Impossible (27 page)

A faint memory stirred in the corner of my mind and, sighing, I wrenched myself away. “I can’t. I’m going shopping with my mom to get a dress for tomorrow.”

Luca groaned and pressed his forehead against mine so we were eye-to-eye. “I’ve barely seen you all week. I want to spend time with you. I need you.”

His behavior over the last week came flooding back to me and I placed a hand on my hip, fixing him with my best glare. It was hard to do when he was looking at me like he wanted to take a bite. “It didn’t seem that way when you avoided me for the whole week.”

The look in his eyes changed and he moved away, his mouth forming a tight line. “I don’t want to be around you when you’re with Kance day in and day out. I hate how she treated you like shit, treated my friends like shit, and is now acting like it never happened. I can’t stand to be around her.”

This was something that I didn’t want to get into. He had to accept my decision and my friends, no matter how he felt about it. “She just wants to forget about all that. She’s trying her hardest to change and become a better person.”

“It’s easy to forget something when you’re the one who made the mistake,” Luca shot back. “I can’t let that go.”

“Just like I can’t let go of whatever’s going on with you and Stacey.” The words tumbled out of my mouth before I could stop myself. No, no, no. I didn’t want him to think that I was jealous, or weird, or creepy.

A crease appeared on Luca’s brow and he stared at me as though I’d said I believed in the tooth fairy. “Me and Stace? What are you talking about?”

I sighed and looked around his yard instead of at him. I felt stupid and petty for even bringing this up, but the cat was out of the bag now. I couldn’t lie to him. “Don’t think I haven’t noticed how much time you and Stacey have been spending together. You know, she has a crush on you? I can’t blame her. You’re gorgeous, and she’s pretty, as much as I hate to admit it. If you’re still attracted to her, you have to let me know.”

The words came out in a rush, and it made me feel better to have them out of my system. I had expected Luca to be annoyed, mad even. Instead, he started laughing deep rumbling laughs that made me want to join in. Except he was laughing at me, which made me scowl.

He shook his head, clutching his stomach. “Ash, you can’t be serious, can you?” He wiped away a tear as he met my eyes. “Stace likes Riley. They’ve had a thing going on since the bonfire.”

My scowl deepened, and I wasn’t ready to back down just yet. “I saw her leaving your house late the last three nights. You told me it was a closed rehearsal, so what was she doing there?”

Okay, I totally sounded like a peeping Tom, but heck, I’d already come this far.

Luca cupped my face gently with his hands. “Baby, I’m only gonna repeat this once. Stace likes Riley. Riley asked if she could come to rehearsals so they could spend more time together. I’ve been hoping they’d get together for ages, so I wasn’t about to say no. There’s nothing,
nothing
, going on with me and Stace. What reason would I have to look at other girls when I have you? You’re everything I need.”

His words made me blush. They also made me feel like a complete idiot. Once again, I’d come across as a complete bitch because I hadn’t understood the entire situation. “Ugh. I feel so stupid. I was ready to fight Stacey for you.”

Luca laughed and wrapped his arms around. “As nice it is to hear that you’re willing to fight it out caveman-style, you don’t have to worry yourself about it. I only have eyes for you, Ashton Blake.”

Every part of me melted at his words, and I considered not going to the mall with Mom and Blaze. I could always wear one of my old dresses. I had so many anyway.

I bit my lip and leaned closer. “Maybe I don’t have to go shopping, after all.”

A smile played on Luca’s mouth. “As much as I’d love that, I think you should go and spend time with your mom. I don’t want her thinking that I’m getting in the middle of you two. How about I call you tonight?”

I sighed, nodding reluctantly. Now that my anger and suspicion were abated, I didn’t want to leave him. Those green eyes drew me to him and the smirk on those lips promised a kiss that would blow my mind.

Still, I accepted his offer to walk me to my front door, welcomes the kiss, and then stood on the porch watching him walk away.

***

My arms were killing me when I finally collapsed onto the couch, dumping five shopping bags at my feet. Blaze climbed up beside me with the new toy car we’d bought him. He drove the car along my jean-clad legs, pausing occasionally to grin at me.

Mom let out a ‘hmph’ as she put her own bags on the coffee table and fell into the armchair across from me. We were all exhausted from the shopping trip—even though Blaze didn’t look it. The exhaustion would hit him soon and he’d be out like a light.

“Are you going with Luca tomorrow night?” Mom finally asked, blowing at the strands of hair that had fallen into her eyes.

I was watching my brother when she asked, and whipped my head around to stare at her. “Oh, um…why would you think that?”

“I’m old, not stupid. I’ve noticed how much time you spend with him,” Mom said with a roll of her eyes. “Even Blaze knows, don’t you, sweetie?”

My little brother’s ears perked up at the sound of his name, and he nodded his blonde head with vigor. “Yep, I sawed Ashy and Loooka kissing!”

I felt my face heat up, and I covered my head with a cushion so my mom couldn’t see me. “That is so not cool.” My voice came out strange and muffled.

Blaze climbed onto my lap and tried to pull the pillow off me. “Whassa matter?”

“She’s just bashful because she has a boyfriend,” I heard Mom say.

I threw the cushion at Mom, but she simply caught it and started laughing. When her laughing had subsided, she looked over at Blaze. “Sweetie, why don’t you go and get a pudding cup out of the fridge to snack on? I’ll be there in just a minute.”

Blaze hopped off the couch, taking his car along with him. “Can Mr. Rochester have one too? He loves pudding cups!”

Mom’s brow furrowed and she put the cushion down beside her. “I think Mr. Rochester gets a tummy ache when he has sweet things. Why don’t you get yours and I’ll talk to Mr. Rochester about his diabetes.”

“Die Betty’s.” Blaze nodded, seeming satisfied with Mr. Rochester’s diagnosis. “Okay, Mommy.”

I rolled my eyes as he walked out into the kitchen. “I can’t wait until he grows out of this Mr. Rochester phase. It’s annoying having to buy Mr. Rochester a birthday present, or accidentally sitting on him.”

Mom grinned and raised her eyebrows up and down. “You used to have an imaginary friend at that age too.”

“Did not!”

“Oh, yes, you did,” she said, looking pleased with herself. “Her name was Mrs. Potts and she had a liking for pearls and my expensive make-up. Somehow, most of the make-up would end up on you. Thank God, it didn’t last long.”

Still not sure whether or not to believe her, I decided to drop the embarrassing topic. I began to stand. “Well, thanks for going shopping with me. I’m going up to my room to try on my new clothes.”

“Not yet you’re not.” Mom’s tone was firm enough to make me sit down. “Not until you tell me more about you and Luca.”

I groaned and sank deeper into the couch, crossing my arms. “Mom, there’s really nothing to tell. We’re friends and we hang out, that’s all.”

She raised an eyebrow that clearly meant ‘don’t bullshit me’. “Friends or
friends
?”

I did not want to hear my mom making sexual references. That was so, so wrong. “Ugh, Mom, that is so gross. Can we not talk about this?”

“The quicker you spill, the quicker you can go. Otherwise, I’ll have to keep on making assumptions.” She paused and stroked her chin in a comical way. “Have you held hands yet? Kissed? Or…?” Her eyes widened as she trailed off.

My insides were squirming. The last thing I wanted to talk to Mom about was my sex life with Luca. “Alright, before you let your writer’s imagination run away with you, yes, we’re dating. Yes, we’ve kissed. Yes, I like him. That’s all you need to know.”

“I’m happy for you, Ashy,” Mom said with a broad smile. “God knows me and Amelia have been hoping for this for a long time.”

Oh, wow. Luca’s mom actually wanted Luca and me to date. Mrs. Byron and my mom actually talked about things like this. That was weird and super embarrassing. I tried to shrug it off. “Well, don’t get too excited and start planning our wedding, or naming your future grandchildren.”

Even as I stood up, my heart beat a little faster at the thought of Luca and me getting married. Would I keep my surname or change it to his? Would we live in his house or my house? Would our children be blonde or brunette?

I shook my head, trying to gather my scattered thoughts. This was the last thing I needed to be thinking about. We were way too young and way too inexperienced about the world. We both still had a lot of growing up to do.

As I grabbed my bags and headed out of the living room, Mom’s voice followed me up the stairs. “We both agreed on Beryl if you have a girl.”

Luca

If I didn’t have Ashton’s reassuring grip on my arm, I would’ve turned around and bolted from Kendall’s party like the wind.

It was only 8 pm, yet there were already several people hurling out in the front yard. We hadn’t even made it inside yet and some moron had already stumbled into me and spilt beer on my shoes.

Goddammit. I liked these shoes.

Wiping off the sticky substance on the grass as best as I could, I allowed Ashton to drag me inside where the music was so loud that even I was taken aback. I’d be surprised if the neighbors didn’t send the police around pretty soon.

I bent over to speak into Ash’s ear so she could actually hear me. “You know the cops are gonna break this thing up in like five minutes, yeah? And Kendall’s gonna get into a lot of trouble for having alcohol here.”

Ashton studied me in amusement and widened her eyes. “Alcohol? Whatever do you mean? I don’t see any alcohol.”

I resisted the urge to kiss that smile off her face and nodded towards the nearest drunk moron. “These people are drunk on something.”

Ashton laughed. “I can tell you’ve never been to one of these things before. We’ve evolved from the amateur parties where we get caught with alcohol. There’s nothing up here. All the alcohol’s down in the basement. You have to take turns going down there to drink, but it beats getting arrested by the police.”

I raised an eyebrow. “And they don’t go down there and check?”

Ashton shook her head. “They never get the chance to. As soon as there’s sign of the police, the basement door gets locked and they hide the key. When the cops want the door opened, we just say we don’t know where the key is. Simple.”

“Ingenious. Who would’ve thought that you people could actually mastermind something like this?” I teased.

“Hey, when it comes to alcohol and parties, we could give Einstein a run for his money.”

This time I couldn’t resist. I pulled her close to me and kissed her deeply. She sighed against me and ran her hands through my hair. Somehow, we managed to move as we continued kissing, and find ourselves an unoccupied wall. Ashton’s back hit it, and she pulled me closer against her. I wasn’t the kind of guy to make out in public, but I couldn’t keep my hands off my girl.

I couldn’t wait to take her home so I could really show her what I thought of the skimpy number she had on. Once again, it was another short dress, but this one had an open back and a low front, which made me want to do dirty things to her. It was going to take me a lot to control myself tonight.

When my phone vibrated in my pocket, I was actually relieved. I needed some relief so I wouldn’t get carried away with Ashton and that dress of hers. She looked at me questioningly—her eyes bright, her cheeks flushed, her hair a little messier than it had been minutes ago—and I waved my phone in front of her.

She looked disappointed, and watched on as I checked my phone. It was a text from Riley.

Where r u?

Inside. U?

Outside. Do I dare enter the house of a cheerleader?

Ur funeral.

Is there alcohol?

Yep.

R u sure?

I’m willing 2 bet my life on it.

C u soon!

Laughing, I stowed my phone away and met Ash’s curious eyes. “It’s Riley.”

Apparently, that was explanation enough, because Ash nodded her head with knowing in her eyes. “Did he make some wise-crack about the party?”

I nodded in response. It was amazing how, in such a short amount of time, she knew my friends so well. I guess it helped that she saw them as people now, instead of as “things”. They’d warmed to her too. Once there’d been a time when they’d avoid her in the halls, but, now, she was one of us. Well, a hotter version.

Ash suddenly tugged on my arm, her eyes wide with alarm. Following her gaze, I looked out through the glass doors and into the backyard—I finally noticed we were in the kitchen—and saw two people in a heated argument. One was a girl I’d seen around whose name I didn’t know. She was slender and petite with short brown hair. The guy was easily recognizable. He was the jerk-off who’d ditched Ashton so he could stay popular. Bennett.