“Oh, I’m ignoring her. No offense. I’m not taking fashion tips from Savannah Edington or Cricket Radcliff. The day I dress like them, I’d like you to strip me naked and force me out in the cold.” She looked over her shoulder and winked at Shaw, and we all laughed.
I moved to sit beside Adelaide on the couch, and we all sat around shooting the shit and laughing. Clementine did a brief speech about women no longer being repressed and told us she planned to take over the world someday. Maura told us about how her parents had gone off on the drive over here tonight because they ran into the Carlisles at the liquor store when they stopped to grab some wine for the party.
“I mean, this war between the two families is so ridiculous I don’t even think they know what they’re fighting about,” Maura said with a shrug.
“Isn’t it all over the land? Didn’t their family steal land from your family?” Gigi asked, reaching over and snagging a cookie.
The coffee table was loaded with sweets, and a buffet table ran along the back wall with nachos and meatballs and all kinds of finger foods.
“I guess so. It’s been going on since before my father was born. You should have seen the way my dad hissed at Mr. Carlisle.”
“I’ve heard tales that it all started over a woman. That the older Mr. Carlisle was in love with your great-grandma,” Ivy said, raising a brow at Maura.
“I don’t even know. I’m too afraid to ask because my dad gets so worked up at the mention of their family. He claims they robbed us blind back in the day.”
I wanted to laugh. Maura’s family, the Bensons, were loaded. One of the wealthiest families in Willow Springs, as were the Carlisles. So, why’d they care if they all ended up with a shit ton of money?
“We need to get to the bottom of that,” Coco said.
“Not tonight.” Ivy brushed her hands together as if she were off the clock.
It was impossible to miss how close the five of them were. And, surprisingly, I didn’t mind being here at all.
At this point, it appeared I’d find just about any reason to spend more time with Adelaide.
Chapter Fifteen
Adelaide
The party was winding down. At least for us basement dwellers. Gigi was heading home with her parents to go see her brother who was due home from college in an hour. Maura wanted to go hang out with Kyle who’d also just gotten home from school. Coco, Shaw, Ivy, Ty and Jax were going down to the lake to meet some other kids at a bonfire. Willow Springs never had a dull moment. I wondered if Jett would leave with them, but he hadn’t said anything yet.
It had been a fun night. We’d eaten too much, shared stories, and laughed our butts off. I was happy that we’d spent some time tonight with both of our friends, as I wanted my girls to know him the way I did. I could tell they all liked Jett a lot, which made me happy. I didn’t know what we were, but I liked being around him and I wanted my friends to know him better. Alec always complained when we spent time with my friends, and it had always bothered me, but I’d assumed that it was just a guy thing.
Turns out it was an Alec thing.
“Stone, are you coming or staying?” Shaw asked.
Jett cocked his head to the side and studied me and I couldn’t help but smile, which must have meant I wanted him to stay because that was all he needed.
“I’ll stay and help her clean up a bit. I’ll call you tomorrow.”
“Good. Coco’s driving so I can have a few beers at the bonfire. Take my truck home and you can come get me in the morning.” Shaw tossed his keys to Jett, and he caught them and dropped them in his pocket.
We said our goodbyes and moved to sit on the sofa again. “You want to watch a movie?”
“Sure,” he said, and I reached for the remote.
“Oooh, Elf is on. That’s my favorite Christmas movie. Do you like it?”
“Never seen it.” Jett leaned back against the couch. “Let’s watch.”
For the first time since we’d been hanging out, I was nervous. It felt more like a date. Every time I said goodbye to him, I missed him. It was strange. I’d never experienced that feeling before, and I’d had a boyfriend for years.
I missed Jett Stone when I wasn’t with him.
The feeling was foreign to me. And it didn’t scare me. Now that I was discovering who I was, and what I wanted—I was learning to trust my instincts for the first time in my life.
And I wanted Jett.
I didn’t know what that meant. But I knew a few things.
I trusted him in a way I’d never trusted anyone outside of my girlfriends. I could tell him anything and he’d listen to what I had to say, and he would protect it at all costs.
I desperately wanted to kiss him. I wanted to feel his lips against mine. I thought about it whenever we were together. And whenever we were apart. I’d never really craved anything physical before. Alec and I had obviously made out more times than I could count, but it never left me wanting more, aside from feeling some sort of obligation to eventually do more. Like a rite of passage. But what I felt, sitting here next to this boy, was different.
So incredibly different.
It took everything I had in me not to move closer. To reach for his hand. Press my lips to his.
Who even was I?
I’d never had these kinds of thoughts before, well, not since I’d started hanging out with Jett. I didn’t know if he felt the same way about me. He’d never acted like he wanted anything more than friendship. But this pull I felt toward him had been consuming me more than ever the past few days.
I sat rim-rod straight on the couch throughout the entire movie. Clem came back down to check on us and said she was going up to bed because the parents were acting “loopy and embarrassing.”
The movie ended and Jett pushed to his feet. “I should probably get going, Ace.”
“Yeah, it’s late. Sorry for keeping you so long.”
I grabbed my coat and followed him out the back door. We walked a few houses down toward Shaw’s truck. I didn’t know why I was walking with him all the way to the truck. Maybe to make the night last a little longer.
“Well, now I need to walk you home.” He chuckled as he fiddled with the keys and stood beside the truck.
“Don’t be silly. I’m fine.” I shifted from foot to foot, trying to think of something to say to make it last longer. Music trickled out from my house as the party was still going strong.
“They’re going to keep it going, huh?” he asked, reaching forward to tuck a piece of hair that had slipped from my ponytail behind my ear.