Page 64 of Duke's Daring Bookworm
When he did, it was soft and sweet, deeper than all the others that came before.
Chapter Twenty-Four
2012
Tonight was the night.
I was going to kiss Lily Jameson.
Sweat slicked my palms. I wiped them against my jeans so I wouldn’t drop my keys—again.
“Why do you look nervous?” Lily’s dad asked.
He technically worked for my family, and I’d heard her mom call him Alex once, but he’d made me call him Mr. Jameson since puberty, and insisted in a deep, gruff voice that scared the hell out of me. It didn’t seem to matter to him that his family’s income depended on his work for my family and that I held the real power. Not that I would take advantage of that. My teenage body understood the threat in his voice, then and now.
I took a deep breath, swallowing past the lump in my throat.
“I’m—” I dropped my keys again. Stupid wet hands. “I’mnot nervous.” My voice cracked a bit on the last word, and I knew he saw right through me. “I’m just excited for the party.”
Lily agreeing to go to David’s party surprised me. She rarely enjoyed hanging out with my school friends. I didn’t blame her. They were idiots sometimes. It surprised me that not only did her parents let her go, they seemed to encourage her. The look in Mr. Jameson’s eyes as he watched me fetch my keys from the floor, again, told me he regretted letting his seventeen-year-old daughter go to a party with the town fuck-up.
He would end all this if he knew the town fuck-up planned on kissing her tonight.
“Sure, kid. Excited.” He looked me up and down again before turning back to the plant he had been fussing over. He stabbed the dirt with a sharp trowel a little harder than was strictly necessary and started digging. I swallowed reflexively and looked anywhere but his expertly wielded shovel. Message understood, no need to beat it into me.
Lily’s mom, Cathrine, moved around the kitchen. She had always been flighty, but she was kind and didn’t insist on being Mrs. Jameson after an entire life of just being Lily’s mom.
The clock on the mantel ticked away. Lily rarely fussed over her looks, and that made me even more nervous. I took a step to sit on the couch to wait just as I heard a door close and turned on the spot, ready to be done with this tense situation and be on my way to David’s party with Lily in tow.
She emerged from the short hallway. Her hair was piled messily on top of her head. A black-and-white striped skirt hugged her hips, with a matching scarf draped over her turquoise blouse. She looked amazing. She always lookedamazing.
I walked over and grabbed her hand, eager to be on our way before her dad could threaten me again.
“I didn’t say bye,” she said as we stepped out onto her porch.
“No time,” I said, stepping over garden tools strewn about the wrap-around porch filled to the brim with lush plants of every kind. All the trappings of a comfortable home, brimming with the life I craved but never got in the polished and pristine houses I’d been raised in.
I rushed us to my orange Bronco. I’d inherited it from my mom. She bought the car as a teenager and kept driving it until the end. Now, it belonged to me. I couldn’t help but think of her every time I drove it. Sure, grandpa would have given me any car I asked for, but this car was special. Perfect for the night of our first kiss.
I held the door open for Lily. She rolled her eyes at me, but held back her usual lecture about how it was more efficient for her to open her own door since I still had to open mine. My heart rate picked up, thrilled that she let me have this little thing.
“Ready?” I asked as I started up the car.
“No, I’m never ready to party. Are you sure it will be fun?” Lily fiddled with her little monkey ball keychain. I hoped she never put me on the receiving end of that particular trinket. Between that and her dad’s spade, I regretted every choice I’ve made in my life that led me here, but when I could finally drag my eyes away from the weapon, she looked determined.
“I’m hoping it will be one of the best days of our lives so far.” I mentally kicked myself for putting so much pressure on it. That was dumb. I was dumb.
“Let’s settle with me not having a breakdown in themiddle of a party of my peers.” Right, that’s what she was worried about. I felt like an ass, but the wheels were in motion, and I desperately wanted to kiss her tonight. I’d waited to kiss her for so long that I couldn’t go back now, not when it was so close.
My plan was perfect. Dark party, loud music, alcohol—all the ingredients for a good night. I would pull her into a dark corner and run my fingers through her hair before I leaned in and pressed my lips to hers. I wondered what she would taste like, what she would feel like.
My heart rate picked up and my sweaty hands stuck to the steering wheel when I turned into the drive for the party. One of my buddies from school hosted it. He was an alright guy, not great, but his parties were epic. I could already feel the excitement in the air.
I parked and ran around the car to grab Lily’s hand and pull her along behind me. David had gotten a live band to play tonight, just a local one, but a good one. I could already feel the vibrations of the intense bass throbbing through the ground beneath my feet. Lily tripped along behind me, and I remembered to play it cool only a few steps before we crossed the hedge and merged with the crowd.
Lights danced around the large lawn, bodies swayed and bounced to the music, and the smell of alcohol and pot lingered in the air. Lily’s hand tightened around mine as I dragged us toward the drink station.
“Two,” I shouted at the guy pouring out of a keg propped on ice. David’s family had almost as much money as mine, but he still had a basic drink set up. If you were close with him, you could sneak into his house and raid his parents’ seemingly endless supply of liquor, but the stuff out here was whatever he could get enough of to keep people happy.
