Chapter Nine
Lennon
“Do you need to fill up?” I asked Jade once she climbed out of the car. “I can pay. You’ve been driving me all over the place.”
She nodded. “Couldn’t hurt. Thanks.”
I walked over to a pump while she pulled out of the parking spot, and I slipped my credit card into the slot. I knew I should be more desperate to get back to my lake house, where the party I was hosting was hopefully going off without a hitch, and where Rachel would show up soon, but I just wasn’t.
Sure, I wanted to get back so I could prep to perform, but this time with Jade? It was only getting better and better.
The feel of her lips on mine and the way she’d melted against me flashed red-hot in my mind. She may have done it merely to save me from any more of Lori’s advances, but it had meant more to me. Tasting her kiss had been a four-years-running fantasy, and now that I’d gotten a bite? I was practically desperate for more. But I wanted it to be real, not because she was faking it to save me.
And why would she want it to be? To her I’d been nothing but the rock star with a rotation. Her earlier mention of the rumors back at the school sliced at my chest. The one person I both wanted to know the truth and didn’t…she believed what people said about me. It was good. It was terrible.
“You don’t have to wait,” she said, breaking through my thoughts as she popped the cap on her tank.
I leaned against her car, so close to her that all I’d have to do is reach out and run my fingers through her hair. Instead I shoved my hands into my pockets. “Like I said, I’m not in a rush.”
Her nose crinkled, and she had to push those glasses up a tad. I swallowed hard, wetting my lips without thinking. I wanted to kiss her again. I wanted for this night to have happened a week ago.
A year ago.
Shit, maybe even four.
A do-over.
One where I didn’t listen to my father.
One where I was good enough for her. Where I wouldn’t break her heart. Where I wouldn’t have to choose between her or the tour.
A life where I could have both.
Now we’re back in dreamland.
I chided myself, dropping my gaze to my boots, which I crossed one over the other while she pumped the gas. Graduation had put a spin on everything tonight—forcing me to look back on the past with a too-clear lens. I had some regrets, and I had some mistakes, but there was nothing I could do about them now.
All I had was tonight. And if I had to drag my feet a bit to make it last a little longer, then I would. Part of me was dying to get back to the party, to make sure the guys were setting up everything properly for the show of our lives…but the other part? It didn’t want to lose one second with Jade.
We walked inside the gas station after she finished pumping gas, and I couldn’t contain my excitement as I spotted the racks to our left.
“Score!” I said, rushing past the aisles filled with brightly colored snacks and chips and all manner of candy, and beelining it straight for the lone circular rack of novelty shirts.
“You’re not serious,” Jade said, but there was laughter in her tone. Not a hint of annoyance or disgust anywhere, which was a huge plus. Some girls were very particular about their clothes—I’d once taken a girl on a date who swore she only wore designer labels and only donned the outfit twice, max—but Jade followed me right up to the rack.
“What about this one?” I held up a putrid purple T-shirt with thick white letters scrawled over the chest: Irony. The opposite of wrinkly.
Her signature laugh flew past her lips before she bit down to stop it. She shook her head, returning to her search. Slowly she pushed each hanger aside, scanned a shirt, and repeated. Sometimes she’d laugh, sometimes she’d roll her eyes. After a few minutes of watching her, I snapped out of it and continued to help her look.
“Oh this one is perfect,” I said, my tone dripping with sarcasm as I held up the next shirt I found.
She squinted to read the shirt, which had a huge orange sign on the back with an arrow pointing down. Her mouth dropped and she furrowed her brow. “Warning. Blast Zone?” A shudder shook her. “That is disgusting. I’d rather be sticky and stink of this sour-patch-fruit hell than ever wear that.” She shook her head. “What about you? Yours is wet, too!”
I laughed hard, quickly hanging the shirt back up. “Yeah, but it’s black and already almost dry. I didn’t take the brunt of the spill.” I tugged on my shirt to prove it to her. “But you’re right about that last one,” I said. “This one is way better.” I showed her a neon-pink shirt that read: You Read My Shirt. That’s Enough Social Interaction For The Day.
She rolled her eyes and pushed her glasses back up her nose.
“No?” I cocked an eyebrow at her and shoved the shirt back in its place.
“This is hopeless,” she said, taking a step away from the rack. “We could’ve made it to my house and back and all the way to your party by now.”
I moved the hangers aside aimlessly as I locked gazes with her. “Did you just invite me over to your house?” A flush raked her cheeks. “I bet your room is just packed with more of your graphic novel drawings.” I smirked. “That’s something I’d really be into seeing.”
She sputtered out a laugh, blinking nervously before she sucked in a deep breath, transforming into the bold girl I’d always known was under there. “Maybe sometime.”
Yeah?
Hell yeah.
Wait. No. Tour. Life. Broken hearts and crushed dreams.
Drama king.
Artist.
I dropped my gaze, shifting back to the search. I smiled, shoving away the battle in my head the instant I saw the shirt.
“I found it,” I said. “This is the one.”
“How can you possibly say that about any of the shirts we’ve seen here?”
I held it behind my back, taking a step closer to her. “Do you trust me?”
The breath caught in her throat before she let it out and nodded.
“Good,” I said and walked past her.
“Aren’t you going to show me?”
“Nope.” I shook my head. “Not until I’ve paid for it and you’re about to put it on.” I squeezed my eyes shut, chuckling. “I mean, not until I hand it to you and you go put it on.”
“Uh-huh,” she said. “What do you take me for?” she teased. “One of your groupies?”
“I told you that everything you hear isn’t true.” I wagged my finger at her as we walked toward the coolers. “You want anything to drink?”
“Yeah.” She pointed to the row of green tea bottles resting in the cooler farthest away from my much needed Red Bull.
“Meet you at the counter,” I said, and instantly wanted to punch myself in the face. I turned around, rolling my eyes at my epic lameness.
The echo of her snort-laugh took out a bit of the sting, and I shook my head as I grabbed two Red Bulls and headed to the counter.
“I thought that was you, Lennon,” a female voice said. “Long time no see.”
I hissed as I set my drinks and the T-shirt on the counter, trying not to cringe at the girl who’d practically purred at me from behind the register.
“Carey,” I said, pulling her name from the back of my mind. She was a freshman at the community college Liv attended, and a fan of the band. She rarely ever missed a gig or a chance to flirt with one of us. Not that it was a bad thing, but she’d dated Blaise for about two seconds before trying to come after me. Which, of course, I’d declined. Not only did I not date chicks who’d been with my bros, she wasn’t my type.
“I heard a rumor you were having a show at your lake house tonight.”
Damn you, Snapchat!
Maybe I should’ve unfollowed some people before posting about the party.
The party I wasn’t even at.
“Rumors are true,” I said as she scanned the energy drinks.
“I get off in a few hours.” She leaned over the counter, twirling a piece of black hair around her finger. “Will it still be on then?”
“Probably,” I said, not wanting to flat-out lie to her. “Blaise will be there.”
She popped out her bottom lip. “Oh right,” she said. “Maybe I’ll still stop by.” She turned to punch the buttons on the register. “Can I help you with something?” she asked, eyeing behind me.
Jade held her bottle of green tea to her chest, silently waiting. I tilted my head at her, wondering why she hadn’t immediately stepped up beside me.
“She’s with me,” I said, plucking the bottle out of her hands and handing it to Carey to ring up.
“I can pay for it—”
“I owe you.”
She arched a brow at me. “You’re already buying me a mystery shirt.”
“Price for saving me all night isn’t cheap, I imagine.”
She popped her hip out and crossed her arms. “If that’s the case I should’ve grabbed a few more.”
“Whatever you want,” I said, and I meant it. All the girl had to do was ask me for something and I’d do anything in my power to make it happen.
Whoa. When did that happen?
The case could be made for anytime between Sophomore year and tonight when she’d kissed me just to stop another girl from hounding me. She was bold, yet timid. Funny, yet smart. Modest, but sexy as hell. I couldn’t have created a more perfect girl if I’d tried.
“Oh,” Carey said, drawing me back to earth. “I didn’t realize.”
“What’s that?” I asked as she handed me the bag of drinks.
“That you were with someone.” She shrugged. “Tell Blaise I might stop by?”
“Sure thing.” I handed Jade her tea.
“Can I have my shirt so I can go change?” she asked, motioning toward the bathrooms in the back.
“Oh,” Carey said before I could respond. “Those are out of order.” She eyed Jade’s partially soaked tee. “Sorry.”
Jade’s lips parted, confusion flickering over her features.
I cocked an eyebrow at Carey. “Can’t she just go in to change?”
Carey shook her head. “They’re locked.”
“But what do you do when you have to—”
“Lennon.” Jade said my name and it stopped my sharp tone in its tracks. She gently clutched my forearm. “Don’t worry about it.” She flashed Carey a soft smile and headed toward the door.
I held it open for her, shaking off Carey’s cold shoulder to Jade. And I tried like hell not to watch every step she took in front of me. It was like a magnet connected us, and I was locked on to her in a way I couldn’t shake.
And I didn’t want to.
An entire four years of playing it safe and one night of battling every protective instinct in my body—all blown to hell by this powerhouse of a girl.
I’m so screwed.
I clutched the shirt in my hands a little tighter as we stopped in front of her car and ripped the tag off before I handed it to her. “Ensuring you don’t try to return it,” I said when she arched an eyebrow at me.
She shifted on her feet as she unfolded the black fabric and read the front. The smile that shaped her delectable lips made my chest puff out about three effin’ inches.
Hell yes. I did that.
“It’s a taco,” I said, towering over her to point at the picture. “Get it?”
“Wanna taco bout it?” She read the words aloud before snort-laughing so hard she doubled over for a second. “You’re hilarious.”
“What?” I raised my hands innocently. “We’ve talked three times a week for four years. I think it fits us—you.”
She pressed her lips together to try and contain that megawatt smile of hers, and I had to resist the urge to tip her chin up and draw her closer to me. Instead, I took a massive step back.
She glanced behind her, then back to the store. “I can’t believe the damn bathrooms are out of order.”
I hissed. “Pretty messed up she wouldn’t even let you in there to change.”
“Groupie thing, I bet,” she teased.
“Sorry.”
“Don’t be.” Her eyes darted back to the store, then behind her again to where we stood next to her car. There wasn’t anyone else at the gas station, and the street traffic had slowed down the later the night wound on. She flipped her attention back to me. “Turn around.”
My eyes widened. “Really?”
“Yeah, really.” She tilted her head. “You think I want to wear this sour shirt all night when I could be rocking a taco?”
I blinked rapidly like that would erase the image of Jade without a shirt on from my brain, but it totally didn’t do any good.
I bet her bra is green like her eyes.
I snapped my eyes shut and spun around so fast my boots made a loud scraping sound against the pavement. After a few pulse-pounding seconds, I heard the smack of a wet shirt hitting the ground, and every single one of my muscles tightened. All my nerves woke up and sparked like they could feel her half naked behind me. It took every ounce of willpower not to turn around, but I was a gentleman, damn it. I would never betray her trust like that.
But that didn’t stop my heart from racing at the thought.
“Done,” she said, slightly out of breath as if she’d used so much speed to switch shirts she’d exhausted all her energy.
I spun around.
Or maybe she was just excited.
The light wildness in her eyes suggested exactly that.
Jade Aaron wasn’t known for breaking the rules. Chauffeuring a rock star around and breaking into school after hours and changing clothes in the parking lot of a gas station was probably the wildest she’d been in…forever. And damn if it didn’t bring out the color in her eyes.
“How ridiculous do I look?” she asked, tugging on the hem of the shirt that happened to be a perfect fit.
I stepped closer to her, slowly trailing my eyes over her body until I returned to her face. “Perfect, mathlete.” I cleared my throat. “Not many people can pull off taco-couture.”
She rolled her eyes but smiled. “Thanks, rock star.”
A heated moment hung in the few inches that separated us, and the fake kiss rushed back to the forefront of my mind. I wanted it to be real so badly I was a thread-snap away from losing the battle with myself and telling her the truth.
That I was crazy about her. Because that was what this battle was. Crazy.
Before I could make up my mind, she spun on her heels, yanked open the car door, and sank into the driver’s seat. She tossed the wet shirt into the back seat and started the car.
I tried to remember how to buckle my seat belt, and the reason behind us being in a hurry, but it was hard as hell to come up with any excuse that seemed more important than more time with Jade.
She pulled out of the gas station, the quiet both comforting and conflicting.
“Jade—”
Red and blue lights flashed in behind us, cutting off whatever I’d been about to admit.