“My have Pop-Tart?” Gabby asks. She’s talking a lot for her age, but she always substitutes “my” for “I.” It’s ridiculously cute.
“How about an apple?”
The girls groan, but I grab a knife from the drawer and an apple off the counter.
So what? Kenny got a massage from Mom. That doesn’t mean he got anything more than that. Does it?
I slice the apple into two bowls, removing the peel from Gabby’s half. I’m handing the bowls to my sisters when my father emerges from the bedroom.
“You ladies are up early.” He pushes his glasses up his nose and attempts to smooth his bedhead. He probably fell asleep reading in his recliner again.
“This is pretty much the normal time,” I mutter.
He rubs his hands together. “I think it’s a good day to go book shopping in Indianapolis. What do my girls say?”
“Yay!” the girls chorus.
“I think I’ll pass,” I say. I’m too preoccupied with the whole Mom and Kenny thing to enjoy a rare day with my dad. The girls will have a good time. Dad goes to these big used bookstores where the girls can get half a dozen new books for under five dollars. Of course, Dad will likely spend too much, buying more books about Taoism and Buddhism and any other -ism that promises to make sense of the universe. But the time with Dad is good for the girls, and the time alone will be good for me.
Mom shifts on the couch. “Cally? Are the girls up? Do they need anything?”
I close my eyes and bite back my frustrations. She wants to be a good mom, just not more than she wants her next fix. “It’s okay. Go back to sleep.”
***
“I have a problem.”
Lizzy Thompson crosses her arms and looks me over disapprovingly. “That you do. I can’t believe you kept this from me.”
I shift awkwardly on the steps of her front porch. I don’t even know what she’s talking about, but I’m freezing out here. “Are you going to invite me in or leave me out here?”
She pulls the door open wider, and I step into the warmth of her foyer. Blood finds its way back to my frozen fingers, making them burn. I pull off my coat, and Lizzy takes it and throws it on the banister before grabbing my hand and dragging me upstairs to her room.
Hanna is lying on her stomach on the floor, leafing through a magazine. When she sees me, her eyes go big. “Is it true?”
“Is what true?” I look back and forth between my two best friends, waiting for them to explain.
“She would have told us,” Hanna says to Lizzy.
“Not necessarily,” Lizzy replies. “Maybe it was an impulse thing and this is the first chance she’s had.”
“She is standing right here,” I mutter. “Tell me what you’re talking about.”
“We heard you and William Bailey were together at the football field last night,” Hanna says, pushing herself off the floor.
“That’s true, I guess.” I shake my head at the worry on my friends’ faces. “I don’t understand. What’s the big deal?”
The girls exchange another one of those knowing looks. They may not look like it—Hanna with her long, dark hair and Lizzy with her blond curls—but they’re twins, and it can be a little creepy how much they can communicate with each other without speaking.
“People are saying you were together. In the bleachers,” Hanna says.
Lizzy rolls her eyes. “No, they’re saying you were f**king in the bleachers.”
My jaw goes slack, and I stumble back and lower myself to sit on the edge of the bed. I should have seen this coming. William was just trying to protect me, and what does he get in return? A bunch of rumors that he’s nailing the poor chick with the slutty mom. God, he must hate me.
“Do you look so horrified because your secret’s out or because it’s a lie?”
“Lizzy!” Hanna screeches.
“What? Tell me you haven’t thought about it. How many times have we placed him in the top five hottest guys in New Hope?”
Hanna’s cheeks flare red, and she sinks next to me on the bed. “Ignore her. You don’t have to tell us anything, but we thought you should know what people are saying.”
I shake my head again. It hasn’t even been twenty-four hours, and rumors are already making their way back to my friends. “Who told you that?”
“Krissy told Meagan who told us,” Lizzy answers. “But Krissy won’t say where she heard it.”
“Kenny Riles, no doubt,” I mutter.
“Why do you say that?” Hanna asks.
“Kenny’s gotta be mad. Will put him in his place last night.”
Lizzy narrows her eyes. “Put him in his place before, during, or after he made hot monkey love to you?”
“He didn’t—”
“Don’t!” She puts her finger to my lips. “Please don’t tell me it didn’t happen. Not yet. Not while I’m still looking forward to living vicariously through you.”
“You’re ridiculous.” Hanna giggles. “But not wrong. I’ll admit to having a stray fantasy or two about William Bailey myself.”
“Just one or two?” Lizzy says. “He pushed up his sleeves in French the other day, and just looking at his forearms inspired at least seventeen different fantasies that day alone.”
“He’s taken!” I hear their older sister Krystal holler through the wall.
Lizzy shakes her head. “Don’t mind her. She’s had a crush on William since they were in eighth grade and thinks he’s hers, but he’s not into her.”
The girls make me chuckle, despite myself. “I’m sorry to say you won’t be living vicariously through me today. Nothing happened between me and William on the bleachers.”
With a sigh, Lizzy sinks to the bed on the opposite side of Hanna. They lean their heads on my shoulders, squishing me into a twin sandwich.
“Kenny was out with his friends,” I explain. “They were drunk, and he was trying to…proposition me, I guess? He said he’d bought a hand job from my mom and wanted to know what my going rate was.”
The girls gasp in unison.
“He didn’t!” Hanna whispers.
Lizzy growls, “What a fucker.”
“It was actually kind of scary,” I admit. “But then William was there, and he told them to leave me alone. They left, and Will walked me home. End of story.”
“Kenny is such a creep,” Hanna mutters. “But you need to tell Will so the rumor doesn’t take him by surprise.”
I nod. Talk about an awkward conversation. “Hey, when you go back to school on Monday, everyone’s going to think you shagged me on the bleachers. Sorry ’bout that.”
“It won’t change anything,” Lizzy warns. “But I agree it’s better if he knows.”
“I’m sorry he said that about your mom,” Hanna whispers. “He’s such a nasty liar.”
I swallow hard and nod, remembering Mom’s appointment book. Had Kenny been lying?
Time to change the subject. “I guess I need to talk to William,” I say. “You know, he mentioned a party at Max Hallowell’s tonight. Would you two be up for that?”
Hanna claps gleefully. “We’d love to come with you!”
“Han!” her sister says. “We can’t be there when the obvious solution is for Cally and Will to do the nasty so the rumor is the truth.”
Chapter Three
Cally
“Thanks for coming with me tonight,” I say to the girls as we walk up the steps to Max’s house.
Hanna smoothes her hair. “Yeah, going to a party at Max Hallowell’s house is such a hardship.”
“We aren’t staying long,” I promise, more to give myself courage than because it’s what they want to hear. “I want to give William a heads-up, and then we can get out of here.”
“Oh, let’s not rush away,” Hanna says. “We don’t want to insult the host.”
“Do I sense a crush?” Lizzy asks.
Hanna’s cheeks pinken as she knocks on the door. “No crush. He’s a nice guy, end of story.”
“A nice guy who just broke up with his girlfriend,” Lizzy singsongs.
The door flies open, and a sleek-haired blonde stares at us skeptically. “Can I help you?” No, she’s staring at me skeptically. I think her name is Kristen if I remember correctly. We had gym class together last semester, and she made a few cracks about my cheap wardrobe in the locker room. I might have thought a few cracks about her slutty wardrobe.
“This was a bad idea.” I turn to leave. This isn’t the place for me.
“Cally.”
The sound of William’s voice calling my name has my feet stalling on the steps. Lizzy squeaks beside me as I turn around. No one ever made jeans and a T-shirt look as good as William does. The dark denim hugs his hips, and the white T-shirt shows off his sculpted chest and shoulders.
“You came.” He steps outside and grabs my arm, ushering me into the house.
“Um, yeah. These are my best friends, Lizzy and Hanna,” I say awkwardly.
“Yeah, I grew up with all the Thompson girls. They lived next door to my grandma until their mom built that house on the river.” He gives them a polite smile before turning back to me. “I’m glad you decided to come. You can throw your coats on that couch over there.”
The girls and I peel off our jackets and toss them on the couch, and when I turn around, William is running his gaze over me. I’m wearing jeans and one of Lizzy’s sweaters. It’s black and fitted and shows more cl**vage than I’m normally comfortable with, but Lizzy talked me into it. She also did my makeup, defining my eyes with dark liner and mascara and topping the look off with a swipe of lip gloss. Now I’m glad I let her fuss over me. I like the way his eyes linger on my curves and lips before returning to meet mine.
“You look gorgeous.”
“You—you too.” Damn. He’s so sweet, and I’m just so…awkward. “Hey, can we talk?” Better to rip off the Band-Aid.
He smiles. I’m dazzled by that smile. It shoots something electric through my veins and back to my heart.
I look to my friends, not wanting to leave them before they find their place here. New Hope parties can be cliquey, and not in a good way.
“Go!” Lizzy urges. “We’re fine.”
I sink my teeth into my lip and nod.
William takes my hand and leads me to the stairs. A few catcalls go up as everyone watches us climb them together. Great. This is the exact opposite of what I came here to accomplish.
“You do fast work, man,” someone calls, and someone else says, “Protection is in the bathroom.”
By the time we’re on the second floor, my cheeks are burning with embarrassment and shame. Embarrassment over the things those guys probably think we’re doing up here. Shame for bringing that down on Will.
William leads me into a bedroom just off the stairs and shuts the door behind us. “I’m sorry about Sam and Max,” he says softly. “They don’t mean any harm. They’re just jealous because they couldn’t get a girl alone upstairs if they tried.”
I shake my head. “I’m the one who’s sorry. They’re all going to think we’re ha**g s*x up here.”
He chuckles and brushes my hair from my face. His callused fingers set my skin to life, and I want to feel more of them. I imagine them tangled in my hair as he lowers his mouth to mine. I imagine the way they’d feel skimming over my neck. Lower.
“I don’t think any of my friends really believe I’m that lucky,” he says with a wink.
“You haven’t heard yet, have you?”
His face turns serious. “Heard what?”
“Kenny Riles is telling everyone that we—” I swallow hard, my cheeks blazing with a new wave of embarrassment. “He’s saying he saw us ha**g s*x on the bleachers.” Then I add the new detail the girls learned before we left their house tonight: “He’s saying you paid me.”
Will steps back, his hands balling into fists, his jaw going tight.
“I wanted you to hear it from me first. I’m so sorry.”
“Why do you keep apologizing? It’s not your fault Kenny’s a piece of scum who has to make shit up to feel like he serves a purpose in this world.”
“I don’t want to hurt your reputation.”
He narrows his eyes, then his whole face softens and he steps close again. “You’re serious, aren’t you? You’re worried about my reputation? What about yours?”
I lift a shoulder in a half-shrug. “My mom pretty much screwed up any chance I had of having a pristine rep.”
He draws in a breath, like he’s shocked I said it out loud. I guess I’m a little surprised too.
“I’ll do whatever you need to fix this,” I promise. “But we should probably start by getting back downstairs so we’re not fueling the gossip mill.”
“Maybe we should start by getting down there and dancing.”
“Dancing?” I can’t think straight when he’s this close to me. The only thing dancing with William is going to accomplish is making me crush on him that much harder. “How is that going to help?”
He takes my hand and squeezes my fingers. He draws me toward him until my mouth is just a breath from his. Then, his lips curving into that charming, knee-melting smile, he reaches around me and opens the door. “Follow me.”
“How about an apple?”
The girls groan, but I grab a knife from the drawer and an apple off the counter.
So what? Kenny got a massage from Mom. That doesn’t mean he got anything more than that. Does it?
I slice the apple into two bowls, removing the peel from Gabby’s half. I’m handing the bowls to my sisters when my father emerges from the bedroom.
“You ladies are up early.” He pushes his glasses up his nose and attempts to smooth his bedhead. He probably fell asleep reading in his recliner again.
“This is pretty much the normal time,” I mutter.
He rubs his hands together. “I think it’s a good day to go book shopping in Indianapolis. What do my girls say?”
“Yay!” the girls chorus.
“I think I’ll pass,” I say. I’m too preoccupied with the whole Mom and Kenny thing to enjoy a rare day with my dad. The girls will have a good time. Dad goes to these big used bookstores where the girls can get half a dozen new books for under five dollars. Of course, Dad will likely spend too much, buying more books about Taoism and Buddhism and any other -ism that promises to make sense of the universe. But the time with Dad is good for the girls, and the time alone will be good for me.
Mom shifts on the couch. “Cally? Are the girls up? Do they need anything?”
I close my eyes and bite back my frustrations. She wants to be a good mom, just not more than she wants her next fix. “It’s okay. Go back to sleep.”
***
“I have a problem.”
Lizzy Thompson crosses her arms and looks me over disapprovingly. “That you do. I can’t believe you kept this from me.”
I shift awkwardly on the steps of her front porch. I don’t even know what she’s talking about, but I’m freezing out here. “Are you going to invite me in or leave me out here?”
She pulls the door open wider, and I step into the warmth of her foyer. Blood finds its way back to my frozen fingers, making them burn. I pull off my coat, and Lizzy takes it and throws it on the banister before grabbing my hand and dragging me upstairs to her room.
Hanna is lying on her stomach on the floor, leafing through a magazine. When she sees me, her eyes go big. “Is it true?”
“Is what true?” I look back and forth between my two best friends, waiting for them to explain.
“She would have told us,” Hanna says to Lizzy.
“Not necessarily,” Lizzy replies. “Maybe it was an impulse thing and this is the first chance she’s had.”
“She is standing right here,” I mutter. “Tell me what you’re talking about.”
“We heard you and William Bailey were together at the football field last night,” Hanna says, pushing herself off the floor.
“That’s true, I guess.” I shake my head at the worry on my friends’ faces. “I don’t understand. What’s the big deal?”
The girls exchange another one of those knowing looks. They may not look like it—Hanna with her long, dark hair and Lizzy with her blond curls—but they’re twins, and it can be a little creepy how much they can communicate with each other without speaking.
“People are saying you were together. In the bleachers,” Hanna says.
Lizzy rolls her eyes. “No, they’re saying you were f**king in the bleachers.”
My jaw goes slack, and I stumble back and lower myself to sit on the edge of the bed. I should have seen this coming. William was just trying to protect me, and what does he get in return? A bunch of rumors that he’s nailing the poor chick with the slutty mom. God, he must hate me.
“Do you look so horrified because your secret’s out or because it’s a lie?”
“Lizzy!” Hanna screeches.
“What? Tell me you haven’t thought about it. How many times have we placed him in the top five hottest guys in New Hope?”
Hanna’s cheeks flare red, and she sinks next to me on the bed. “Ignore her. You don’t have to tell us anything, but we thought you should know what people are saying.”
I shake my head again. It hasn’t even been twenty-four hours, and rumors are already making their way back to my friends. “Who told you that?”
“Krissy told Meagan who told us,” Lizzy answers. “But Krissy won’t say where she heard it.”
“Kenny Riles, no doubt,” I mutter.
“Why do you say that?” Hanna asks.
“Kenny’s gotta be mad. Will put him in his place last night.”
Lizzy narrows her eyes. “Put him in his place before, during, or after he made hot monkey love to you?”
“He didn’t—”
“Don’t!” She puts her finger to my lips. “Please don’t tell me it didn’t happen. Not yet. Not while I’m still looking forward to living vicariously through you.”
“You’re ridiculous.” Hanna giggles. “But not wrong. I’ll admit to having a stray fantasy or two about William Bailey myself.”
“Just one or two?” Lizzy says. “He pushed up his sleeves in French the other day, and just looking at his forearms inspired at least seventeen different fantasies that day alone.”
“He’s taken!” I hear their older sister Krystal holler through the wall.
Lizzy shakes her head. “Don’t mind her. She’s had a crush on William since they were in eighth grade and thinks he’s hers, but he’s not into her.”
The girls make me chuckle, despite myself. “I’m sorry to say you won’t be living vicariously through me today. Nothing happened between me and William on the bleachers.”
With a sigh, Lizzy sinks to the bed on the opposite side of Hanna. They lean their heads on my shoulders, squishing me into a twin sandwich.
“Kenny was out with his friends,” I explain. “They were drunk, and he was trying to…proposition me, I guess? He said he’d bought a hand job from my mom and wanted to know what my going rate was.”
The girls gasp in unison.
“He didn’t!” Hanna whispers.
Lizzy growls, “What a fucker.”
“It was actually kind of scary,” I admit. “But then William was there, and he told them to leave me alone. They left, and Will walked me home. End of story.”
“Kenny is such a creep,” Hanna mutters. “But you need to tell Will so the rumor doesn’t take him by surprise.”
I nod. Talk about an awkward conversation. “Hey, when you go back to school on Monday, everyone’s going to think you shagged me on the bleachers. Sorry ’bout that.”
“It won’t change anything,” Lizzy warns. “But I agree it’s better if he knows.”
“I’m sorry he said that about your mom,” Hanna whispers. “He’s such a nasty liar.”
I swallow hard and nod, remembering Mom’s appointment book. Had Kenny been lying?
Time to change the subject. “I guess I need to talk to William,” I say. “You know, he mentioned a party at Max Hallowell’s tonight. Would you two be up for that?”
Hanna claps gleefully. “We’d love to come with you!”
“Han!” her sister says. “We can’t be there when the obvious solution is for Cally and Will to do the nasty so the rumor is the truth.”
Chapter Three
Cally
“Thanks for coming with me tonight,” I say to the girls as we walk up the steps to Max’s house.
Hanna smoothes her hair. “Yeah, going to a party at Max Hallowell’s house is such a hardship.”
“We aren’t staying long,” I promise, more to give myself courage than because it’s what they want to hear. “I want to give William a heads-up, and then we can get out of here.”
“Oh, let’s not rush away,” Hanna says. “We don’t want to insult the host.”
“Do I sense a crush?” Lizzy asks.
Hanna’s cheeks pinken as she knocks on the door. “No crush. He’s a nice guy, end of story.”
“A nice guy who just broke up with his girlfriend,” Lizzy singsongs.
The door flies open, and a sleek-haired blonde stares at us skeptically. “Can I help you?” No, she’s staring at me skeptically. I think her name is Kristen if I remember correctly. We had gym class together last semester, and she made a few cracks about my cheap wardrobe in the locker room. I might have thought a few cracks about her slutty wardrobe.
“This was a bad idea.” I turn to leave. This isn’t the place for me.
“Cally.”
The sound of William’s voice calling my name has my feet stalling on the steps. Lizzy squeaks beside me as I turn around. No one ever made jeans and a T-shirt look as good as William does. The dark denim hugs his hips, and the white T-shirt shows off his sculpted chest and shoulders.
“You came.” He steps outside and grabs my arm, ushering me into the house.
“Um, yeah. These are my best friends, Lizzy and Hanna,” I say awkwardly.
“Yeah, I grew up with all the Thompson girls. They lived next door to my grandma until their mom built that house on the river.” He gives them a polite smile before turning back to me. “I’m glad you decided to come. You can throw your coats on that couch over there.”
The girls and I peel off our jackets and toss them on the couch, and when I turn around, William is running his gaze over me. I’m wearing jeans and one of Lizzy’s sweaters. It’s black and fitted and shows more cl**vage than I’m normally comfortable with, but Lizzy talked me into it. She also did my makeup, defining my eyes with dark liner and mascara and topping the look off with a swipe of lip gloss. Now I’m glad I let her fuss over me. I like the way his eyes linger on my curves and lips before returning to meet mine.
“You look gorgeous.”
“You—you too.” Damn. He’s so sweet, and I’m just so…awkward. “Hey, can we talk?” Better to rip off the Band-Aid.
He smiles. I’m dazzled by that smile. It shoots something electric through my veins and back to my heart.
I look to my friends, not wanting to leave them before they find their place here. New Hope parties can be cliquey, and not in a good way.
“Go!” Lizzy urges. “We’re fine.”
I sink my teeth into my lip and nod.
William takes my hand and leads me to the stairs. A few catcalls go up as everyone watches us climb them together. Great. This is the exact opposite of what I came here to accomplish.
“You do fast work, man,” someone calls, and someone else says, “Protection is in the bathroom.”
By the time we’re on the second floor, my cheeks are burning with embarrassment and shame. Embarrassment over the things those guys probably think we’re doing up here. Shame for bringing that down on Will.
William leads me into a bedroom just off the stairs and shuts the door behind us. “I’m sorry about Sam and Max,” he says softly. “They don’t mean any harm. They’re just jealous because they couldn’t get a girl alone upstairs if they tried.”
I shake my head. “I’m the one who’s sorry. They’re all going to think we’re ha**g s*x up here.”
He chuckles and brushes my hair from my face. His callused fingers set my skin to life, and I want to feel more of them. I imagine them tangled in my hair as he lowers his mouth to mine. I imagine the way they’d feel skimming over my neck. Lower.
“I don’t think any of my friends really believe I’m that lucky,” he says with a wink.
“You haven’t heard yet, have you?”
His face turns serious. “Heard what?”
“Kenny Riles is telling everyone that we—” I swallow hard, my cheeks blazing with a new wave of embarrassment. “He’s saying he saw us ha**g s*x on the bleachers.” Then I add the new detail the girls learned before we left their house tonight: “He’s saying you paid me.”
Will steps back, his hands balling into fists, his jaw going tight.
“I wanted you to hear it from me first. I’m so sorry.”
“Why do you keep apologizing? It’s not your fault Kenny’s a piece of scum who has to make shit up to feel like he serves a purpose in this world.”
“I don’t want to hurt your reputation.”
He narrows his eyes, then his whole face softens and he steps close again. “You’re serious, aren’t you? You’re worried about my reputation? What about yours?”
I lift a shoulder in a half-shrug. “My mom pretty much screwed up any chance I had of having a pristine rep.”
He draws in a breath, like he’s shocked I said it out loud. I guess I’m a little surprised too.
“I’ll do whatever you need to fix this,” I promise. “But we should probably start by getting back downstairs so we’re not fueling the gossip mill.”
“Maybe we should start by getting down there and dancing.”
“Dancing?” I can’t think straight when he’s this close to me. The only thing dancing with William is going to accomplish is making me crush on him that much harder. “How is that going to help?”
He takes my hand and squeezes my fingers. He draws me toward him until my mouth is just a breath from his. Then, his lips curving into that charming, knee-melting smile, he reaches around me and opens the door. “Follow me.”
