And it was awful. I don’t even want to think about him right now.
“Damn those shorts make your legs look long,” Beck says, his gaze appreciative as he scans me.
My skin grows warm and I suddenly feel shy. The shorts are totally pushing it. I’d get dress-coded immediately if I wore these to school. “It’s hot,” I offer up as a lame excuse.
“I’ll say.” He grins, looking so pleased with himself I can’t help but laugh.
“Uh huh.”
“I’m not complaining. You’ve got—really nice legs.” He shakes his head. “That sounded stupid.”
“No, it really didn’t,” I say softly, my gaze never straying from his. I want him to keep saying stuff like that. Maybe I should compliment him too. “I like your hair.”
He runs his hand over it, making a bigger mess of the sweaty strands. “It’s out of control.”
“I like it longer.” I wouldn’t mind running my fingers through it. See if it’s as soft as it looks.
“I was thinking about getting a haircut. My mom said I should.”
“No, don’t do it,” I say way too quickly, my cheeks immediately going hot. “Not yet.”
His smile grows. “I’ll tell my mom you don’t approve.”
I sort of want to die right now. I also want to bask in his attention under the Friday night lights for a little bit longer. He looks so good in his uniform. Big and imposing.
“I want a photo of you two!” I hear Tori shout from behind me.
I turn to see her headed in our direction, waggling her eyebrows at me like some sort of co-conspirator. “You do?”
“Oh yes. I definitely do. Beck, stand next to Addie.” Tori stops right in front of us, holding her phone out.
He does as he’s told, slinging his arm loosely around my shoulders as he tugs me in close to his side. I go to him, sliding my arm around his lower back, surprised by how warm and solid he feels. “Like this?” he asks Tori.
“Perfect.” I can tell Tori is taking a bazillion photos, and I feel my smile grow. “You two look cute together.”
Okay, I want to die again.
“You smell good,” Beck murmurs, low enough that only I can hear.
And now I want to die for a totally different reason.
“But you always smell good so this isn’t a surprise.” He squeezes my shoulder before he lets go of me, stepping away. “I’ll see you at the party, right?”
I nod, feeling weak. “Yeah.”
“Who knows when we’ll show up, since we have to ride the bus. Marcus’ brother came to the scrimmage though, and he’s taking him home,” Beck explains. “I’m sure Emma will know when you can head over to his house.”
“Oh, I’m sure.” I wave at him like a dork. “See you soon.”
“Bye, Adds.”
The moment he’s out of earshot Tori is squealing as she grabs hold of my arm and squeezes it so tight, it hurts. “Oh my God, you two are so adorable together! Wait until you see the photos.”
I hold my hand out, wanting her to give me her phone. “Let me look at them now.”
“Nope.” Tori hides her phone behind her back. “You can look at them in the car.”
“Where is Emma anyway?” I glance around the mostly empty field, not spotting her or Marcus.
“God knows. Maybe she’s in a dark corner with Marcus, giving him a quickie hand job.” Tori rolls her eyes and hooks her arm through mine, steering me toward the direction of the parking lot. “Come on, let’s go wait for her by the car.”
It takes Emma an extra ten minutes after we get to her car before she finally appears, which gives me just enough time to scroll through Tori’s phone, looking at all the photos she took of me and Beck. Some of them are terrible. My eyes are closed or I’m making a weird face as she catches me talking.
But some of them are really good. We’re both looking in the camera, standing so close, his arm around my shoulders and an easy smile on his handsome face. There’s one photo in particular though, that I can’t stop staring at. I’m smiling at the camera, but he’s looking at me, his lips quirked up, his gaze eating me up while I’m completely oblivious.
“That’s the money shot,” Tori whispers to me as Emma heads our way. “Look at how he’s watching you. That boy is in loooove.”
I shove at her, making her laugh, and Emma wants to know what the joke is, but I keep it to myself.
I’m making Tori Airdrop every single one of those photos to me so I can keep them.
Forever.
THIRTEEN
BECK
We show up to the party late. It’s already in full swing when Dom and I pull up in my 4Runner. There are all kinds of people hanging out in the front yard, most of them with red solo cups clutched in their hands because Marcus’ brother got him a couple of kegs for the party.
“Looks dope,” Dom announces when I cut the engine. “What’s the plan tonight?”
“What do you mean?”
“You’ve usually got a plan. Back when you were with Sasha and we’d come to some party with her tagging along, you’d always strategize with me before we went inside.” He tilts his head to the side. “Is that over now that Sasha is out of the picture?”
I don’t even remember wanting to strategize about anything. “Do you want to strategize?”
He shrugs. “Sure. My plan is—I’m going to work my hardest to get my hands in Tori’s panties tonight.”
I chuckle. “Okay.”
“What about you? Whose panties are you going in search of?”
My mind goes to Addie in those shorts with the zippers on the sides. I want to test them, see if they work. And if they do, I want to see how high they go up, and what I might discover under those shorts.
“Addie’s,” I admit.
“That’s my boy.” Dom holds his hand up for a high five and I give it to him. “When you were with Sasha, you always talked to me before we went to a party about watching out for her drinking, remember?”
“Oh.” I make a face. “Right.”
I sort of forgot how drunk Sasha would always get. Sloppy. Messy. Angry. That was Sasha’s mode at any get-together where alcohol was involved. Little miss perfect at school would turn into a raging bitch at parties if she consumed too much.
And she always had a way of consuming too much. That’s why, eventually, I got Dom involved and he would help keep an eye on her when I couldn’t.
“She’s not your problem anymore, though. Thank God,” Dom says. “Saw you taking photos with Addie on the field after the game. Tori planned all that, you know?”
“I want to see them.” I want to keep a few too.
“I’ll make sure she shows them to you.” He reaches for his door handle. “Let’s head inside.”
We climb out of the car and I lock it, brushing a hand through my hair, hoping like hell it looks good. After what Addie said, I’m more conscious of how I look tonight. I wore my favorite North Face T-shirt and khaki Dickie shorts, a gold chain around my neck that my parents got me last Christmas.