Persuade

by Wendi Wilson

  Thankfully, Beckett seemed to have control over his and, with one last wave, he jogged to the truck and climbed inside.

  I went inside, closing the door behind me and slumping back against it, trying to catch my breath. Beckett was one surprise after another. It was a day I wouldn’t soon forget.

  Chapter Thirteen

  “Savanna, get in!”

  The big black truck slowed to a stop, pulling up next to me. It was Wyatt who yelled from the passenger side window and the back door swung open, revealing Beckett alone in the back seat. I looked up the road, seeing the high school just up the hill and shook my head. It seemed silly to catch a ride for such a short distance, especially after I’d already walked most of the way, but I climbed in anyway.

  “We went to your house to pick you up,” Jett said from the driver’s seat, “but no one answered the door.”

  “I have to leave early to make the walk,” I said. “My parents already left for work, so I was on my own.”

  “You’re not on your own,” Jett said, his voice serious. “Not anymore.”

  He lifted his head to look at me in the rear-view mirror, and I smiled back at his reflection. That was probably the nicest thing he had ever said to me, and warmth spread through my chest. I felt a tickle on my finger, drawing my attention to where it rested on the seat between me and Beckett. He had inched his hand over and was rubbing his pinky against mine.

  “Knock it off, Beck,” Wyatt said, causing my head to snap back up.

  His body was twisted around, his elbow propped on the back of his seat so he could rest his chin in its crook. He was glaring at Beckett, who had snatched his hand back at the sound of Wyatt’s voice. His anger made me feel guilty, which quickly turned to anger of my own.

  “You promised me this wouldn’t come between you,” I growled.

  Wyatt’s eyebrows shot up and his mouth fell open. He probably didn’t expect me to snap at him, especially after our wonderful date at the fair. But all three of them needed to know I was serious. No matter how amazing they made our dates, or how incredible they made me feel, I would have called the entire thing off to keep them from turning on each other.

  “Savanna.”

  Jett’s voice drew my attention from the other two and made me realize we were at school, already parked in the lot. I slid toward the door, ready to make a grand exit, but Jett said my name again. The pleading note to his voice convinced me to stop, giving him my full attention.

  “You won’t come between us,” he said. “We’ve discussed this, many times, and we all agreed. Whoever you pick, the other two will wish him well and move on. We swear.”

  “But, Wyatt was mad…”

  “Because Beckett was taking advantage of the fact that he got to sit next to you.”

  “Oh, like you wouldn’t,” Beckett said, lifting one eyebrow at his brother.

  And just like that, Wyatt’s grin was back in place. “You’re right. I totally would have.”

  He turned around, opening his door and jumping out. Beckett did the same. My door swung open, and Wyatt stood there, waiting to assist me. I took it and jumped down, adjusting my backpack on my shoulder while he closed the door behind me. I started to walk toward the school entrance, but Jett’s voice stopped me.

  “Savanna, hop in for a minute,” he called through the still-open passenger door.

  I hesitated for a brief second before climbing up. Wyatt closed the door behind me. I saw Jett give him a pointed look and when I glanced back at Wyatt, I caught his nod. I wondered what those two were up to, and I didn’t have to wait long to find out. Jett started talking as soon as Wyatt and Beckett started walking across the lot toward school.

  “Let’s play hooky,” he said. “We can blow this place and go have some fun.”

  “Skip school?”

  I know I sounded incredulous…because I was. I’d never even considered skipping school before. The thought of getting caught and having to face the administration, or even worse, my parents caused my skin to itch like I was breaking out in hives. My fear must’ve shown on my face because Jett laughed.

  “Where’s that fearless girl that stood up to three hulking guys at the playground?”

  “I don’t care what the kids in this town think of me. The adults are another story. I can’t skip school. What if we get caught? My parents would, for sure, forbid me from seeing any of you if that happened.”

  “We won’t get caught.”

  “But—”

  “No buts,” he cut me off. “We won’t get caught. Wyatt is taking care of it.”

  “What do mean, taking care of it?”

  “At this very moment,” he said, nodding toward the building, “he’s persuading Mr. Gillespie to mark us present for class. He’ll do the same in all of our other classes, too. No one will know we were absent, therefore no one will call your parents.”

  “What if Wyatt gets caught?”

  He gave me a condescending look. That one from the first day. I pulled my eyebrows down low, frowning at him. I wasn’t going to let him get away with being a jerk to me. Not when the other two had been so nice.

  “Sorry,” he said, his face falling. “Force of habit. Don’t worry, Wyatt won’t get caught. We’ve played this game many, many times. I don’t like school, much. At least,” he paused for a second, scanning my face, “I didn’t before. I might be seeing the positive side of public education.”

  He punctuated that piece of nonsense with a smile that woke up the butterflies in my belly and made me really want to say yes. Yes to skipping school and hanging out with him. Yes to pretty much anything he could ask.

  “I don’t know,” I said, looking around the empty parking lot. Everyone else had already went to class and the truck’s windows were so dark, I doubted any of the other students that had passed by even knew we were inside it.

  “Come on, Savanna. Please?”

  His voice held a pleading note that struck a chord in me. He was truly sincere, desperate for me to agree. I felt my resolve wavering.

  “You’re sure we won’t get caught?”

  His smile lit up the entire interior of the truck. He cranked the engine. “I’m sure.” I buckled my seatbelt and he pulled out of the lot. “Thank you,” he added. “I’d go crazy if I had to wait until next weekend to have my turn with you.”

  Whatever thrill his desire to be with me caused was quickly dispelled by his word choice. Hearing him say he wanted to have his turn with me sounded just…wrong. Ever observant, Jett pulled over on the side of the road and turned toward me.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “Nothing,” I said. “It’s stupid.”

  “Tell me,” he said, laying a hand on my shoulder.

  “It’s just the way you said it.”

  He looked confused for a second before his eyebrows shot up. “Because I said I wanted my turn? I’m sorry, Savanna. Bad choice of words. I just meant I was eager to have our first date.”

  “Wow, two apologies from you in five minutes,” I said, grinning. His assurances really did make me feel better. “Are you going to be okay? Do you need a doctor?”

  He grinned, making his face light up like Wyatt’s. He shifted the truck back into drive and pulled back on the road. He drove for a few minutes before turning the volume of the radio all the way down. He kept his eyes on the road as he spoke.

  “Would it make you feel any better if I promised not to kiss you?”

  “Wh-what?” I asked, feeling flustered.

  “I don’t know for sure, since my brothers don’t kiss and tell, but I have to assume that they did. If it bothers you, kissing three guys in as many days, I’ll wait. I can be patient.”

  His last words were kind of ludicrous, considering it was his impatience that started this whole conversation. I didn’t know what to say. He was trying to be considerate. I gave him points for that, but I wasn’t sure how I felt about him being able to so easily agree not to kiss me. Maybe he just didn’t like me as mu
ch as the other two did? But then again, that wasn’t that much of a surprise. We’d been at odds for the most part since the moment I met him.

  “O-okay,” I stuttered. His promise didn’t make me happy, but if he needed this out, this excuse to not kiss me, then I’d let him have it.

  “Where are we going?” I asked, eager to change the subject.

  “I thought we could go to the beach,” he said, turning the radio back up just enough so we could hear it, but not loud enough to impede our conversation. “I haven’t been since we moved here and this time of year, it shouldn’t be too crowded.”

  “Not to mention, it’s Monday and all the good kids are in school,” I quipped.

  He laughed. “True.”

  “Oh,” I said, unzipping my backpack and pulling out the hoodie Beckett loaned me, “I forgot to give this back to Beckett. Can I leave it in the back seat?”

  Jett looked at the sweatshirt and smiled. “I wondered where that went.”

  “It’s yours?” I asked.

  “Yeah. Keep it. It’s cooler at the beach and you may need it.”

  The drive to Tybee Island flew by quickly and before I knew it, we were parked and climbing down from the truck. I didn’t wait to see if Jett would come open the door for me. I honestly didn’t care and I didn’t want him to feel like he had to. I tied the sweatshirt around my waist and slung my purse over my shoulder.

  Jett stood at the hood of the truck, eyes closed, inhaling the briny ocean air. I stopped beside him and mimicked his actions. The sun was shining, the wind was blowing and I felt exhilarated. The thrill of skipping school to come to the beach with bad boy Jett was getting to me. I felt wild and free, rebellious, probably for the first time in my life.

  Jett took my hand and pulled me across the sand toward the waves. I laughed as he broke into a run, forcing me to run with him. He skidded to halt just before the waterline. I looked around for other beachgoers, but the stretch of sand around us was completely empty. Mondays in November obviously weren’t a popular beach day. That was just fine with me.

  “Isn’t it amazing?” he asked, his voice filled with wonder. “It makes you feel so small, such a huge ocean stretching out as far as you can see.”

  “I guess I never really thought about it,” I said, looking at him instead of the Atlantic. “Haven’t you been to the beach before?”

  “We went with our friends a few times back home, when Dad would actually let us go, but it’s not the same. I knew Long Island was out there, blocking Connecticut from the rest of the ocean. This feels different.”

  I nodded, untying the hoodie from my waist. Jett had been right, the wind was cooler coming in off the ocean and even though it was long sleeved, my thin shirt wasn’t enough to keep me warm. I dropped my purse and pulled the sweatshirt over my head. Picking up my purse, I stuck my head and arm through the strap so it would hang on my hip, out of the way.

  I looked up to see Jett watching me, a small smile on his face. “You look good in that,” he said.

  “Thanks,” I said, blushing.

  Compliments from Jett felt different from the ones given to me by the other two Alts. Everything out of Wyatt’s mouth was a flirtation of some sort and Beckett’s kind words were part of his sweet, sincere personality. Jett, however, took pains to appear aloof, if not outright insulting. I didn’t quite know how to handle this other side of him.

  “Let’s go,” he said, grabbing me and pulling me across the sand. “I want to check out the pier.”

  As we walked down the shoreline, my hand in his, I asked him questions. He liked classic rock, action movies and wanted to own a Harley one day. None of which surprised me. What did, however, is that he was a sucker for puppies, was a huge reality television buff, and he loved to dance. Before I knew it, we were at the end of the pier. Besides a couple of old guys with lines in the water, we were pretty much alone.

  “How are things going with your uncle?” I asked.

  He kept his eyes on the ocean while he spoke. “He’s okay, I guess. He gave us the truck and lets us come and go as we please, so that’s good.”

  “But?” I asked.

  “But he’s weird. He’s always watching us with this strange look in his eye. I don’t know. I can’t quite figure him out. He acts like he couldn’t care less about us, even though he fought so hard to gain custody. You know us better than he does.”

  “Have you tried to talk to him? To get to know him better?”

  “Beck tried. Uncle Earl just got up and left the room. It’s like he can’t stand to be around us.”

  “Maybe you remind him of your father?” I offered. “Maybe it makes him sad.”

  Jett laughed, but there was no humor in it. “That is the one thing he did tell us. He hated our father. He wouldn’t say why, but there was no love lost between them.”

  “Then why didn’t he let you stay in Connecticut, with your friends, if it wasn’t out of love or familial obligation?”

  “That, Savanna, is the million-dollar question,” he said. He stared at me for a moment, his eyes boring into mine, looking bright platinum in the midday sun. “But my resentment because of it has lessened considerably in the last few days.”

  My lips turned up. “It has?” I asked, attempting to be coy.

  “Mm-hmm,” he said.

  He pulled his phone from his pocket and tapped the screen a few times. Music played through the speakers, a slow classic rock song. I actually recognized it. The artist sang about seeing his girl’s smile and being able to face the world and do anything because of it. Sticking the phone back in his pocket, Jett held out his palm.

  “Dance with me.”

  “Here?” I asked, looking around to see if any of the fisherman were looking.

  “Here,” he said.

  I placed my hand in his and he wrapped his other one around my waist, pulling me in close. I put my free hand on his shoulder and tried to follow his lead. I’d never danced with anyone besides my dad, and that was only once or twice at a couple of weddings they took me to when I was younger. Jett’s arm tightened, pulling me flush against him as he slowly spun in a circle.

  My body temperature rose at least five degrees, leaving me feeling flushed and tingly all over. He was strong and muscular, his body tense despite what was supposed to be a lighthearted dance over the ocean. He kept his eyes on mine, his intense gaze making it impossible to look away.

  “Am I terrible?” I asked.

  “What do you mean?” he asked, releasing my waist to swing me out, then back in again before locking his arm round me again.

  “You just seem tense,” I said after I caught my breath. “Like, maybe I’m a terrible dancer and you don’t want to tell me.”

  He ran his palm up my back, pulled me in closer and dipped his head to whisper in my ear. “If I’m tense, it’s because I made a stupid promise that I’m seriously regretting right now.”

  He pulled back and tried to grin, but it looked more like a grimace. I stared into his eyes, searching for the truth. I thought he made that promise because he didn’t really care if we kissed or not, but it seemed like maybe I was wrong. Maybe he really made it for me, to make me more comfortable with the whole “dating three guys at once” thing, just like he said.

  I didn’t know what to say. If, before this date, anyone had asked me if I wanted to kiss Jett Patton, my answer would probably have been no. Or, at the very least, an “I don’t care.” But after getting to know him, having that one-on-one time with him and scratching beneath his arrogant surface, my opinion had changed. He was bigheaded at times, yes, but he was also charming, thoughtful, and one heck of a dancer. He had a kind of bad boy with a heart of gold appeal. Did I want him to kiss me?

  “So, break your promise,” I mumbled, staring at his mouth.

  His lips turned up at the corners. “If I break my promise, how will you ever trust me again?” When I didn’t respond, he twirled us around and continued, “Besides, my reason behind that promise stil
l stands. If you don’t feel comfortable—”

  I pressed my fingertips against his mouth, cutting off his words. I knew what he was going to say. It was all about me. About what I wanted. He was being considerate, brushing off his own desires because he thought that’s what I needed. Would it have been smart to avoid kissing him after kissing both of his brothers within the last thirty-six hours? Probably. And I always tried to make the smart choice.

  Sometimes you have to follow your heart and tell your brain to shut the hell up.

  I ran my fingers from his mouth up, along his jawline until they curled around the back of his neck and tangled in his hair. I glanced up from his mouth to find him staring at me, his eyes wide and bright with emotion. I moved in close, standing on my toes so my mouth would brush against his ear when I spoke.

  “Close your eyes,” I whispered before pulling back.

  He met my eyes for just a moment before letting his drift shut. Something heady washed over me. I felt powerful, like I was taking control of my own destiny by taking control of this moment. I leaned forward inch by inch, enjoying the look of anticipation etched across Jett’s features. He wanted it, but he held true to his promise and didn’t move a muscle or try to hurry me along. It was my show.

  I could feel his breath on my face and darted out my tongue to wet my lips. He must have heard it, because a light groan vibrated from his throat. My confidence skyrocketed with that small sound and I couldn’t contain a smile. I closed the distance between us and pressed my lips against his.

  He froze, his feet no longer moving with the music. I wasn’t really sure if what I was doing was right, but I followed my instincts and tilted my head before licking at the seam of his lips with the tip of my tongue. His body came to life, like that one small touch was all the permission he needed. He became a willing and active participant, and it was amazing.

  The arm around my waist tightened until there was no space between us. His other hand released mine and wound its way up into my hair, twirling it around his fist so he could use it to angle my head and deepen our kiss. He started walking me backwards, his lips never leaving mine, until I felt the guard rail press into my back.