But I do respond to Tori’s.
Me: Why didn’t you watch it?
I’m playing stupid on purpose. Pretty sure I know why they weren’t paying attention to the movie screen.
Tori: Um because he wouldn’t stop kissing me. We sat in the very back row and all he did was kiss me over and over.
Emma: Oooh Tori! Getting some action in the movie theater!
Tori: It wasn’t that big of a deal. Just a simple make-out session.
I smile, thinking of my Saturday night. We took it way too far, and it was worth every moment.
As a matter of fact, I can’t wait to do it again.
Emma: What were you up to last night, Addie?
Me: I was with Beck.
Tori: Ooooh do tell.
Me: There’s nothing to tell. We had fun.
Emma: That’s great.
We chat for a while longer until Beck FaceTime’s me.
Oh shit. I look terrible. I run a hand over my hair. Yank my camisole up so my tits aren’t hanging out.
Finally, I answer him, and it takes a while for the call to connect before his face fills my phone screen.
“Mornin’.” His voice is deep and sleep-roughened and I’ve never heard anything sexier.
“Hey.” I smile at him. “And you already said that.”
He holds his phone in one hand while he scratches at his chest with the other. “I did?”
“In your Snap you sent me earlier,” I remind him.
“Oh yeah. I woke up, sent you that and fell back asleep.” His smile is sheepish. “I was tired.”
“Big night last night?”
“Fuck yeah. Was with this really hot girl who rocked my world.” He grins.
I blush.
“Did you get in trouble for being late?” he asks.
“Get this.” I sit up a little, ready to tell my story. “I sneak back into the house, feeling pretty confident no one heard me. I walk into my room and turn on the light to find my mother sitting on my bed.”
He frowns. “No way.”
I nod. “Yeah. She was mad I was ten minutes late.”
“You were only five minutes late.”
“By the time I got into my room, it was ten. And she was kind of mad.”
“She didn’t give you any shit, did she?” He frowns, seeming concerned.
“Kind of. I had to lie to her and say we were with Dom and Tori.” I hesitate, feeling dumb. “She wouldn’t like it if we were alone. She knew where we were.”
“Does she track you with Life 360?” he asks.
I shake my head. “Just Find My Phone.”
“My parents do the same, though they only check when they’re worried about me, I think.”
“My mother is always worried about me, so she checks it a lot.” I tuck a few wild strands of hair behind my ear. “If we do something together again, she’s going to want you to come in the house and do that whole formal introduction, I’ll take care of your daughter, ma’am type thing.”
“If we do something again? Maybe we need to get one thing straight.” He brings the phone up to his face, so I can only see his mouth. His beautiful, wicked mouth. “We’re definitely doing something together again, if I have anything to say about it.”
My cheeks are hot. This is the sort of confirmation I always needed from him, though it’s still a little hard to believe.
That Beck Callahan wants me. Wants to be with me. Wants to do things with me.
“Okay,” I say weakly, because what else can I say to that?
He pulls the phone away, so I can see his entire face again. “What are you doing today?”
“Homework. Laundry. More homework.” A sigh leaves me. “I know we’ve only had two days of school so far, but I have a math assignment due by midnight.”
“I do too.” He runs a hand through his hair, his biceps bulging, making a bigger mess of it. “I wish I could see you.”
“You’re seeing me right now,” I tease.
“And while I appreciate seeing your beautiful face via FaceTime, I wish we were in-person,” he says, his voice going lower. “So I could touch you.”
“Beck.” I burst out laughing, trying to bat down the intense feelings that threaten to take over. He called me beautiful. Again. “We’ll see each other tomorrow.”
“At school. Not good enough.”
“We’re busy people.” I bite my lip. “I won’t even be here this upcoming weekend. We have our annual tournament in Mammoth.”
“Oh.” His face falls. “That’ll be fun.”
“It always is.”
“You’ll miss my first regular season game.”
“Isn’t it an away game?”
“Yeah, but it still counts. I was hoping you would be there. You’ll be at school, right? You can wear my jersey.”
I would give anything to wear his jersey around school, but…
“We leave Friday morning, right after second period. We’re taking a couple of district vans and heading over the pass, through Yosemite,” I explain. “I won’t be back until Sunday night.”
“Oh. I won’t get to see you at all over the weekend.” His frown deepens.
“It’ll go by fast. And you’ll get to see me before school starts Friday,” I tell him reassuringly. “I bet you won’t even miss me.”
“I’m missing you right now,” he admits, his gaze hooded. Eep, he’s hot when he looks like that. Being shirtless doesn’t help in downplaying his good looks either. He’s just too scorching for words. “And I’ll definitely miss you this weekend when you’re gone.”
“It’s just one weekend,” I murmur. “Three days.”
“Three days too long.”
“It’s my last time playing in this tournament with my team,” I say. “I’m a little sad over it.”
“It’s weird, knowing all of these things we’re doing, which we’ve done for years, are now for the last time,” he says.
I smile. He gets it. He knows what I’m talking about, and there’s something so comforting about it.
He understands me.
And more than anything, I want to understand him too.
TWENTY-THREE
BECK
Excitement fills me as I arrive at school Monday morning, fully decked out in another new pair of shorts and a black Vans T-shirt, strutting up the walkway in my new Vans. I’m barely on campus and already getting compliments on my fit, which has me standing taller. Feeling even more confident.
Then I spot my friends standing in a circle, talking and laughing.
I see Liam. Addie standing right next to him.
My confidence crumbles a little bit, quickly replaced with anger.
What the fuck is that guy doing, stepping in on my territory?
I slow my pace, my gaze on Addie and no one else, looking for a sign that she’s actually engaging in real conversation with that asshole. They’re standing close, but there’s still some distance between them. They’re not touching each other, thank God.
I’d have to break his fingers if he so much as laid one on her.