When I looked back at her face I caught her giving me a little smirk, amusement making her dark eyes sparkle like she really was a freakin’ elf. “Highly doubtful.”
I struggled to sit upright a little more but my shoulder cried out at the wiggling. I bit back a curse. “Look, freak, I’ve got lots of friends—”
“Oh, I don’t doubt the status of your popularity,” she interjected. “I just meant it was highly doubtful that you could fit all those friends into this hospital room.” She blinked once, her expression so neutral it was impossible to read. “There’s no way they could all fit in here and have room for your ego.”
I opened my mouth to retort but nothing came out.
What the hell?
Who was this girl? No one talked to me like that. No one.
I was about to tell her just that but she’d already reached my uninjured side and was helping me to sit up straight. This petite little freak was manhandling me with a surprisingly strong grip as she shoved my pillows down and adjusted the bedding.
“There,” she said, stepping back just slightly with her hands on her hips as she assessed her work. “Is that better?”
Yes. I swallowed the word because I would have felt and sounded like the child I’d just recently informed her I was not.
But she had helped me into the position I’d been trying to get into on my own, so I cleared my throat and muttered a thanks.
Her laughter was sweet and musical. “I’m sorry, what was that?” Her tone was teasing and her whole face was lit with laughter that was infectious.
Almost infectious. My lips twitched at the sight of it but I forced a glower instead. Or at least, I meant to glower. But all of the sudden I became extraordinarily aware of how close she was. Right next to the bed, her face was nearly level with mine and I could smell the floral scent of her shampoo as she leaned over to give the pillows one last fluff.
“There,” she said. “Maybe this will improve your mood.”
I found myself staring at those ruby red lips as they curved up in an angelic smile that belied her earlier snarkiness.
“Hi, Lucas.” The sound of a new voice coming from the doorway had me whipping my head in the other direction, and for the millionth time I felt like I’d been caught staring at the elf.
But this time I’d been caught by Eleanor.
I saw her hovering in the doorway, her willowy frame leaning uncertainly in as though she might be interrupting something. “Is this, uh…is this a good time?”
I sat up ramrod straight. “Yeah. Of course. Come on in, El.”
Her blue eyes flickered from me to the giant candy cane and back again, a question in her eyes. “If I’m intruding—”
“Of course not,” I said. At the same time, the weirdo to my left shifted slightly away from me, as if she too just realized that perhaps we’d been too close for comfort. Someone could get the wrong idea.
I saw Eleanor’s eyes dance over the freak in the hat and was shocked by the sudden recognition that had her smiling shyly. “You’re Lola, right?”
Lola? What’s a Lola? Who’s a—
“Yeah,” my own personal Christmas nightmare said.
I turned to see her fidgeting with her hat. “And you’re Eleanor, right?”
Eleanor nodded with another shy smile.
“Wait, you guys know each other?” I said, interrupting a nice moment with a loud, accusatory question.
Eleanor’s eyes flashed with surprise as she glanced between me and…Lola, was it? How fitting.
“Of course,” Eleanor said. “She’s in our class.”
I turned to Lola. “You go to Briarwood?”
Any unease Lola had displayed when Eleanor arrived disappeared as she flashed me a smile that was somehow both insanely nice and just a little smug.
My eyes narrowed. She’d known who I was this whole time.
I’d heard you were grumpy… She’d heard about me from school, not from the psycho clown who went around making balloon animals and terrifying young children.
Well hell. I supposed I was the prick because I hadn’t recognized her. I peered at her now and she hitched her brows slightly in response. Nope. Still didn’t recognize her.
But Eleanor was launching into Eleanor mode. I didn’t know what else to call it. It was sort of small talk mixed with genuine interest. It was the uniquely heady mix of interest and appeal and beauty that had made Eleanor the reigning queen of the junior class.
You see, Eleanor was as sweet as they came. She was the most popular girl in our class but not the typical mean girl one might expect. Sure, she had the long blonde hair and the baby blue eyes and the thin body that girls starved themselves to get, but that’s where the cliché ended.
She was a sweetheart through and through. She was nice and kind and generous and…dating Ryan freakin’ Hoffman.
But at the moment she was winning over Lola, treating her as if she were any other friend from Briarwood as she asked about her biology project and how was she getting along at a new school, blah blah blah. Somehow Eleanor managed to keep up this conversation without cringing in horror at the girl’s outfit.
That right there was why Eleanor was beloved.
I barely listened to this Lola girl’s responses. I had no interest in her, and I was now more resentful of her presence than ever because she was keeping me from finding out why Eleanor had come.
When there was a pause in their chit-chat I interrupted. “What are you doing here, El?”
Eleanor’s gaze flickered between me and Lola again. Leave, Lola, I mentally demanded. Maybe she heard me because Lola started to shift away some more, but even I could see her predicament. She was on the far side of me and Eleanor was blocking the door. Some decorations were half strewn across the bottom of the bed and it was obvious to anyone with eyes that she was in the middle of something.
“I, uh…” Eleanor shifted uncomfortably and I bit back another curse. I’d known Eleanor since kindergarten and I could read her like a book. She’d taken my rude interruption and my question to mean she wasn’t wanted.
She was wanted. Eleanor was always wanted by me. It was Lola who needed to be gone.
But Eleanor clearly thought she’d interrupted something, and I couldn’t pretend not to understand why. After all, she had walked in on me leering at the freak.
I wasn’t proud of said leering behavior, but I was only human. And freak or no freak, Lola was sexy.
Besides, I was free to look at whoever I wanted these days because Eleanor had ditched me. And if that made her uncomfortable, then great. Perfect, actually. Maybe a little jealousy was exactly what Eleanor needed to make her open her eyes and see what she was missing.
Eleanor seemed to sense the shift in my attitude because she took a step forward, but Lola surprised me by chiming in before Eleanor could say anything.
“You’re not interrupting,” Lola said. “I was just adjusting his pillows and trying not to smother him with one while I was at it.”
To my surprise, Eleanor laughed.
I gave Lola my best unamused stare, which only made Eleanor laugh harder.
“He’s the worst patient, isn’t he?” Eleanor said.
Lola rolled her eyes. “That’s putting it mildly.”
Eleanor perched on the edge of the bed and handed me a basket filled with her homemade cookies.
“My favorite,” I said.
“I know.” She laughed as she explained to Lola that I used to beg her to make these for me. “Once he offered me money,” she added with a shake of her head.
“I was twelve,” I explained to no one in particular. I was too busy shoving one of her mouthwatering cookies into my mouth.
Eleanor ignored me. “When I heard he was stuck in the hospital during Christmas break, I knew I had to make him some.”
I froze mid-chew because the buttery cookie had turned to dust in my mouth.
Of course. I should have known.
I turned my gaze to the bas
ket on the bed, not wanting Eleanor to see just how much her comment had hurt. She might as well have just said it outright. I felt sorry for my poor, lonely, heartbroken ex. My stomach churned as the truth of it hit home. The cookies in my stomach turned to lead.
They weren’t “let’s make up” cookies, they were “get well soon” cookies.
No, it was even more humiliating than that.
These were pity cookies.
I turned to Lola as well and directed my next comment to her. “But now Eleanor bakes them for Ryan Hoffman.” I glanced over to Eleanor with a cold smile. “She gives Ryan her cookies for free.”
Eleanor turned pink at the crass innuendo. For what felt like the millionth time this hour I felt that familiar stab of triumphant guilt. It was a sickening feeling but it was better than humiliation.
It was better than being the recipient of pity cookies.
Eleanor ducked her head in silence and I turned to see Lola staring at me in horror, like I’d disappointed her. My mind went blank for a second as her gaze met mine and her eyes looked straight through me, calling me out on my crap and challenging me to make this right.
“Sorry,” I muttered.
Eleanor jerked upright in surprise and her gaze met mine before flitting away. I’d seen enough though. I’d made her sad.
Damn it.
I didn’t want to feel guilty. Because Eleanor hadn’t just made me sad, she’d broken my freakin’ heart. I wasn’t the cruel one, she was. She’d broken up with me at my lowest moment, just as the world had come crashing down around me. I’d lost my girlfriend the same week I’d lost my coveted starting quarterback position.
Eleanor finally lifted her head but her gaze turned to Lola. “I just came to…” She gestured toward the cookies, and I realized that this girl who’d known me my whole life actually believed there was something going on here. She truly believed I’d moved on…and with this freak.
Eleanor scooted off the bed, reaching for her purse. “I should leave you two alone, I just—”
“No,” Lola said it before I could. I could hear the alarm in her voice and it matched my own.
I knew without a doubt that Lola had also realized that Eleanor thought we were hooking up and she was about to put an end to it.
Lola was going to tell her the truth. And when she did, she’d steal my one shot at making Eleanor sick with jealousy.
I didn’t think. I acted. Grabbing Lola’s hand in mine, I tugged her closer to the bed. When Eleanor turned around to face us again, her gaze fell to our intertwined hands.
They wouldn’t be intertwined for much longer if Lola didn’t stop trying to wriggle her hand out of my grip. I tightened my hold and for a moment she went limp.
I wasn’t fooled. I didn’t ease my grip. Instead I tried to will her to help me, even though I likely didn’t deserve anything from this girl.
Eleanor looked away as if she couldn’t bear to see the sight of me holding hands with another girl. Hurts, doesn’t it, El?
“I just came because I wasn’t sure if you would be going to the Christmas Eve party…” She fidgeted with her purse, not meeting my eyes.
I frowned as I tried to decipher where she was going with this. “Of course I’m going. I’ll be released tomorrow.”
Hopefully.
Maybe.
I’d definitely be out of here in time for my parents’ traditional Christmas Eve party.
She nodded but she still nibbled on her lower lips. Was she nervous that I wouldn’t be there…or that I would?
Of course I’d be there, it was at my house and it was tradition. The party was a formal event, not so much festive as it was elegant. My dad was a judge and my mother was a lawyer, and their friends were what some might call stodgy.
I’d say they each had a massive stick up their butt.
The only highlight of the party was Eleanor. She always came with her parents, and she always wore her nicest dress and had her hair done up all fancy. Ever since we’d started dating—even before then when we’d just been lumped together at the kids’ table because we were the same age—we’d been like royalty. The heir prince and his princess.
And now, this year…
I stared at her. No way. She couldn’t be thinking of bringing him.
She shifted slightly. “Your parents told my parents that I could bring a date, and I didn’t know if, um…” Her eyes darted up to mine. “I was wondering if it would be okay if I brought Ryan.”
My heart turned cold. Everything inside me turned to ice. I didn’t realize I was gripping Lola’s hand so tightly until she squeezed back gently. She wasn’t trying to break the grip, and when I glanced up I saw the sympathy in her eyes.
Oh God, please don’t let that be pity.
Was it that obvious? The silence in the room was deafening and all I could hear was my own heart pounding as my chest constricted in on itself. No! No, it’s not all right.
I might have said that if she hadn’t asked. If she hadn’t posed it like a question. She wouldn’t invite him if I said it would make me too uncomfortable. And that right there was the final nail in the coffin of our relationship, more than any breakup speech or any fling with the new basketball star.
She wanted my permission. She wanted to move on and for me to be okay with it.
She wanted to be friends.
Her eyes were fixed on my hand, the one that was still intertwined with Lola’s. Eleanor couldn’t seem to drag her gaze away, and I knew it bugged her. She might’ve moved on with Ryan but she wasn’t unaffected by the sight of me holding hands with the new girl.
Even if the new girl was a psychotic elf, and clearly not in the same league as my beautiful, elegant Eleanor.
The silence dragged on too long.
I had two options. I could be the bigger man or I could…be me.
I chose the latter. “Yeah, of course you should bring him.”
El’s gaze shot up and her eyes widened. “I should?”
“Yeah,” I said, forcing bravado into my voice. “I mean, I’ll have a date there so it would be awkward for everyone if you were all pathetic and lonely in the corner by yourself.”
Eleanor’s face fell a bit. Was it because of the pathetic comment or was it because she was jealous that I’d be bringing a date?
Whatever. Didn’t matter. I’d chosen my course of action and I was all in now.
“The more the merrier, isn’t that right, babe?” I looked up at Lola and she blinked down at me in surprise. I saw her confusion. Saw her brows draw together and her lips part.
Those lips. Hell, they were soft and lush and beckoning me with their ruby redness.
I didn’t want her to speak and ruin the lie, and I had to sell the idea that we were a couple, right? So I did what I had to do. I gave her hand a hard tug, pulling her closer to me.
And then I kissed her.
Her lips were just as soft as they looked and they were still parted in surprise so I got a taste of her warm, generous mouth. For a second I forgot that Eleanor was watching. I forgot that we were in a hospital.
For one sweet, blissful moment all that existed was this kiss. Only one thought managed to make its way through this heady, intoxicating sensation.
She tasted like a candy cane.
Chapter Two
Lola
The world stopped spinning. My brain froze as Lucas crushed his firm lips to mine. I could have pulled away—I should have pulled away. The guy was injured, he only had one hand. He was lying in a hospital bed, for heaven’s sake. I should have smacked him and run away.
But I didn’t.
I didn’t exactly kiss him back, but I didn’t push him away. I couldn’t. The sensations were too much—the smell of his soap, the feel of his hand in mine, the way his lips fit over mine like we were two pieces of the same puzzle. My lips had parted in shock and his lower lip was full and hot and tempting between mine. I should’ve bitten it, but I wanted to lick it.
Something was so
very wrong with me.
Eleanor’s sharp inhale filled the silence and I came to my senses with a start, pulling away quickly and tugging my hand out of his grip.
He didn’t try to stop me.
He didn’t even look at me.
How could he when he was busy watching Eleanor’s reaction?
Of course he was. Sanity returned along with my senses and it was completely obvious what was going on here. A blind person could have seen that he was trying desperately to make his ex jealous.
I could respect that…if he wasn’t such a prick.
But, unfortunately for everyone in this room—he was. Which meant, he was on his own. I looked from the shocked Eleanor to the smug jerk in the hospital bed.
Poor Eleanor. She might have been the one to end things, but she didn’t deserve this jerk’s crap. How did I know Eleanor was the dumper and not the dumpee? I went to Briarwood and I had the full use of my ears, which meant it was impossible not to hear about these two, whether I wanted to or not.
And yes, poor Eleanor. All the other girls in our class might’ve been sighing over poor, injured Lucas, but it was Eleanor who deserved the sympathy here.
Okay, I’ll admit it. There had been a moment just now when Eleanor had been talking about cookies when I’d actually pitied the fool. I’d caught an honest-to-God human emotion on that impossibly smug, irritatingly handsome face.
He’d looked…sad. Lost, even. Like a little boy lost or a puppy that’d been kicked.
However, a heartbeat passed and suddenly that look was gone and he’d gone back to being Mr. Bad Personality, AKA the most immature patient on my rounds. Which was saying something since this wing was filled with small children.
I’d been volunteering at the hospital for weeks now, and Lucas Carlson was the only spoiled brat I’d encountered so far.
I hated that he’d kissed me to get back at his ex. I hated that I couldn’t say that I’d hated the kiss. I hated that I might have even…liked it. But what stung more than anything was the fact that he hadn’t felt anything. He couldn’t have, because the moment I’d pulled away his attention was back on perfect, beautiful Eleanor and I was a distant memory.
The Candy Cane Kiss: Briarwood High Series Page 2