Homecoming (A Boys of Fall Novel) (11 page)

Do you want us to pick you up on our way into town?
The text message from Gretchen ended with a tractor emoji, which confused Jen until another message came through.
There’s no pickup truck emoji and I like the tractor better than the little cars.

Laughing, Jen typed in a response.
I wasn’t sure if you were planning a hayride to the homecoming dance.

That would be fun.

Not really, Jen thought. And even though she sometimes rode into town with Gretchen if they were going to the same event, she would pass tonight. Not only would she have to explain why she wasn’t leaving with them if she
did
go home with Sam, but she wanted her own car. Her parents had drilled into her as soon as she had her license that she
should never have to depend on a man to give her a ride home from a date in case it took a bad turn and, even though it was Sam and they’d be right in town, it was a habit that had stuck with her.

Thanks, but I’ll take my car in case I stay to help clean up.

Somebody from the custodial staff usually went in with the student council members on Sunday to clean up after the dance because it ended so late, but she hoped Gretchen wouldn’t think too much about what she’d said.

Okay. See you there.
That was followed by an emoji of a woman dancing in a red dress and then a happy face. At least she didn’t mention the monkey emojis this time.

Usually the only adults at the dance were the coaching staff and some of the school staff, acting as chaperones, and either Kelly or Dylan Clark in street clothes. But because Gretchen, Alex and Chase had been so vital in helping Eagles Fest save the team, they’d been asked to attend. Jen always went, and of course Sam was the interim coach so . . . there they went doing the best-friends-pairing-off thing again.

There would be no stopping the gossip if she and Sam spent the night together, but there was gossip already and they hadn’t even done anything yet. If you were going to do the time, you may as well do the crime, right?

Only, on the other hand, she wanted to keep the speculation to a minimum because she didn’t need the people of Stewart Mills thinking she was heartbroken when Sam went back to Texas. She felt as though she was damned if she did and damned if she didn’t.

Sighing, Jen unplugged the phone and tucked it into the pocket of her sweater. The pockets—one for her phone and one for her car’s key fob—were another reason she loved the sweater so much, since she could lock her purse in the trunk and not worry about keeping track of it at the dance.

As soon as she walked into the gymnasium, decorated in more blue and gold than the eye could handle by the homecoming committee, she spotted Sam. He was with Shawn Riley and Danny Bartolo, both of whom were still in their game jerseys, though they’d changed into jeans. She knew from experience that the entire team would be dressed the same way.

Sam was wearing a blue Eagles polo and khakis, as he had been earlier, but when she got close enough, she realized he’d changed from the ones he’d been wearing on the sideline into a clean set. And judging by the spicy scent and the smooth jaw, he’d showered and shaved, too.

Like a guy who hoped to end the night naked with a woman.

Jen sighed. Or maybe like a guy who hadn’t wanted to spend the evening in the clothes he’d worn while moving up and down the sideline in a nervous sweat.

“Hey, Miss Cooper,” Shawn said.

“Hi, guys.” She tried not to blush at the way Sam’s head jerked around when the quarterback said her name. “Great game today.”

“Thanks.”

“My first interception,” Danny said. “You were totally right, Miss Cooper.”

She remembered the day she’d called him over to the
sideline to point out that he was too busy trying to track the ball to keep up with receivers. “You were amazing, Danny. You all were.”

The lights dimmed slightly as more students arrived, and she winced as whoever was manning the sound system hit play. It was very loud and she wondered if there had always been so much bass thumping in the music. Maybe she was just getting too old for this high school dance thing.

But she didn’t feel old when she caught Sam looking at her in her peripheral vision. She knew the cut and soft yarn of the tunic not only hugged her body just right but, when combined with the leggings and boots, made her legs look longer and pretty damn good, if she did say so herself.

Across the gym, she saw Chase and Kelly walk in. Chase was wearing the same faded Eagles T-shirt from high school he’d worn for Eagles Fest and the game—claiming it was good luck—and she had changed from her uniform into black jeans and a dressy top. Coach’s daughter might be technically off duty, but she was still Officer McDonnell and if there was a problem, she’d deal with it. The school administration and police chief had decided years ago they didn’t need a uniformed officer at the dances considering how many members of the staff were usually in attendance, and they hadn’t regretted the decision so far.

They waved to her from across the gym and then a few minutes later, Alex and Gretchen walked in. It was getting crowded, but she didn’t mind too much. She always enjoyed seeing the students out of the classroom, laughing and having a good time. Especially tonight, when the win had their spirits high. Like any high school, there were cliques and
they had their share of angst and drama at Stewart Mills High, but tonight everybody just wanted to celebrate.

“Is the music too loud or did I get really old without knowing it?” Sam shouted near her ear.

She turned to face him, noticing the boys he’d been talking to had wandered off and they were as alone as possible in a full gymnasium.

I
t was surreal, being at a high school dance with Jen. The echo of music and loud teen voices in the Stewart Mills High gym took him back a decade and a half, to the senior prom. He’d gone stag with a few friends, but not because he couldn’t get a date. While he’d avoided long-term relationships, he’d dated several cheerleaders that year. But he didn’t want to admit he couldn’t afford a tux rental and a corsage and the traditional dinner at O’Rourke’s before the prom, so he’d pretended he was too cool to dance with just one girl.

But he wasn’t that teenage boy trying to make something of himself anymore. And Jen wasn’t a cheerleader looking to impress her clique by hooking up with a bad-boy quarterback. They were adults, and she smelled delicious, and right now she was looking up at him with amusement curving her lips.

“At least you’re not lugging around a basket of pumpkins tonight,” she said, and he laughed.

“I was going to ask the guys what they did with them, but then I decided if I didn’t ask, I wouldn’t be forced into the position of choosing between being a responsible member of the school staff—even if I’m a temporary one—and being a guy who doesn’t give a rat’s ass about pumpkin babies.”

“Somehow I don’t see you reporting your team’s lack of pumpkin-parenting responsibility to Mrs. Fournier.”

He nudged her arm with his elbow. “You think this is funny, don’t you?”

“A little bit, yeah.” Her eyes were warm and glimmered in the dimmed lighting punctuated by two ancient disco balls that had been suspended from the basketball hoops at school dances for as long as he could remember. “But they know there’s a zero percent chance of Mrs. Fournier showing up tonight. And they won the homecoming game, so I’m going to pretend this conversation never happened.”

When the others—which is how he thought of their paired-off friends—came over, Sam accepted their congratulations, along with quick hugs from Kelly and Gretchen. He wasn’t much of a hugger, but theirs didn’t bother him too much.

After a few minutes of chitchat, the women wandered off to grab some punch and do a circuit of the gym, leaving the guys to talk and keep an eye on the dance floor. Sam wasn’t surprised when Alex reached into his pocket and pulled out a small, but very expensive-looking, digital camera. He couldn’t remember a time the guy didn’t have a camera within reach, even in high school, except for when they were on the football field.

“This brings back some memories,” Chase said, looking around the gym.

“Yeah,” Sam agreed. He caught Danny Bartolo’s eye and scowled. The safety was getting a little too frisky with his girlfriend for so early in the night. “It doesn’t seem like anything’s changed, except now I know why the chaperones watched us like hawks.”

Alex laughed, lifting his camera to take a shot of a group of players huddled around the refreshment table, their heads thrown back in laughter. “I swear they look twelve years old to me, but when it was us, I felt like I was all grown up and knew everything.”

Both guys agreed, and then Chase nodded at Alex’s camera. “School dance photographer. That doesn’t bother you? Going from globe-trotting, award-winning photojournalist to taking pictures for the Eagles yearbook?”

Alex didn’t even hesitate before shaking his head. “I saw the globe. Won the awards. Made the money. It was awesome for a while. But what’s even more awesome is walking through the pumpkin field with Gretchen and Cocoa. And taking pictures of the sweaters Gram knit so she can sell them on the Internet. You guys should learn how to knit, by the way. That woman’s raking it in.”

Sam looked at his hands, huge and callused, and chuckled. “Yeah, I don’t think so.”

“And I do more than take pictures for the yearbook, not that there’s anything wrong with that. I’ve done a couple of assignments, plus I do some freelance work and I’ve gotten more than a few calls from the news stations down south. It’s a long drive for a camera crew and if they want more
than user-submitted cell phone pictures for a story, it’s easier for them to call me.”

“Not cheaper, though,” Sam said.

Alex shrugged. “My rate’s been adjusted quite a bit. And the cut in pay is worth it because it also cuts down on travel that keeps me away from the farm, and from Gretchen.”

Even though he was supposed to be watching the teenagers and enforcing some vague rules about how much and which parts of their bodies could be touching while they danced, Sam found himself searching the crowd until he spotted Jen.

She was still with Kelly and Gretchen, and they looked up to no good with their heads close together as they talked, and smiles curving their lips. He couldn’t help but wonder what they were talking about, but it could be anything.

Then Gretchen pulled out her cell phone and showed them something on the screen. All three of them laughed and Sam felt himself grin in response, even from across the gym. He loved watching Jen with her friends, when she was relaxed and unguarded.

“You should ask her to dance,” Chase said, giving his arm a bump.

“What?” Thank goodness he wasn’t the blushing kind, because he knew he’d been busted staring at Jen, but he didn’t have to admit it.

“You should ask Jen to dance. You know you want to.”

“I’m here to chaperone, not dance to songs I’ve never heard.” It wasn’t a denial, so it wasn’t a lie.

“Even if anybody cared, which they don’t, you’re the coach. You get to have a dance when you win the homecoming game.”

He didn’t want to feel like he was in a spotlight if he danced with Jen. In his mind, they’d be able to find a dark and quiet corner when a slow song came on, and just sway a little as he held her in his arms. It wasn’t meant to be some kind of victory lap for an audience.

Luckily, a few of the boys approached and Sam didn’t have to respond to Chase’s pushiness. They were a good distraction, since everybody was in a great mood after the win, and students wandered in and out of conversation with them as they watched over the dancing crowd. No matter how much he tried not to think about her too much, Sam always seemed to have a general awareness of where Jen was, just like he had at the bonfire.

And more than once he caught her looking back at him. Every time their eyes met, he felt the punch of desire and anticipation in his gut. He wanted her. She wanted him. And they already knew just how good their hands felt on each other, so he wasn’t going to be able to play this game very much longer.

Several times over the night, he almost approached her about the dance he’d promised she would save for him, but he kept losing his nerve. Seeing her surrounded by so many students and some of the staff, he couldn’t help but think about how being connected to him might affect her in the community.

But when he saw her off to one side, tossing empty punch cups into one of the big garbage cans they’d borrowed from the cafeteria, and the music slowed into what would probably be one of the last ballads of the night, he lifted his chin and started toward her.

He wasn’t that Leavitt boy anymore. He’d been welcomed
back to Stewart Mills with nothing but warmth and appreciation and, for tonight at least, he was damn near a hero. Nobody in the gym would think any less of her if she danced with him.

And, hell, half the town and most of his football team thought they were dating already, anyway.

“You promised me a dance,” he told her, taking a plastic cup out of her hand and tossing it in the garbage can.

“I thought maybe you forgot,” she said, smiling. “Or changed your mind.”

“Not a chance.” He didn’t lead her out onto the dance floor with the kids, but pulled her close—if not as close as he would have liked—and still holding one of her hands, put his other on her hip. “Even if being in this gym makes me remember high school and how nerve-wracking it was to ask a girl to dance.”

She laughed as they swayed in time to the music. “I don’t know if I believe you were ever nervous about asking a girl to dance with you.”

“Every time. One, because, as you can probably tell, I’m not very good at it. And because I maybe had a little bit harder of a time accepting no than other guys. Like maybe I jumped to conclusions about why she didn’t want to dance with me and felt shitty about myself, instead of shrugging it off because maybe she just didn’t want to dance with me.” When her expression changed and he realized she was going to go all guidance counselor on him, he dropped her into a sudden dip. She squealed and dug her nails into his arms, which made him chuckle before he pulled her upright again. “Did you think I was going to drop you?”

“Not deliberately.” She laughed, shaking her head. “I admit it took my breath away for a second.”

“You take my breath away.” The words came out of his mouth of their own accord but, when her eyes softened and her cheeks heated, he couldn’t bring himself to regret them. And whether he should have said it or not, it was the truth.

The hand she’d been resting on his shoulder crept up to cup his neck. “I’d been asking myself for like the last hour if I should remind you I was supposed to save you a dance.”

“Sometimes it takes me a little while to work around to things,” he said.

“Yes, it does.” She raised an eyebrow at him. “And sometimes it doesn’t.”

He knew she was talking about that night at the dam, and his body reacted immediately to the memory. That had been one of the sweetest nights of his life, even bookended by the turmoil of being back in Stewart Mills. But he knew being able to take his time with Jen’s body would be even sweeter.

He brushed his lips over her cheek and then whispered in her ear. “I want you to come home with me tonight.”

“I was thinking maybe you’d come home with
me
instead. Since I’m not right in the middle of downtown and I have a garage, we’d have a little more privacy.”

So nobody would know she was running around with that Leavitt boy? It was stupid, he knew, since she was currently in his arms in front of half the town. But old feelings ran deep and he couldn’t stop the old insecurities from rising to the surface.

But he was slowly learning they were his feelings, not the
feelings of the person who’d triggered them in him, and he took a second to shove those feelings back before responding. “Your place works. I just want you. In a bed this time.”

She smiled. “We do release stress very well together.”

“Yeah.” He felt a need to make sure there wouldn’t be any misunderstandings, but he wasn’t sure how to say it. “I, uh . . . you’re just in this for the fun, right? Casual.”

She arched an eyebrow, her mouth twisted in a wry smile. “And temporary? Yes, I know you’re only in town for a little while and we’re just enjoying each other while you’re here.”

That’s what he wanted to hear. “Good. Because I intend to enjoy the hell out of you.”

Her face flamed and the hand cupping his neck curled so her fingernails pressed into his skin. If this song didn’t end soon, he was going to embarrass himself.

“Just a few more songs and we’ll start throwing everybody out.”

“Can’t I just blow the whistle and dismiss everybody early?”

She laughed as the song came to an end and he was forced to let her go. “No. Go hang out with the guys so I can finish cleaning up and we can leave.”

“You don’t have to clean up everything, do you?”

“No, thank God. The custodian and some of the student council members will clean up tomorrow. But we don’t like to leave punch and stuff out overnight because it’s gross and sticky in the morning.”

“Need help?”

“Gretchen and Kelly will give me a hand. Seriously, go find Chase and Alex. I can’t think straight with you standing so close to me.”

He grinned before walking away, liking the sound of that. A few more songs, he told himself. Then he didn’t care if he had to sweep everything left in the gym into a giant trash bag. They were leaving.

—

J
en unlocked her door and led Sam into her house, her pulse pounding in anticipation. Sam kicked off his shoes on the mat, as she did, and then he hung his coat over the back of a kitchen chair.

“It’s pretty,” he said. “It suits you.”

“Thanks.” She loved her little house. And right now, she really loved the fact she was a neat person, in general, so there were no embarrassing housekeeping failures to worry about. She’d even put clean sheets on the bed that morning, just in case she brought Sam home with her.

He stepped up behind her and she shivered when he brushed her hair to one side and kissed her neck. “That was the longest school dance I’ve ever been to.”

“It sure felt that way.”

“Maybe you should show me the rest of the house.”

She laughed. “That was subtle.”

“I can’t think about anything but getting you naked right now.”

That worked for her. She took his hand and led him through the living room without slowing down. “This is the living room. Couch. Television. Living room stuff.”

Then she led him into her bedroom. It was as uncluttered as the rest of the house, with a pale blue color scheme and pale wooden furniture. “And this is my bedroom.”

“I was expecting more lace.”

Laughing, she turned to face him. “Really? Sorry to disappoint you, but I save the lace for my bra and panties.”

He made an appreciative sound deep in his throat. “Then I hope the tour’s not over yet.”

Jen reached up and cupped the back of his neck to pull his head down. She wanted his mouth. She pressed her lips to his, not surprised when he took control, deepening the kiss with a hunger that sent a shiver of anticipation and pleasure down her spine.

He might not have kissed her that night out at the dam, but he sure didn’t mind now. He kissed her until her knees were weak and she couldn’t stand having clothes between them anymore.

She yanked the blue polo shirt out of his pants and then broke off the kiss so she could pull it up and over his head. Tossing it aside, she took a few seconds to run her hands over his naked chest.

When she reached down and unbuttoned the khaki pants, he sucked in a breath. Rather than lower his zipper, she stood on her toes to lick the hollow at the base of his throat before running her tongue up over his Adam’s apple to his jaw. “Dibs.”