Page 17 of Disorderly

My heart sank and the fake smile I’d worn most of the evening—the one that returned after Krissy joined us—faltered. From the moment I saw Jason in the crowd, I couldn’t wait to spend time with him, but now it sounded like I’d have to wait. Disappointment became a ladder, leading my soul to the dumps of despair, but before I could climb too far down, Krissy’s name was called, pulling her attention from us.

With her gaze no longer on us, Jason slid his hands over my shoulders, down my bare arms until he rested them on my waist. My heart raced again, but this time, it was for a whole different reason. Panic and fear were the furthest things from my mind as I smelled the bodywash I’d had customized for him.

“Be right there,” she hollered back. When she faced us again, the sultriness of her smile jumped by a factor of ten. Craptastic. With the way things were going, my eyes were going to get the biggest workout even with me being a cheerleader. Not from darting to stare at various gorgeous guys, but from all the eye rolls I’d be doing when I was around anyone female. She ran her fingers up Peter’s forearm. “Maybe another time then.”

I fake gagged behind a cough while Jason’s body shook behind me. He pressed his face into my hair to stifle his chuckles, but I still heard them. At least I wasn’t the only one who found the whole situation funny. Peter might have been considered a manwhore—I knew because I’d seen enough of the women he slept with over the years—but even I knew he’d never go for someone of her age. None of the women I’d ever seen him with were more than a few years younger than him, definitely not the decade plus that separated her from him.

“I wouldn’t party too hard this weekend, Krissy, as there are a lot of English readings for the AP class, and I wouldn’t be surprised if there wasn’t a surprise quiz next week.”

Her smile faltered for a split second but then returned. “Thank you for the heads up, Mr. Evans. I won’t share that little tidbit around.”

And with that, she flounced into the crowd while Peter shook his head.

“Giving away secrets to the girls with crushes on you,” Jarrod teased. Jason and I joined him in laughing at the incredulous look on Peter’s face.

“Fuck, no! I told the whole class this afternoon. She was right there. In. The. Front. Row.” I couldn’t help it. I snorted with laughter, blushing as if my face had been placed in a hot oven when Peter and Jarrod stared at me.

“What?” I whined. “It’s not like this should be anything new for Peter. The girls hang off his every word, but never hear a thing. Why do you think so many girls need extra tutoring?” Unable to handle the look on Peter’s face any longer, I spun around, stretching up onto my tiptoes so I could wrap my arms around Jason’s neck. “You came.”

He shifted his hands down to my thighs, crossing his arms under my butt, and lifted me. “Of course, I did. I couldn’t miss your debut as a cheerleader.”

I snuggled into the safety of his body. And with each breath, filling me with his scent, all the tension I didn’t even know I was carrying, released, leaving me almost lightheaded and snuggly. That same feeling I had during that time of the month when I cuddled into my blankets with a heating pad, stacks of chocolate, my peppermint tea, and tear-jerker movies. All while feeling a little loopy from the prescription medications my doctor prescribed for the pain.

“Katy! There you are.” Mason’s loud voice boomed, startling me from my dazed state. Without my bidding, Jason lowered me until I stood on my feet and then released me. When I turned, Mason sported a quizzical look on his face that had me wanting to protect Jason, Peter, and Jarrod even though I knew they’d done nothing wrong.

“Mason,” I cried out as I ran into him, jumping up and wrapping my arms around him like I did to Jason. “You were amazing out there.”

He patted my back with his big hand while the other helped to hold me to him. With his padding on, I realized he was as broad as Jason and just as tall. “How could I not be with you cheering me on?”

After all the times I’d wanted to roll my eyes tonight, I finally gave in. “Mason.” I tried to punch him, but only succeeded in hurting my hand when I hit his padding. “You did all the work. I was just one of the crowd.”

“You’re neverjustone of the crowd.” He squeezed me tight.”

“Um, can’t breathe here,” I said through my chuckles as I tapped him on the shoulder.

“Oops, sorry.” The skin on his cheeks darkened with a blush as he lowered me to the ground, letting me take a step back from him. “I forget how much smaller you are than me. Not like when we were kids, and you were the one squishing me.” He winked as I glared at him which only made him, and the guys laugh.

“I’ll have you—” I began before Kailee cut me off, wrapping herself around Mason’s arm.

“Did Mason ask you to come to the party with us? You’ll come, won’t you?”

Mason shook out his arm, pulling away from Kailee, but she was true to form and didn’t take the hint as she stepped into his personal space, rubbing her body against his.

“I, uh, can’t go.” The last thing I wanted was to head to a party. I’d avoided all the ones last year, only attending a couple of school dances which were collecting donations for the food bank and gifts for Christmas hampers for the poor. And even with those, I went as a worker, leaving as soon as we gathered all the donations and labelled them.

“Please come. I’ll like to celebrate my first win here with you, my longest friend.” Mason’s plea tugged at my heart strings, but I just couldn’t. The idea of being surrounded by all those drunk teenagers, where sex and other activities happened… it turned my stomach into knots.

“You’re a cheerleader. It’s part of the high school experience.” Kailee batted her eyes at Jason, Jarrod, and Peter. “Don’t you agree, Mr. Evans?”

“Yes, Ms. Foster, it does seem to be a standard high school experience.”

My breath hitched. It felt like the walls were closing in, squeezing me even though I stood in what was now a fairly empty portion of the field. Why were they all ganging up on me? What was so great about a party anyways? Who cared if I didn’t want to go to the party? I wasn’t hurting anyone.

“It is an experience—” Jason began. I turned to look at him, praying that he’d see the agony I was in over the whole idea. “—but not one that can’t be missed.” My shoulders slumped as the tension eased out. I knew that Jason worried about me missing experiences, but at least, for now, he was on my side in this. His need to protect me, to take care of me, won over his need for me not to lose out. “Besides, there’s always more parties. It’s one thing teenagers in this town know how to do.”

“You sure you can’t come?” Mason took my hand in his. “Isn’t your mom working tonight? I don’t want you to be alone. Maybe I should skip out? We could go grab some food.”

From the corner of my eye, I caught Kailee’s huff of annoyance. I had to bite my lip to keep from laughing. She was always the same, wanting every guy who crossed her path, and she’d set her sites on Mason. I wasn’t sure how I felt about that, but not because I harboured some secret crush on him. I mean, I could see the attraction, but he wasMason. It didn’t matter that he’d grown taller, and buffer, he was still the sweet Mason I knew in kindergarten and grade one. A friend, but nothing more. She would never forgive me if I pulled Mason away from his party. Besides, I was still hoping that I’d get to spend some time with Jason tonight even if Peter said they had plans.

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