She was right. My stomach did an excited backflip as I removed my hoodie.
Collin had been my crush for the longest time. So what if he didn’t really know me, like Barry had pointed out. Collin was popular and super cute. I tossed my work shirt on my bed, then removed my bra before I put on the stretchy, embellished tube top. Rachel drew her sleep shirt over her head, getting dressed alongside me.
“No way, Addy.” She snatched my hooded jacket out of my hand. “Not that tired old thing. I’ll wear it. You’re wearing my jean jacket. And let’s get your hair out of that ponytail before we go.”
“Okay.” I didn’t argue. My sister was a wiz at putting outfits together.
After we were dressed to Rachel’s satisfaction, we sneaked out of the apartment. It wasn’t difficult. My mom had moved upstairs, her bedroom door at the end of the hall closed. She and the guy were inside and disgustingly loud.
When we reached the bus stop, Rachel and I sat side by side on the bench. The metal was cold beneath me, but the plexiglass surround blocked most of the wind. Rachel tapped her foot and started singing “Iris” by the Goo Goo Dolls. Her voice was amazing.
Our parents didn’t pass on much that was good to us, but our father had passed on his musical talent to my sister, and my mother passed on her love for her favorite band to Rachel and me. It was difficult to remember a time when our mother had loved anything more than drugs.
I was too nervous for my foot to tap with Rachel’s. I hoped she was right about Collin noticing me. But even wearing her flashy top, I was still just myself.
Rachel was the hot one. Andy’s handsome best friend probably wouldn’t even notice me.
A long line stretched along the sidewalk outside of Winston’s, moving slowly. With no plexiglass protection for us here, the wind was steady and cold. Our arms linked, Rachel and I huddled together.
“I’m cold.” Rachel shivered, shifting from foot to foot to try to get warm.
“I know. I am too.” The wind whipped my loose hair back from my face as it rushed between the brick buildings. “I thought Andy said he would be waiting for us outside.”
“Apparently not.” Rachel frowned. “Maybe we took too long. Maybe he went inside already.”
“Yeah, not so sure this was a good idea.” I bit down on my lip, pinning the flutter of anticipation. “The bouncer won’t let us in free without him. We should probably go.”
“I guess you’re right.” Rachel’s lips that she’d painted red started to turn down before masculine arms in black jersey sleeves draped around her from behind.
“Hey, beautiful,” Andy said near her ear while glancing at me. His light blue eyes gleamed below a black sweatshirt hood. “Sorry we’re late.”
“My fault,” a deeply delicious male voice said. “I had to help my mom. I apologize.”
Six feet tall and beyond gorgeous, Collin swept his silver gaze over me. My skin crackled with sudden heated awareness.
“No worries,” I said, but my words came out raspy.
My throat went dry as I watched him bring a lit cigarette to his chiseled lips. He sucked in a long drag that hollowed out his stubble-darkened cheeks, and the fluttering inside my chest began anew.
Collin Murphy wasn’t just gorgeous, he was confident, experienced, and way out of my league. He had his pick of girls, and usually had a different one every time I saw him.
He was a senior like me, but he was upper echelon, part of the reigning crew that called themselves losers. The losers were an unaffiliated faction that could be found most mornings at the back of the school while the leader dealt drugs. After exiting the bus each morning, I took the long way around the school, hoping to see Collin. Rachel called it getting my morning fix. But I’d never been this close to him, not in all the years we’d attended school together.
“Addy, right?” Collin asked, looking at me in a way he never had before.
Tongue-tied at being the focus of his glittering regard, I only nodded. He held my gaze for a long moment. One moment became two before he exhaled smoke.
“Seen you around.” His gaze drifted over my features. His silver rings glinted, reflecting the glow of the overhead streetlight. “You look different tonight.”
Different how? Different good or different bad?
“Hey, Rach.” Collin shifted his starry gaze to my sister. “You still playing that sweet maple-top PRS for tips in front of Mel’s coffeeshop?”
“Yeah.” My sister glanced at me. “Mostly, I just freeze my ass off. I don’t think anyone’s really interested in a solo performer. You still have your Epiphone?” she asked him, and I settled for staring at Collin as Rachel and Andy moved on to guitarist talk.
Yeah, Collin was a serious guitarist. Could he be any sexier or any less interested in a nonperformer like me?
“Come on.” Andy gestured and stepped out of line. “Collin’s old man is the bouncer. We don’t need to wait. He’ll get us in.”
Nodding, I pulled the lapels of Rachel’s denim jacket together over my chest as Andy and Collin threw their arms around my sister in front of me. Walking toward the entrance, Rachel was bookended by two good-looking seniors. My younger sibling had far more game than I did.
The anticipatory butterflies ceased fluttering and took a nosedive to the pit of my stomach. Disappointed, I shuffled along behind the trio, forgotten.
“Let me take your coat.” Collin moved in front of me inside Winston’s small roped-off VIP section.
“Sure.” I turned so he could slide Rachel’s denim jacket off my shoulders. A shiver rolled through me as the guitar-roughened calluses of his fingers grazed my skin.
When I turned back around to face him, he wasn’t hanging up the jacket on a nearby hook like he had for Rachel a moment before. He was staring at me.
“Fucking hell, you look hot. I mean nice.” Collin’s eyes were wide, glowing like a new moon in the low-lit area. “Maybe you should keep your jacket on. You might get cold.”
“I’m okay,” I lied. Wearing the too-small bandeau top that clung to my breasts, I felt exposed, and had to resist crossing my arms over my chest.
“Maybe you are.” After hanging my jacket on the hook, he raked his ringed hand through his midnight-black hair. “But not sure the rest of us will be okay with you wearing that.”
“What do you mean?” My skin tingled as his starlight gaze swept over me.
“Because you’re too se—” Cutting himself off with a sigh, he gestured to the couch where Rachel and Andy were sitting. “Never mind. Have a seat, Addy.”
“All right.”
Skirting the circular metal coffee table, I moved where he’d indicated. My sister took my hand as soon as my butt hit the black vinyl. Collin moved to take a seat on the couch opposite us. It seemed like he wanted some distance between us.
“This is nice,” Rachel said, cutting into the awkward silence that followed.
The popular club with its concrete floor, exposed ductwork, and minimalistic black-and-silver color scheme was crowded. A steady murmur of voices accompanied the recorded music pouring into the space from strategically placed speakers, but in the VIP section, it seemed less loud than it had been on the main level.