Beau took a steadying breath and flexed his hands on the steering wheel as he pulled out onto the highway. “Can I ask you something?”
“You can ask me anything. You drove out here to help me tonight. I kind of owe you.”
“Why were you at a party like that?”
“What kind of party should I have been at?”
“Not one like that,” he quickly replied.
A quick glance revealed a slight tightening of her features. “What do you mean?”
He lifted a hand from the steering wheel and waved vaguely. “You know, a party like that where people are drunk and act like idiots.”
“This is starting to sound a little like a lecture.”
“Parties like that are full of inebriated jerks who think they can do whatever they want to whoever they want.”
“I have the right to go where I want.”
“I’m not saying you don’t have that right, but—”
“No buts. Shouldn’t I live my life? Go places? Should I hide inside all the time while everyone else has fun?”
He let out a breath. “I’m aware it makes me sound like a huge asshole, but I don’t think you should go to parties like that. Can I just say that?”
“No.” She shook her head slowly. “You don’t get to say that. You don’t get to ask me that.”
He bumped the steering wheel with the heel of his palm. “What is going on? This isn’t you. It feels like you’re putting on some kind of act lately.”
He felt her glare without even looking her way. “Maybe you don’t know me.”
“Oh, I know you, Emmaline.” He exited the highway, his old truck rumbling around them as it decreased speed. He braked as he came up on a stoplight. Turning in his seat to face her, he continued, “I know you’re smart and love rom-coms and lasagna and romance novels. I know you’re allergic to cats but still pet them even though it makes your eyes swell. I know you cried in ninth grade when no one asked you to homecoming and I know you cry over any commercial with an animal in it. I know that scar on your knee is from when you crashed your bike into the mailbox. I know that you had to wear braces an extra year because you never wore your rubber bands even though your mom nagged you to wear them constantly.”
“How do you . . .”
“Because I know you.” He went still as stone beside her, his eyes fixed on her face. The stoplight tinted her features red and made her newly dyed hair even brighter. He’d said too much, but he couldn’t seem to shut up. “And I know . . . that . . . I . . .” His gaze dropped to her mouth. “I want to kiss you, Pigeon.” The words released from him in a pained gust of breath.
Her eyes rounded and she went still, too. Marble-still.
The instant the words were out, he wanted to grab them and stuff them back down his throat. He stretched out a hand and then fisted it to stop himself from touching her. The impulse was strong, but he resisted.
“What did you say?” she whispered.
He leaned across the space separating them, jerking back when a horn blew up behind them.
With a curse, he faced forward and drove. He felt sick. He’d just told Emmaline he wanted to kiss her. He probably would have, too, if the light hadn’t changed. And if she let him . . .
He shot her a quick glance. She stared straight ahead, her expression unreadable. He couldn’t have her thoughts and he couldn’t have her.
They drove the rest of the way to her house in silence. He parked in the driveway and stared at the closed garage door, fingers tapping on the steering wheel as he contemplated what to say.
“Thanks for the ride, and you know, the help.”
“Of course.”
“You want to come inside?”
He glanced at her swiftly. “Uh . . .”
A flicker of panic crossed her face. “My mom is home . . . and Nolan. I’m sure he’d want to see you,” she hurriedly added.
“Oh. Yeah. Sure.” Nodding, he turned off the ignition. She wasn’t inviting him inside for herself, of course. She was just normalizing things between them again. And Beau going inside the house was normal.
She smiled with a brightness that was blinding. “Great.”
He forced a smile. “So we’re okay?” He waved between them. “Sorry about . . . what I said.”
She made a pfft sound and waved a hand. “We’re fine. Forget it. It was just a freak moment.”
He nodded. “I’m just glad that we’re okay. I wouldn’t want anything to be weird between us.”
“How could there ever be anything weird between us?” She laughed. Giggled actually. The sound was a little manic. “We’re friends.”
“All right then. Good. Great.” He climbed out of the truck.
They walked to the door together, several feet separating them.
Lesson #26
Avoid onions.
x Nolan x
Nolan’s phone was oddly silent without Priscilla blowing it up every ten minutes. To be fair, if it was a normal Saturday night, she wouldn’t have been texting or calling him because they would have been together. Now he was alone, and that still felt okay. It felt right. Better than before. He’d choose solitude over being with the wrong person.
Mom and Savannah were at a movie. Beau had a landscaping gig all weekend that required a five a.m. wake-up, so he was staying in.
There were parties going on and other friends he could be hanging out with, but Nolan wasn’t really in the mood for any of that.
Emmaline wasn’t home either. She had texted an hour ago to say that she was spending the night at Hayden’s. Instantly he had felt a flash of disappointment. He rubbed at the center of his chest as though he could wipe away the uncomfortable feeling.
Why couldn’t they spend the night here? Why couldn’t Hayden be under the same roof with him? Like before . . . just across the hall.
As soon as the thought entered his mind, he gave himself a hard mental shake. Hayden wasn’t his friend. Hayden was Emmaline’s friend, and he needed to remember that.
After an hour of channel surfing and finding nothing to hold his attention, he decided to go and get some food rather than eat the leftovers in the fridge.
He told himself it would be good to get out of the house for a little while, and that was the reason he left. It wasn’t that he was bored or lonely or longing for something else. Someone else. It wasn’t that.
And yet after he went through the drive-through window at Whataburger, he found himself heading toward Beau’s neighborhood, but it wasn’t Beau he was going to see. It wasn’t even his sister he was going to see.
Clearly he was out of his mind, but he couldn’t stop thinking about the sensation of Hayden’s soft lips. That one kiss they had shared was imprinted on his brain. He couldn’t forget it.
He parked in front of Hayden’s house and got out of the truck, carrying his bag of Whataburger. He must’ve known, at least subconsciously, that he was coming here, because inside the fast food bag were three orders of french fries, chicken fingers, and two bacon cheeseburgers. More food than even he could eat, and he had a huge appetite. His mom always complained about having to go to the grocery store every other day. It was enough for his sister, Hayden, and one extra friend. Just in case.