Page 35 of Riding Jamie

Maggie scoffs at me, crossing her arms over her chest.

“He was hitting on Penny,” she says with a sneer. “I told him to fuck off.”

I grab Jamie by the wrist to stop him from immediately hunting the boy down and giving him the standard set of big brother threats. I’m sure the guy has been thoroughly warned off by now. Bo comes sloping over to join us, a fresh beer in his hand. He drapes his arm over Maggie’s shoulders, ignoring her attempts to shake him off.

“Language,” Bo warns lazily.

We all know he’s only saying it to annoy her, but Maggie makes a face at him anyway.

Before I can add my own scolding to the conversation, my eyes catch on a head of blond hair set into a style that seems much too familiar.

Shane?

I blink in surprise, an unpleasant thread of confusion wrapping around my gut as I turn. I arch up onto my tiptoes in an attempt to see over the crowd, but there are too many people milling around to find him again. Why would Shane be here?

“Oakley?” Jamie asks.

He sounds confused as he wraps his arm around my waist, and I realize I was completely ignoring the conversation. I flush, laughing awkwardly, and toss my hair behind my shoulder.

“Sorry,” I say, leaning into his side. “I thought I saw someone.”

I hesitate a bit on the last word, and I hope neither Jamie or Bo notice anything. Neither of them call me out immediately, and I throw one last glance over my shoulder, just to soothe my curiosity. There’s absolutely no reason for Shane to be here, and it’s not like he’s the only blond guy with a shaggy haircut in the whole world.

“Listen, uh, Oakley and I were going to head out. I promised to take her stargazing,” Jamie says, drawing my attention back. “It was good to see y’all. Penny, if you’re not home in half an hour, I’m calling Dad.”

I shoot him a glance, a grin tugging at my lips, but I don’t say anything. He didn’t say anything about going stargazing earlier, but Jamie does have a habit of surprising me.

Bo raises his beer in a lazy salute, his arm still slung over a sullen Maggie’s shoulders. Penny stands to the side of them, looking down at her boots in embarrassment. Maggie’s alwaysbeen the more outgoing of the two of them, even if Penny gets them into more trouble.

“Drive safe,” he says.

“Always,” Jamie promises, squeezing my waist affectionately.

“We’ll see you guys later, I guess,” I say. “Get the two of them home safe?”

She rolls her eyes at me and scoffs, trying to shrug Bo’s arm off her shoulders.

“I’m not akid,” she says with a sneer on her glossy lips.

Bo and I make almost identical sounds of disbelief, and Penny tugs on the sleeve of her shirt and shoots her a look. It’s cute to see, and it reminds me a bit of how Phoebe and I used to be when we were sneaking out to go to parties at their age.

“We’re getting in the car right now,” Bo says, ruffling a hand through Maggie’s hair.

She sneers at him, yanking free of his hold to fix her hair, but she doesn’t argue.

“Have fun, you two,” he adds as Jamie starts to pull me away.

His tone makes my cheeks flush, but I know he’s just being an annoying big brother. He’s a little too good at it, if you ask me.

“So,” I drawl, falling into step at Jamie’s side as he leads me toward the truck, “we’re going stargazing?”

“We are,” he says, grinning down at me. “I’m taking you out to our spot. I haven’t been there in forever.”

There’s a twinge of pain in his voice, and I wrap my arm around his waist as a reminder that I’m here now. We found the little creekside clearing when we were still freshman, and we used to spend hours out there at night, fighting off bugs and telling each other dumb jokes. He probably hasn’t been there since we broke up, and I suddenly want to be nowhere else.

I glance up at the sky, chuckling when I realize the clouds are still hanging low and covering most of the stars.

“It might not be a great night for stargazing,” I say, nodding up. “Kind of cloudy.”

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