Between the Girls (The Basin Lake Series Book 3)

by Stephanie Vercier

  She shrugs. “There isn’t anything set in stone, but it could be cool. Evan loves it, Paige loves it, so maybe I’d love it too?”

  “I’d really miss you if you went, but it would probably give me the kick in the ass I need to finally get out there to see Paige.” But that would only be visiting, and I’m hit with a wave of sadness in imagining McKenzie so far away.

  “I know, and believe me, I’ve thought about missing you and James too, but this could be really cool and a way to actually see my dad once in a while, and it doesn’t hurt I’d get to spend time with my brother and your sister.”

  “Well, yeah, I’m sure they’d love it, but what does James think?” We move on to the next locker on our list, and I pull out the corresponding card while McKenzie puts the tape up.

  “I kind of just casually brought it up, and he sort of flipped out, like got really worried, told me there was no way he could afford to go to that school, being out of state and private and all.”

  If I were James, I’d feel the same way. But if McKenzie is considering this, then she’s either willing to end her relationship with him or has faith they’re strong enough to survive long distance.

  “I guess we all have to move on,” I say, now feeling a tinge of worry about Tyler and his noncommittal plans about the fall and where he’ll be. “But it still sucks.”

  “Sure as shit does.”

  “But you’re still not set on it, right?” I affix the valentine to the locker.

  “No, not set on it. There’s still time.”

  Knowing her decision isn’t set in stone is a relief, and I push the thought of her being as far away as Paige is out of my mind for now. We round the corner, and I pull out the next valentine. I don’t generally peek inside to read the messages, but when we stop at Nina Vargo’s locker, I can’t help myself.

  Roses are red. Violets are blue

  You’re a pain in my ass, but I still like you.

  Go out with me again, Vargo. Nerds are the best lovers.

  Nick

  I’m laughing and touched and hopeful all at once.

  “Who’s it from?” McKenzie asks, looking over my shoulder.

  “See for yourself.”

  She reads it. “Damn, I’ve got to give that boy points for trying! She’ll have to give him another chance when she sees that.”

  “Agreed.”

  As we move along, I take out the next card, cards that the juniors in Spirit Club had filled out. This one just happens to be for me, and for a moment I’m terrified that it’s from Austin, that he’d only been pretending to be okay with us not being together.

  “Well… well…” McKenzie says, sticking tape up on my locker and then taking the card from me before I can look inside. “More points to be given out today.”

  She wouldn’t be so at ease if it were from Austin.

  “I told him not to,” I say, knowing it has to be from Tyler.

  “But he so totally did. Here… all I read was who it was from,” she says with a smile before handing it back to me.

  Claire,

  Did I pass the test? By the tenth time you told me not to get you one of these, I figured you were actually giving me a subliminal message to do it because it was cute and maybe ironic and kind of random. Plus, the longer this message is, the more money you get for your Spirit Club, so I’m making it long, but not too long because I’m not a great writer and I might make a fool of myself. So, I’ll end this in saying that I love you because I do.

  Love,

  Tyler

  I’m holding my hand to my chest, at a loss for words.

  “That’s not bad,” McKenzie says, having been looking over my shoulder. “By that moisture I see clinging in the corner of your eye, I’d say he did the right thing.”

  All I do is nod because she’s right.

  TYLER

  “You’re sneaky,” Claire tells me in advanced chemistry when Nick and I join she and Nina for another lab experiment.

  “Sneaky?” I swallow hard, my guilty mind going to the texts between Laney and I before I realize she isn’t mad. “Oh… the valentine, right?”

  “Yes, the valentine.” She laughs. “I know I told you not to do it, but it was sweet, and I love you for it.”

  “Well,” I say, relaxing and pulling her into a hug. “I’m glad you liked it, and I love you too. Happy first Valentine’s Day.”

  Even though Mr. Turner frowns on public displays of affection, Claire kisses me, and I kiss her right back. I can’t believe how dumb I’ve been even talking to Laney, willing to risk what I have with Claire, and for what? Some kind of closure or misguided belief Laney and I deserved a second chance? The more I’m with Claire, the more I realize what a messed up idea that even is.

  “And what am I supposed to think about this?” Nina says, pulling Claire and I out of our moment. She’s pointing to a valentine and looking at Nick. “So, I’m a major pain in your ass, huh?”

  “Isn’t that how all great love stories begin?” he asks, looking cool even under Nina’s agitation at him.

  “Love story my ass,” Nina says. “More like a freakishly annoying crush.”

  Nick’s expression sours. “Freakish and annoying crush, huh? Was it not you who asked me to the harvest dance?”

  “Call it a momentary lapse of judgment that happened like three months ago,” Nina snaps back.

  He sighs. “Well, I gave it the old college try, but now I’m done… officially.”

  “What do you mean, done?” Nina asks.

  “That poem was my last ditch effort,” Nick says stoically. “Now that you’ve stomped all over my heart, I’m finished. Time to find another girl who appreciates the geek in me.”

  Claire gives me a look like this isn’t something you see every day, but neither of us steps into their conversation. I’ve learned that incurring Nina’s wrath isn’t worth it.

  “Pick me up Friday at seven,” Nina says, her lips tight, almost like she’s angry.

  “Why would I do that?”

  “To take me on a date.”

  “Too late, Vargo.”

  “Seriously?” Whatever hope she has he’ll reconsider diminishes in that word.

  Nick sits back in his chair, crossing his arms over his chest and furrows his brow. “Dead serious, unless you can promise me you’ll give us an actual chance this time. No more buckling under the pressure of your cheer squad who think I’m too much of a dork for you. You’re stronger than peer pressure, Vargo.”

  She nods, her earlier defensiveness melting away. “I know I fucked up. And I promise that I’ll at least try not to cave to public perception. Let’s just go out and see what’s up with us.”

  “Friday at seven it is then,” he says.

  I pat Nick on the back. “Nice job, dude,” I say, hoping not to upset Nina.

  Claire just smiles.

  Nina and Nick are so focused on one another that Claire and I have to do most of the experiment, but neither of us really minds.

  “I’ve got your real present in the Jeep,” I tell Claire, holding her body close to mine after class in one of the alcoves. “Meet me in the caf at lunch, and we’ll go grab it, okay?”

  “You seriously got me something else?”

  “Uh, yeah. You thought that lame valentine was it?”

  “It wasn’t lame. I loved it.”

  “Kind of like how I love you… except that you aren’t lame.”

  “I’ll see you at lunch,” she says, amused, then pulls away and rushes off to her next class.

  Lunch can’t come soon enough, but when it does, I’m already leading Claire out toward my Jeep before she can even step a foot into the cafeteria. It’s cold out, and there’s still snow on the ground with more expected for tonight.

  “I just need to grab your present out of McKenzie’s,” she says on the way, somehow having a key to her friend’s car and pulling a box wrapped in heart-covered paper out of the hatch.

  “Who should open first?” I as
k once we’re in my Jeep, the engine running to keep us warm.

  “You,” she says, “since you already kind of got me a present.”

  I chuckle. “So you really don’t hate me for the valentine on your locker?”

  “Nope,” she says, her eyes bright and wide. “Please just believe it was a sweet, unexpected surprise.”

  “Okay, I’ll believe it.” I lean in and kiss her and want to keep on kissing until she gently pushes me away.

  “You need to open your card and your present, Tyler!”

  “Yeah, yeah, okay,” I say, even though Claire is already the best present I could ask for.

  Reading sappy messages on cards isn’t really my thing, but I read every word on this one she gives me. She tells me she loves me, and she tells me why:

  Tyler,

  Your smile makes me smile. You are handsome, gorgeous, strong and amazing. Your strength helped me through losing my friend, and I’m grateful for that. I’m also grateful to know you and that you’ve shared parts of yourself with me that you don’t with other people. I also love that I can share things with you without fear that you’ll judge me, though if I ever want to do something really dumb, then I hope you’ll judge me a little, though I guess we’d have to decide if the thing I wanted to do was actually dumb or not! I know I can count on you, Tyler, and I want you to count on me too. I hope this is only the first of a lifetime of Valentine’s Days we’ll be spending together.

  Love,

  Claire

  There is a lump in my throat, a catch that is filled with emotion and love for this girl who I’m not sure I deserve.

  “Thank you, babe,” I say, wrapping her up in my arms and giving her a giant kiss.

  “You still have to actually open the present,” she says, giggling.

  “Oh, yeah, right.” When I rip through the wrapping and open up the box, I find a pair of sweet hiking boots that she probably spent a small fortune on.

  “I know they’re more practical than romantic,” she says, the skin around her eyes creasing minutely with apprehension. “But I know that you like to hike, and the next time you’re able to go, I guess I want something I gave you to be a part of that good experience. Kind of corny, huh?”

  “Nope, it’s perfect.” I’m wrapping her up into me and kissing her again, almost wanting to ditch school and head to the nearest motel.

  “By your reaction, I’m guessing you like them?” she says once we both come up for air.

  “I do! And I really hope you’ll come with me the next time I go hiking… I mean, it might not be until summer, but I’d love you there.”

  “Of course,” she says. “I want to spend as much time with you as a I can before—” She stops herself.

  Before she goes to college and I do whatever the hell it is I’m planning to do.

  “We’ve got time,” I assure her, trying to assure myself in the process. I lean over her and produce the small wrapped box from my glove compartment. “And now I’ve got something for you.”

  She takes it and easily slides the paper away, popping open the small lid to see two tickets laid out for her.

  “Bastille!” she shouts. “Tyler, that’s awesome. I love them!”

  Her smile makes me so happy, and I’m hit with that moment of being so thankful and hoping it lasts forever, hoping Claire and I last forever.

  “It’s in October… in Seattle,” I tell her, and she only momentarily looks a little confused. “I plan to be there to take you, just a reminder that we’re going to be together after we graduate. This fall won’t be the end of us.”

  “Tyler… that’s…” She doesn’t say anything else, just basically melds into me, kissing me and holding me with such force that I’m pushed up against my door and window. But I love it, every second of her lips on mine, her tongue easing between my lips, her hands touching parts of my body I’d once feared having anyone touch.

  “You approve,” I say slightly breathless when, after god only knows how long, our bodies untangle themselves.

  “I’m not ready to go back inside.”

  There’s no need for further explanation. My body is already excited by her, already needing to do more than we could do comfortably in my Jeep. And yet, I can tell by the look in her eyes—and I know by my rapidly beating heart and the hardness beneath my jeans—that we can’t wait to drive to Spokane to find a decent motel where nobody knows us.

  “Follow me,” I tell her, slipping out of my Jeep, pulling the passenger door open for her and then taking her hand and leading her as fast as I can toward the large brick gym.

  She almost has to run to keep up with me, and we nearly slip on the icy snow, but she doesn’t once ask where we’re going, as if that would break the spell we’re both in.

  Leading her past the main building and into an alcove, I ease her against the wall and pretty much attack her lips with my own. In February, nobody will be outside, and we’re hidden here, nothing but wheat fields and desert scrub beyond us, not even one single solitary house close enough for anyone to catch a peek.

  My cold hands warm against the beautiful curves of her breasts, eliciting some moans from her and an increasing, almost tortuous need for me to be inside her. With my help, I ease her out of the boots and leggings under her dress, her panties the last thing to fall to the small concrete square we’re standing on, the one dry patch of land otherwise covered by snow.

  Knowing just what I want to do with her, she reaches around my neck and holds tight to me as I quickly undo the button of my jeans and take down my zipper, pulling myself out, no longer afraid for her to see me.

  “Claire,” I say, her eyes as full of need as mine are.

  She nods. “I want this.”

  My focus is all on her, on gripping her bare thighs, lifting her and holding her up against the wall. Stepping closer, I push my erection toward her like I actually know what I’m doing with this positioning, as if I’ve done it before. I miss my mark the first two tries, but Claire doesn’t seem to notice with her lips focused on kissing me. On the third try, I ease up and into her, the relief I feel nearly forcing my eyes back into my head.

  “Tyler,” she moans, holding tight around my neck, her legs wrapped around my hips, the nerves in my body electrifying.

  “I love you, Claire… so much,” I push out in heated breaths as I drive into her.

  “I love you… maybe more,” she whispers into my ear, her words coming out with the rhythm of my thrusts.

  We go on like that, experiencing one another in this deeply connected way.

  “I love you more than anything,” I tell her truthfully, love her so much that I wish I could last longer inside of her, wish I could give her one more string of pleasured moans before, in a sudden burst of awe inspiring enjoyment, I release myself. Holding her tight to me, I contract inside her warmth, bury my face in her neck and thank whatever deity is listening for bringing her into my life.

  After we maneuver our bodies apart, I gently lower her to the ground. She puts her panties and leggings back on while I shove myself back into my pants, zip them up and then button them. Then she’s smoothing her dress, and I’m holding her steady while she slips back into her boots.

  “I just want to stay out here a little longer,” she says, even though it’s pretty damn cold and we’ll miss lunch entirely and probably miss our next class.

  “Of course.” I gather her up and decide I’d stay out here all day with her if she asked me to.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  TYLER

  Can I call you?

  It’s March. The snow is melted, and I thought I’d heard the last of Laney. I’d been grateful when she’d stopped texting me because I hadn’t been able to stop on my own, even though I wanted to, even though I knew it was wrong. There was just something in me that wasn’t willing to completely let her go, and I wasn’t sure why.

  I’d unburdened myself to Sam again, and along with him warning me I was treading through some very dangerous te
rritory, he at least offered some reasons as to why he thought I’d still been stuck on Laney.

  “First loves are tough I guess,” he said. “And let’s be honest—Laney wasn’t bad to look at.”

  “But she rejected me,” I’d countered. “She slept with Heath, and… well… we all know how that turned out.”

  “That we do,” he said. “Maybe you’re trying to settle something in your head, or maybe you just like the attention, like her coming back to you means you weren’t actually rejected, and considering how self-conscious you are about yourself, that could be a pretty powerful thing.”

  “That kind of makes sense.”

  “Hell, I’m no shrink, but maybe it does. I don’t know.”

  He might have been right, and while I hadn’t heard Laney’s voice in close to nine months, I was willing to hear it now and see if I could fully exorcise her from my life.

  Yes.

  “You sound so… grown up,” she says after an awkward initial greeting, her voice as smooth and feminine as I remember it.

  “I wasn’t exactly a kid when we dated,” I say, listening to my own voice to see if I could tell if it were somehow deeper or more masculine than it had been nine months ago.

  “Oh, I know—it’s just you sound older, more like a man instead of a boy.” Then she giggles softly, like she’d been teasing me.

  “How are you?” I ask her, wanting to get to why she’d wanted to talk.

  “Good. I got my acceptance letter from CU. You thinking of coming back here for college?”

  I sigh. With Claire’s help, I finally applied to several schools in Washington, but I never told her I’d already applied to CU and Colorado State in August. I figured there was no reason for her to know, that even if I got in to one or the other, I’d only go if something disastrous happened between Claire and I.

  What I really want is to get something close to Claire and not feel left behind. But UW is a tough school to get into, and I don’t think I’ve got the grades, and I sure as hell don’t have all the extracurriculars and volunteer positions Claire does that I think will pretty much guarantee her a slot there. She doesn’t want to jinx anything, but I know… I just know she’s going to get in.