.
But it was hard to flex a muscle that had been deliberately left to deteriorate for so long.
And where was this all coming from anyway?
It seemed unlikely that he’d developed a brain tumor, and I knew better than to think it was because he didn’t have other options.
Then again, I suppose it could've been that kiss.
I always thought women were more predisposed to being wooed by a single kiss. But if he was even half as intrigued as I was by the sparks that flew in my doorway- by the way our bodies felt pressed against each other- it might explain his sudden change of feelings.
Unfortunately, despite the desire churning in my stomach, my mind was obsessed by all the reasons we were betraying ourselves, betraying Izzy.
Our three way Musketeer loyalty had been the one thing I could always count on. Was it really worth risking it just to see what was behind Shane's heavy belt buckle?
I sighed and leaned against the wall of the barn.
At least I knew where he stood. Sort of.
I watched him oversee the grill being fired up and the tapping of the kegs before delegating pumping duties to a few younger guys. Even from a distance, it was obvious that he wasn't just the alpha male in my life.
The younger boys hung on his every word, and his peers seemed to have endless back slaps and bursts of laughter that they were eager to spend in exchange for even his fleeting attention.
And not surprisingly, there wasn't a single sorority girl that hadn't checked him out.
Did he know how they all looked at him? Like he was head of the pride and they were all just female lions, blinking and posing and trying to catch his eye?
Or was he so used to being checked out that he didn't even notice the special attention his presence attracted?
Either way, even if he hadn't been all those things to all those other people, I still would've been proud to be at the dance with him.
It was a dream come true really, a dream I gave up on long before he surprised me by asking if I'd accompany him to our last high school dance. I lost a lot of sleep over the fact that I said no.
But back then it seemed like a date was all he wanted, whereas this time he obviously wanted more.
And the fact that I trusted him more than I trusted myself put me in a difficult position.
Because I didn't know how to behave.
All I knew was that if he tried to kiss me again-
"Funny meeting you here," Tyler said when he came around the corner. His eyes looked me up and down as he planted one hand over my shoulder against the barn.
"Hi Tyler."
He craned his neck back without giving me anymore space. "You remember my name?"
"Yeah," I said, wondering how many of his drunken introductions I’d been subjected to over the years. "We've met a few times."
"In my dreams?" he asked, staring at my mouth so intensely I feared my lip gloss was smeared. "Or in yours?"
"Good one."
He kept staring at me like an idiot, and if his breath was anythi
ng to go by, he was already shitfaced.
"So who did you bring to the dance tonight?" I asked, hoping he'd take a hint.
"My cousin," he said. "She's thinking about going here next year."
I raised my eyebrows. "So she's only eighteen?"
He shrugged.
"Don't you think you should keep an eye on her?"
"She's a big girl," he said, shifting his feet so I completely lost my view of Shane. "She can take care of herself."
"I have to disagree," I said, fixing my eyes on him. "And I think it's your responsibility to make sure some creep doesn't get up in her face."
He narrowed his blue eyes at me. "She's fine. She's sucking up to some Thetas over there." He tilted his head in a random direction. "And personally, I'm more interested in what you're doing all by yourself over here."
I swallowed.
"Seems a shame that Shane would abandon you when you don't have any friends here."
"This is all pretty gallant of you, Tyler," Shane said, stepping up with two beers and a wrapped hot dog. "Except I didn't abandon anyone."
I felt my chest loosen.
Tyler kept his hand planted on the wall behind me as he turned his head towards Shane’s voice.
"This is the part where you back the fuck away from my date," Shane said, his stance wide.
"Why?” Tyler asked. “So you can piss all around her?"
Shane took a step closer. "No. So you don't get your unwelcome ass kicked."
Tyler dropped his arm and took a step back.
Shane watched him like an aggravated pit bull before turning to me. "That's for you," he said, nodding towards the hot dog. "Ketchup no mustard, right?"
I smiled gratefully and took the hot dog and one beer from him.
"You can go now," Shane said, nodding at Tyler.
Tyler tipped his cowboy hat before turning on his heeled boots and strutting towards the smoking grill.
"He really creeps me out," I said, biting into my hot dog.
"Sorry." Shane drank his beer and kept an eye on the rowdy crowd near the grill. "To be honest, I kind of wish he'd behaved worse just now so I would’ve had an excuse to punch him in the face."
I swallowed my bite. "Is that something you do a lot?"
"Seasonally, I'd say."
"Why? That seems like such a waste of energy."
"Oh lots of reasons," he said. "Last time was during pledge week. I caught him fireman carrying some catatonic freshman upstairs."
My eyes grew wide.
"When he objected to handing her over, I jacked him in the nose and caught her when he went down."
"Then what?"
"I called some of the girls in her house and sat with her until they came to pick her up."
"That was good of you."
He smiled. "I'm actually a decent guy when you get to know me."
"I'll keep that in mind," I said, licking some ketchup from the corner of my mouth. "Shit- was I supposed to save some of this for you?" I looked back and forth between Shane and my last bite of hot dog.
"No, you're good. I scarfed one when I was over there. She's all yours."
I popped the last bite in my mouth.
"Sorry I let him get anywhere near you. It won't happen again."
"I'm over it," I said. "Besides, he only likes to get in my face because he knows I'm here with you, and he gets off on getting a rise out of you."
Shane shook his head. "That's not it."
"No?"
"He likes to get in your face because you're beautiful and charming, and he's deluded enough to think he has a chance."
"Well, he doesn’t."
"And what about me?" he asked, leaning against the barn beside me. "Would you say I have a chance?"
"Jury's still out."
He narrowed his eyes on me. "Give a guy some odds."
I sighed. "You and your gambling addiction."
"Well?"
"I'd say fifty/fifty."
He laughed. "Are those really my odds or are those the odds that you're full of shit?"
I took a sip of my beer and tilted my face towards him. "What do you mean full of shit?"
"I'd say eighty/twenty that you're secretly dying to get me alone and can't wait to put your hands on me."
"That's presumptuous," I said. "And what's with the twenty percent? You having doubts?"
“No. I just know better than to think you're a sure thing."
I rolled my eyes. "I suppose I should be flattered by that."
"By the fact that you're not like all the other girls? Yeah, you should. I love that about you."
I cast my eyes down into my plastic cup.
"Frankly, I always have."
Chapter 24: Shane
"And I've always admired your confidence," she said. "Though it's a bit full on being the target of it."
"Are you asking me to tone it down?"
She raised her eyebrows. "Yeah. Like way down."
I nodded.
"I don't know how to be like this with you."
I furrowed my brow. "Be like what?"
“Fawning and flirtatious."
"So don't be," I said. "Just be yourself."
"It's kind of hard to do that when you're being fawning and flirtatious."
I drained the rest of my beer. "Why do you suppose that is?"
"Seriously?"
"Yeah."
"Because things have never been like that with us. Things have always been friendly."
"And you're not sure you can handle them getting a little friendlier?"
"Even if I could, what then?" she asked. "Have you thought about the big mess we're going to make if we… go there."
"Obviously you have."
"I can't help it. Our friendship is important to me and-"
"Hey." I stepped between her and the party and tilted her chin up. "It's important to me, too."
Her plump lips fell apart. "Yeah?"
I dropped my fingers from under her chin. "Of course."
She cast her eyes down for a moment.
"And I wouldn't do anything to jeopardize it. Okay?"
"Okay."
"I promise," I said. "You can trust me."
"I know. If anything, that's what scares me most about this whole thing."
"Trusting me?"
She shook her head. "No. How much I already do."
"Truth or dare?"
She furrowed her brow. "Right now?"
I nodded.
"You don't even have an Oreo."
"Truth or dare?"
She sighed. "Dare."
"I dare you to stop overthinking things like such a woman and go on a hay ride with me."
“Is that a euphemism?”
“No.”
She narrowed her eyes at me. "Even so, that sounds like two things."
“It's a double dare."
"What about the barn dance?"
I turned away from her to look at the scene before us, reminding myself that while it was nothing novel for me, Andi had never been to one. "If you want to stay here and get your Cotton Eyed Joe on, that's obviously fine, too."
"Can we bring beer on the hay ride?"
"Obviously."
"Fine," she said, draining her cup. "I'm in."
"Great. Let's go."
I glanced over my shoulder after a few steps to make sure she was following me, my eyes drawn to the buttons of her red and white checkered shirt.
"Hey, Barry," I said, summoning a pledge with an armful of firewood.
"It's Bobby," he said, sweat dripping off his brow.