Page 25 of Bright Lights and Summer Nights

Emma pulls her lips between her teeth, doing her best to hide her smug smile but failing at it. “Yes,” she answers confidently, pushing her shoulders back. “I shouldn’t have to fish for compliments. I should just be given them.”

I can’t help but laugh. This woman. Her boldness is both incredibly sexy and absolutely adorable at the same time. “Should we go look for my sister?” I ask. Even though we’re late to the party, I haven’t seen Peyton yet. I know she’s got to be here somewhere. I’m hoping she’s been so busy she doesn’t even notice our late arrival.

Emma nods, her eyes traveling to the stones at our feet. “Wait!” she says, bending down and messing with something from the ground.

She stands up and meets my eyes. She points to our feet. “It’s a penny,” she explains, as if that should tell me enough.

“We can leave it,” I tell her, taking a step toward the largest group of people.

Emma doesn’t move. She looks between the penny and me as if walking away from it is the worst possible thing I could do.

“Preston,” she scolds, pointing to the penny. “The penny is heads up. It’s a lucky penny. You have to pick it up.”

“I can leave it for the next person,” I offer, not believing that a coin will bring me good luck.

“No, it’s a heads-up penny for you. I turned it for you and everything. It’s something my aunt and I used to do.” The way her voice slows a little at the end makes me want to ask why. It’s not the first time she’s mentioned her aunt, but this time, it’s said almost sadly. It isn’t my place to push her to tell me more, but I find myself wanting to. She picks up the penny with a huff, clearly unamused by me not being the one to do it.

I walk back to her, reaching out between us and giving her my hand. My palm faces up, waiting for her to hand me the penny I’m sure I’ll end up losing on accident.

She doesn’t hand it to me right away. Instead, she narrows her eyes on me, turning the penny over between her fingers.

“Can I have the penny?” I ask, trying to keep the skepticism from my tone. I’ve never been a superstitious person—although many men throughout my time playing sports have been. But it seems important to her to give me this penny she found, so I play along with it.

“Promise you’ll keep it,” she says, her tone accusing, as if she knows I have no plans on keeping the penny.

I swallow, wondering why it means so much to her. Her skin is warm against mine as she carefully places it against my palm. She slowly wraps her fingers around mine, forcing me to close mine around the coin. We stay locked in that position for a moment, the two of us staring at one another.

“I promise,” I tell her, my voice cracking because of the intensity in which she looks at me.

Emma blinks a few times, a smile popping up on her face. I’m learning she’s almost always smiling, but they’re all different smiles. She has one when she knows she said something witty, one she gives you when you compliment her, and there’s even one she gives with her eyes narrowed while she’s just waiting to call you on your bullshit. I’ve only known her a day, but I’ve already seen so many. And am ready to witness—and learn—even more of them.

Her eyes look to our hands, where her fingers still rest against mine. “Better hold on tight to that penny. It’ll be the only way you get lucky this week.” She gives me another one of her smiles—the satisfied, smug one before she waltzes away, her eyes landing on my sister.

I stare for a moment, the penny tucked neatly against my skin, as I watch her hips sway with every step she takes away from me. She’s continually surprising me, and I can’t help but shake my head, a small smile on my lips because of her comment.

Pulling out my wallet from my back pocket, I slide the penny safely into one of the openings, trying to keep my promise to Emma.

For a moment, I don’t move, instead choosing to watch the interaction between Emma and Peyton. My sister runs up to Emma, almost tackling her with how quickly she runs right at her.

“You came!” Peyton yells, wrapping her arms around Emma’s neck.

I can’t hear Emma’s response from my spot, but whatever she says makes Peyton laugh and look right at me.

“I’m not shocked,” Peyton responds, still looking at me. Whatever Emma responded with must’ve had something to do with me because now they both look my way with knowing smiles.

With a sigh, I tuck my wallet back into my pocket and close the distance to them. “Do I want to know what you’re saying about me?” I drawl, pinning them both with an accusing glare.

They glance at one another conspiratorially before breaking out in giggles. “Probably not,” Emma answers honestly, her eyes flicking to my hand for a moment before looking back at me.

I fight the urge to tell her I’d kept the penny; I’d just put it somewhere safe instead of deciding to hold onto it any longer and risk losing it.

“Preston, I know I told you this last night—at least I think I did; everything is a little fuzzy because of the drinks—but I love Emma, and you must keep her. Deal?” Her pitch goes up an octave at the end, as if she’s leaving me no room for discussion.

Both Emma and I are quiet for a moment, both of us knowing the show we’re putting on for Peyton.

Emma loops her arm through Peyton’s, pulling her close. “Who says I want to be kept?” She looks over at me and winks, as if she believes her comment will be a relief to me. It isn’t. For some reason, I actually hate the answer.

“Plus,” Emma begins, pulling Peyton toward a bar that’s set up not too far from us, “who says I want to keep Preston? I’m undecided if I can put up with his constant grumpiness,” she teases, her tone not serious at all.

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