by Chris Cannon
A warm hand grabbed mind, and Haley moved closer. “If we can’t find his owners, I’ll take him to the shelter.”
Her mom opened her mouth, but her dad called out, “Dinner’s ready.”
“Isn’t it your night to cook?” her mom snapped.
I squeezed Haley’s hand, trying to offer support.
“I did cook. Dad warmed the sauce while we gave Mustang a bath.”
I didn’t know how to help. Tyrannical fathers I could handle, but crazy moms were a whole other thing.
Her dad came in and put his arm around her mom’s shoulders and whispered something. She ducked her head and smiled. Then she said, “Bryce, you can stay for dinner, if you like.”
Multiple personalities could be the only explanation. I had no idea how to respond, so I checked with Haley. “It’s your call.”
Her posture relaxed. “I’d like you to stay.”
“Then I’ll stay.” The truth was I wasn’t really ready to be alone again. Being here with her, even with all the weird hostility from her family, felt nice.
“Should you call your mother and let her know you won’t be home?” her mom asked.
Now she was concerned for my welfare? Not wanting to rock the boat, I reluctantly released Haley’s hand and pulled out my cell. My mother’s voice mail picked up, so I left a brief message that I was having dinner at…I almost said a friend’s house, but I caught the way Haley’s mom was looking at me, like she’d set a trap and was waiting for me to spring it. I told my mother I was having dinner at Haley’s and I’d be home later.
“And your mother will know who Haley is?” psycho-mom asked.
“Yes.”
“I find—” Her mom started to say.
“We don’t want the food to get cold,” her dad interrupted. “Why don’t we let the kids eat in the kitchen and you and I can go downstairs and watch the end of the movie we started last night.”
I hung back while Haley’s parents and brothers headed for the kitchen. “What was that about?”
“I told you, she’s been strange lately.”
I put my arm around her shoulders, pulling her close. “Sorry.”
She blinked rapidly. “Nothing I can do about it.”
Chapter Fifteen
Haley
Even my mom’s crazy behavior couldn’t crush the happiness brought on by Bryce kissing me. All on his own. Because he’d wanted to. For real. And now he was staying for dinner. If this nice side of his personality was predominant, he might be boyfriend material.
Charlie and Matt glaring at us across the kitchen table didn’t make for the most romantic dinner atmosphere, but Bryce ignored them.
Mustang sat on the throw rug in front of the sink eating a bowl of kibble.
“He ate half a hamburger on the way here.” Bryce cut his noodles into pieces with the side of his fork. “I’m surprised he’s not full.”
“Dogs are never full.” If we were alone, I would’ve teased Bryce about cutting all the noodles to the exact same length but I refrained. “Where’d the burger come from?”
“I’d stopped to grab something to eat on the way home, because I knew my mother wouldn’t be home for dinner. She’s working at a charity event tonight.”
He said this in the same tone of voice I’d use to say someone was at the grocery store.
Bryce’s cell rang. He checked it, frowned, and ignored the call.
Uh-oh. “Who was that?”
“My father.”
“Why don’t you want to talk to him?” Matt asked.
I didn’t know if Matt was trying to make conversation or being nosy.
Bryce stared at Matt for a bit too long, before answering. “The last time I spoke to my father, we argued. I don’t feel like dealing with him right now.”
“The only good thing about not having a cell phone is people can’t find you all the time.” Matt grabbed the Parmesan shaker and dumped half of it on his spaghetti.
Charlie looked like he wanted to say something, but wasn’t sure if he should. I decided to help him along. “Spit it out, Charlie.”
He leaned in and spoke in a quiet voice. “Any idea what’s going on with mom lately?”
“No.” I wish I knew.
“She’s been weird since you started dating Bryce,” Matt added.
“So she didn’t like me even before she met me,” Bryce said.
“That’s weird,” Matt said. “I mean we don’t like you because we know you.”
I kicked Matt under the table. “Knock it off.”
“Hey.” He reached down to rub his shin.
Bryce cleared his throat. “You may know how I’ve acted in the past. Tonight I stopped to pick up a wet, muddy dog during a thunderstorm. And now I’m eating dinner and being civil. Maybe I’ve changed.”
“Maybe,” Matt muttered.
“Back to the original question.” I turned to Haley. “Why does your mom hate me?”
Charlie grinned. “You have no idea how badly I want to give you a list of possible reasons, but I’m pretty sure Haley would kick me under the table.”
“Yes I would. Although the angle may be a little hard to figure out.”
Matt finished his spaghetti and sat back, staring at Bryce. “Admitting this is painful, but you might not be the jackass I thought you were.”
“Thanks for that ringing endorsement,” Bryce deadpanned.
Charlie finished his food and stood up to put his dishes in the sink. “Just don’t forget about the wood chipper.” Matt laughed and then followed suit.
Bryce didn’t bother to respond. I was trying not to laugh.
He looked at his own plate, which was still half full. “Do your brothers even chew their food?”
“I don’t think so. I’ve seen them demolish an extra-large pizza in less than five minutes.”
…
After dinner, Bryce checked the time on his cell. “I should go.”
“Do you want to take Mustang with you?”
He grinned. “It would be worth it to see the look on my father’s face but I’ll pass.”
“That’s okay. He can sleep in my room tonight.” I followed Bryce to the door and out onto the porch. Butterflies flitted around in my stomach.
Bryce stopped on the top porch step. “Thanks for helping with Mustang. I—”
The porch light flared to life. It was like being bathed in a spotlight.
“I’m sorry. Did I interrupt something?” Charlie stood in the doorway.
I didn’t bother answering. Instead, I reached for Bryce’s hand and pulled him farther down the porch until we were in the shadows again.
“Sorry about that.”
The butterflies in my stomach morphed into condors, as Bryce looked at me with an odd expression on his face.
“What? Do I have spaghetti sauce on my chin?”
“No.” He leaned down and pressed his lips against mine. I sighed and leaned into him. A warm tingling sensation washed through my body. It felt like I was glowing from the inside out.
When Bryce pulled away, I wasn’t ready for him to leave. “About tomorrow…”
“What about tomorrow?”
Should I risk saying something and screwing up this moment? If I didn’t ask, I wasn’t sure I’d be able to sleep. “This is going to sound stupid, but the last couple of times we ended the day on a good note, the next day you weren’t happy to see me. So, I guess I want to know how you’ll be tomorrow.”
His brow furrowed. “I don’t understand.”
Crap. “Never mind.”
“No. Tell me.”
I’d give anything for a time machine to rewind my life five minutes. Since I didn’t have one, I forged ahead. “Here’s what I’m talking about. You were nice the afternoon we found my car vandalized. The next morning, you wanted nothing to do with me.”
He removed his hands from my waist and backed up a step. The wonderful glow I’d experienced a moment before was replaced by an arctic blast. Seconds
ticked by while he stared at a space a foot above my head.
“Forget I said anything. Tonight was nice. I—”
His gaze locked onto mine. “What do you want, Haley?”
I wanted him. The whole plan where he would clear the road for future boyfriends was dead in the water because I wanted this to be a real relationship. But the kisses, which were special to me, didn’t necessarily mean anything to him. He’d kissed a lot of girls. My own track record was rather short.
Oh hell. Deciding to go for it, I launched myself at him, wrapped both hands around the back of his neck and pulled him into a kiss. He lurched forward a step, before regaining his balance, and then…he laughed at me.
My face burned. Pushing him away, I stumbled for the front door.
“Haley, stop.” A hand latched onto my shoulder and spun me around. “What’s wrong?”
I couldn’t look him in the face. “I tried to kiss you, and you laughed at me.”
“What? No. I wasn’t laughing at you.” He placed his hand under my chin and applied pressure so I’d meet his gaze. “You caught me off guard. You’re stronger than you look.”
His tone was sincere. I swallowed over the lump in my throat.
“You’re not going to cry, are you?”
I punched him on the shoulder. “If I do cry it’s your fault. One day you’re nice to me and, the next day you ignore me. Sometimes this feels like a fake relationship and sometimes it feels real. You’re making me crazy.” And now I was rambling like a crazy person. “If you don’t hug me right now, I’m going to kick you in the shins.”
He sighed and held out one arm. “Come here.”
I moved forward and laid my head on his chest. The sound of his heartbeat and the warmth of his arms wrapped around me helped. I took a few deep breaths, and the lump in my throat went away. I broke contact and stepped away. “Thanks. I’m better now.”
“Good. Now pay attention.” He leaned down and pressed his lips against mine and then pulled back a fraction of an inch. “This is real.” His breath feathered across my lips before he closed the distance between us, kissing me again. And the world and all my worries drifted away as happy warmth flowed through my veins. By the time the kiss ended, I was winded. “I’ll see you tomorrow, and tomorrow will be a good day.”
…
Bryce
When I pulled my Mustang into the garage, I had two goals. Clean the mess out of my car and take a shower. Cleaning the mud and hamburger mess off the leather upholstery wasn’t hard, but the odor was another story. I left the windows down, hoping the wet-dog smell would go away by morning.
I entered the house through the back sunroom, and was surprised to find my mother and father sitting in the dining room drinking martinis. The remains of dinner sat between them.
“Bryce, where have you been?” my father called out.
He knew where I’d been. My mother would’ve told him. I entered the dining room, but before I could get a word out, my father grimaced. “What are you wearing, and what is that stench?”
“This,” I held out the front of my navy Hope Shelter shirt, “is a shirt I borrowed from Haley, and the smell is wet dog. I was about to go shower. If you’d like to talk to me afterward, I’ll come back down.” I edged toward the door.
“Why do you smell like wet dog?” my father asked.
No escape for me. “I found a dog on the road and took him to Haley—”
“Who’s Haley?”
He was baiting me. I wasn’t about to fall for it. “Haley is the girl I’m dating.”
“And why would she want some mutt you found in the road?”
Giving up on a fast exit, I took a seat. Maybe he’d get sick of my stink and let me leave. “She works at an animal shelter. I figured she’d know what to do with a stray dog.”
“Was he hurt?” my mother asked.
“No. He needed a bath and some food. He had a collar but no tags. Haley’s going to take him to the shelter in the morning and scan him for a microchip.”
“That still doesn’t explain your attire or your odor.”
Why was he trying to start a fight? Didn’t matter. I plucked at the front of my shirt. “I smell like wet dog because we gave the dog a bath. Haley gave me this ridiculous shirt to change into because my shirt was a mess.” I smiled at the memory of what had happened after the bath. Kissing Haley like that hadn’t been something I planned, but I did plan to do it again.
“I think Haley is good for you.” My mother ate the olive from her martini, and then she wrinkled her nose. “And I think you should go shower.”
Maybe Haley was good for me. And her brothers had turned out not to be total psychos. Her mom…the jury was still out on that one.
I made a swift exit. After a long hot shower, I called Nathan and filled him in on the events of the evening.
“You stopped to pick up a wet, dirty dog.” He sounded surprised, which pissed me off.
“What did you expect me to do, run him over?”
“No.” Nathan laughed. “I’d expect you to honk until he cleared out of the way and then get on with your night.”
“Some best friend you are.”
“Come on. Before Haley, you never would have paid attention to a dog and you know it.”
I hung up on him. The scary part…he was right. What did that say about me as a person? In the dining room, my father hadn’t understood why I’d stopped to help a stray. Had I been that much like him? That was a frightening thought.
…
On the drive to school the next morning, I remembered what Haley had said last night. She was right. The day after we’d had a good day, something strange always seemed to happen. The look on her face when she’d thought I’d laughed at her was like a punch in the gut. While I wasn’t sure what I wanted from her in the long run, I didn’t want to be the guy who made her look like that.
Maybe I’d surprise her by waiting at her locker this morning. She always came to mine, so it seemed like a gesture that would earn me points. There, I had a plan.
The plan fell to shit when I pulled into the parking lot and witnessed Haley hugging some guy in a camouflage jacket. I pushed the car door open and stalked toward them. Haley turned and saw me. Rather than looking guilty like she should have, she grinned.
“I found Mustang’s, I mean Sparky’s owner.”
The guy rushed me, grabbed my hand, and clapped me on the arm. “Thanks for picking him up. We were going crazy trying to find him. When Deena called from the shelter to say Haley brought him in, my mom cried.”
My muscles unclenched. “No problem.” I looked around expecting to see the dog. “Where is he?”
“My mom took him home. I wanted to thank you guys.”
For one brief, terrifying moment, I thought he might hug me. Instead, he dropped my hand.
“Glad we could help.” I stepped away from him, putting some distance between us. He smacked me on the shoulder, nodded, and wandered off.
I turned to Haley, and to reassure myself everything was fine, I wrapped my arm around her waist and pulled her close. “Today is going to be a good day.”
“Let’s test that theory.” She tugged on the front of my shirt. I leaned down and kissed her. She did that thing where she sighed and leaned into me. It was like she fit against me in a way other girls hadn’t. Holding her close like this, it made me wish we didn’t have to go to school.
“Damn it, Bryce, stop kissing my sister.”
I pulled back from Haley and smirked at her brother, Matt. “Technically, she kissed me.”
He glared at me like he wanted to rip out my lungs. After eating dinner with him, the look was far less effective.
“Unless you want to see more kissing, you should probably move along,” Haley warned him.
He muttered something about the wood chipper, and stomped past. I didn’t pay attention because Haley tugged on my shirt again and I didn’t want to be rude.
…
Haley
Happy warmth filtered through my body as Bryce kissed me. Okay, I had started it, but he didn’t seem to mind. The warmth turned into a slow burn.
The warning bell for homeroom rang. With regret, I stepped away from him.
“We should skip school,” Bryce said, in a matter-of-fact voice.
I felt my mouth drop open, and then I laughed. In a snooty voice, I said, “I’m an honor student. I do not skip school.”
He slid his arm around my waist and leaned in like he planned to say something he didn’t want anyone else to hear. Hot breath hit my ear, and then he did some magical thing to my earlobe that made the nerve endings in my body shoot off like fireworks. I clutched at his shirt because my knees went weak. Cliché, I know, but true. I bit my lip but couldn’t quite contain a breathy sigh.
Feeling a blush creep up my neck, I opened my eyes to find him smirking at me. I poked him in the chest. “Not fair. You should use your powers for good, not evil.”
He laughed, and with his arm still around my waist, we walked toward school. A cheerleader and one of her friends pointed and whispered as we went by. What? Had they seen us kissing? Not an uncommon occurrence in the parking lot before or after school.
Two guys walked by and said something before laughing in a way that meant they’d said something dirty. “Are we missing something?”
Bryce scanned the area. “Something’s up but I don’t know what.”
We made our way through the gawkers, stopping at my locker and then headed toward his. Jane and Nathan stood in front of Bryce’s locker like they were guarding something.
When we were close enough, Jane reached for my hand. “Don’t freak. It may not be what it looks like.”
Not helpful. When someone tells me not to freak, my entire body goes on high alert. Bryce tensed up beside me, gripping my waist tighter.
“I wanted you to see it before we cleaned it up.” Nathan stepped away from the locker.
Taped to Bryce’s locker was a Happy Father’s Day card.
“The card is signed,” Jane pointed out.
Bryce ripped the card off the locker and opened it. Brittney’s name was scrawled inside.