Page 2 of Trip Through Your Wires

“Hey,” he taps my shoulder. “Can you get a ride home tonight? I have plans and want to make sure you get home okay.”

“And those plans would be?” I turn, curious.

His eyes shift from me to the other side of the room, landing on a petite girl with mousy brown hair. “Oh, God,” I groan when I see the way he’s eyeing his ex-girlfriend, Cherie. “Please don’t tell me you two are back together.”

“No,” he grins. “We’re just friends.”

I look at her in disgust, shaking my head. “Uh huh.”

Travis’ ex is the worst. She royally fucked up his senior year of high school when she broke up with him a week before prom. It wasn’t the first time she’d messed with his head. She’d been doing it for years, and I wished he would find someone else.

“Hey…” He drops his hand and lifts his beer, taking a sip. “I don’t say anything about those musician dudes you date. And trust me, I could say a mouthful.”

He flicks my nose, just like he used to do when we were kids, and I give him a playful scowl. “Well, one, I don’t date,” I air quote. “And two, I seem to recall you swore to me and everyone else who would listen, that you would never date Cherie Anderson again, even if you were paid. So why, on God’s green earth, would you go there again?”

He looks over at her, grin getting wider. “Do you really want to know?”

When the way he’s looking at her makes his answer obvious, I pretend to gag. “Gross, no.”

“It’s not gross if you do it right,” he turns back to me and laughs.

I hold up a hand, not wanting to hear anything my brother has to say about sex. I’m well aware of what it feels like. I’d been having sex since I was fifteen. I just don’t want to hear about my brother having sex with Cherie the skank.

“Just be careful,” I warn. “Don’t knock her up and give her a chance to leave you with a kid that Momma and Daddy will have to raise.”

“Amen to that.” He taps his can against mine. “So,” he says when the song changes. “Are you ready for DCC in the fall?”

I may no longer be heading to my first choice of college when summer is over, but I was still going after my dream. I was just doing it differently. Sometimes life throws you lemons and you have to make a little lemonade. Then again, I’d had my share of lemonade over the years and wouldn’t mind a new drink.

I wish I were heading to college with Ellery. She may think her plans for Yale are on hold until she figures out who is behind the smear campaign against her father, but I know she’ll figure it out before summer is over. My best friend is determined, and will get the answers she’s looking for, no matter what those assholes from Elmhurst were up to. And they were up to something, I could feel it in my gut.

That’s why I told Cruz where Ellery had gone this weekend. I didn’t trust Royce Richardson further than I could throw him. He gave me the creeps, just like his father whenever he came into the store. I felt better knowing Cruz was headed to Elmhurst to keep an eye on her.

“Alright, sis.” Travis pulls me in for a hug and kisses me on the top of the head. “Be good, and make sure you get a ride home.”

“Will do.” I lift my chin in acknowledgement as he takes a sip of his two dollar beer, then flashes me a million dollar smile before heading over to a group of his friends.

Seeing that as my cue to leave, I finish the rest of my beer, set the empty can down on the rock, and turn to find a ride. When I do, I smack right into someone.

“Hey,” I snarl, “give a girl some space, huh?”

“It’s alright, Sparky,” Cruz’s best friend Jake stares down at me with a lopsided grin. “I don’t bite.” He’s wearing a Hawaiian shirt that’s unbuttoned, and his tan, ripped chest is on full display. “That is,” he leans in, “unless you want me to.”

“You wish,” I scoff, with a roll of my eyes.

He laughs and takes a sip of his beer. “Where are you going in such a hurry?”

“Home.” I straighten. “I have to work in the morning and reached my limit for shitty beer.”

“Ah.” He laughs. “I get it.”

“Funny,” I cross my arms. “Didn’t take you for someone who hates any kind of beer.”

“Ha, ha,” he grins. “I was talking about work.”

I cross my arms and pop out my hip. “You’ve worked before?”

“Shit yes.”

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