Read Laney Online

Authors: Joann I. Martin Sowles

Tags: #Romance, #fantasy, #General, #Fiction

Laney (4 page)

BOOK: Laney
5.28Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

“I’ve only been here a couple days, but, yeah; so far I do. You?”

“Oh, well…I don’t know any different, so I have nothing to compare it to,” I answered. And I didn’t have anything to compare it to. I wasn’t born here, but it’s where my dad set Lilly and me up when he left me with her. Since that time, I had never been out of the area. Whenever I became restless and mentioned to Lilly about getting out of town and exploring the world, she would always find something to occupy me locally, and there was plenty to do here. She never ran out of options. Our little tree-filled town was off the beaten path, a couple of hours from anything good, and, really, the only reason to come here was the college. Even that was mostly full of the locals and a few people from the small, surrounding towns.

We didn’t have anything too fancy or anything that other towns didn’t have. We just had the norm—a mall with the essential places, a Starbucks and a Taco Bell on every corner that would hold one (too many in my personal opinion), several other fast food joints, a Pancake House, and a great burger and milkshake place called “Shakes”—I know, really original. There were the regular shopping places, like Target, Wal-Mart, and Ross. We also had a big candy store downtown, several bars—most of which had an “Eighteen and Over Night” once a week—and one that featured topless dancers, or so it claimed (that one was on the edge of town), and, of course, a few grocery stores, including Kiera’s favorite, Trader Joe’s. Oh, and you couldn’t forget the fancy new theater. We didn’t have one for a while; the old one was condemned—something about mold issues. It was just enough to make you feel like you didn’t have to leave town to find what you needed. Plus, that was what Internet shopping was for, anyway, right?

“That doesn’t answer my question,” he said, the corner of his mouth pulling up into that fantastic, crooked smile.

That threw me and I had to compose myself. “I believe it was my question first and the answer is: Yes, I like it here,” I said, smiling at his humor.

He gave me a mischievous smile that sent tingles through my body. While he was taking a drink from his water bottle, I said, “So, are you a green?” He kind of choke-laughed and he looked at me with an eyebrow raised like I was crazy. That was debatable.

“What does that mean?” he asked after clearing his throat.

“Green, you know, like eco-friendly.”
Holy crap
. I felt like I was grasping at straws to think of things to talk about. Why didn’t I just ask about the weather while I was at it?

“Oh, I understand,” he said, smiling at me again, and I noticed a little dot of blood on his bottom lip. He must have bitten himself when he choked. “You’ve got to think about the environment,” he added, grinning at me and tapping his bottle in understanding.

“You must’ve bitten yourself. You have a little blood on your lip,” I said, pointing to my bottom lip as an example.

His smile slowly faded. He wiped his bottom lip with his fingertips and looked at them. I so wanted to do it for him. Then I noticed a trickle of blood running down the side of his water bottle. “You must’ve bitten yourself pretty badly; it’s on your water bottle, too.”

He quickly jumped to his feet, grabbing his water bottle. “I’ll be right back. I’m going to go wash this off.”

I didn’t want to miss a moment with him. “Why not just use the water in the bottle to rinse it off?”

He was already walking away, but he looked back and said with a brilliant smile, “That wouldn’t be very sanitary, now would it?”

Good point. He wasn’t gone long. He returned with his clean water bottle and that belly-turning, heart-stopping smile.

The sunlight hit his hair just right and picked up the natural golden highlights. It only added to his gorgeousness. “You okay?” I managed to ask.

“Of course,” he said, giving me a little smile that made me forget everything else.

He sat in the shade with me again, a little closer this time, close enough that I could smell him. He even smelled incredible. Whatever he was wearing was fantastic. It was comforting and intoxicating at the same time. This boy was going to do me in. I was lost in his wonderful aroma when music coming from somewhere nearby brought me back.

It was Justin Timberlake’s “
SexyBack
.” The song was cut short as Oliver hastily answered his phone.

I stared at him, completely shocked. Between the look on his face and that song, I couldn’t help but let out a little laugh. I stifled it, but I was sure he had heard it.

“You are in so much trouble! I’ll talk to you later,” he said into the phone and then hung up.

I stared at him with my eyebrows raised and my lips pierced together, not knowing what to say, but on the verge of laughter.

He smiled awkwardly and seemed almost embarrassed. “Sorry for the interruption.”

Then I blurted out, “Seriously?! That’s your ring tone?” I couldn’t help laughing—hard.

He let out a short, sharp laugh and it was the best sound I had ever heard. “My niece finds it funny to mess with my phone.”

It took me a moment, but I settled down. “You have a niece? How old is she?”

“She’s thirteen.”

“So, you have a sibling?” I had always wanted a sibling—or even parents, at that. You always want what you don’t have. But I had Aunt Lilly and I guessed she was the best of both worlds.

“I actually have three.”

Wow!
“Are you all pretty close?”

“I see my older sister and my niece quite often.” Then he paused and looked down, picking at the grass.

“And the other two?” I asked hesitantly. He seemed almost reluctant to share.

He sighed. “My baby sister died just before she turned sixteen.”

After a quick intake of breath, I quietly added, “I’m so sorry.” I wanted to ask how, but I could tell it was too painful for him.

“I have a twin, but we don’t get along.” You have got to be kidding me! There are two of them!

He pulled himself together quickly. “So, what about you? Do you have any siblings?” His smile was back, but I could hear the sadness lingering in his voice.

“Nope. It’s just me and my aunt.”

“What happened to your parents, if you don’t mind me asking?”

Ask away; ask anything you want, as long as you stay here and keep talking to me.
“My mom died just after I turned two. It will be seventeen years this November. My aunt isn’t sure what happened to my dad. She thinks that losing my mom was too hard for him.”

“It’s hard to keep going when you lose a loved one.”

“I imagine it would be,” I said thoughtfully. “What about you? Are your parents in Reno?”

“No, they passed away a few years ago.”

We sat there quietly for a few minutes. “So…our conversation has taken a morbid turn.”

He snickered.

I grasped for a change of subject. “How about this weather?”
Seriously, Laney? You’re a dork
! I mentally kicked myself.

Another snicker. “It’s actually a little bright for me,” he said, tapping the frame of his dark sunglasses with his index finger. “Our break is over. We should head to class,” he added, gathering his things and standing. He offered his hand to help me up. I gathered my stuff as quickly as possible and took it. His hand was cool and his touch caused shivers to rush through me—good shivers. We let go as soon as I was on my feet and exchanged awkward smiles. Then I headed for class with Oliver by my side.

Believe it or not, we had all of our classes together. I had no idea how that had happened, but I could have kissed the scheduling person. We had two more classes and he sat by me in both of them. The rest of the day went a lot like the first part, except I was starting to get more and more comfortable around him. Don’t get me wrong; my heart was still fluttering and skipping beats here and there. I was blushing so often I was starting to think my cheeks might be permanently stained bright pink and butterflies were having a serious party in my tummy. To top it off, I had very little idea what had happened in any of my classes due to all the Oliver-gazing.

He walked with me to the parking lot. His car was just a few spaces away from mine. “See you later.” He smiled and began walking away. I gave him a little wave and a smile as I watched him go; then I headed to my car.

He arrived in the apartment parking area just after I did and he caught up with me just before I reached the steps.

“Fancy meeting you here,” he grinned, gesturing for me to go first. He walked beside me on the steps up to my apartment, which was on the second floor. I stopped in front of my door and faced him. He stopped, too.

“Well, I guess I’ll see you later.” He waved awkwardly then shoved both hands into his pockets as he walked away toward his apartment. It was behind ours but one over and, according to Kiera, their door was visible from her bedroom window.

I watched him go.

Kiera was sitting in the middle of the couch, cross-legged, with a textbook in her lap and a couple more sitting beside her. She had the coffee table pulled close to her with the rest of her books and folders stacked on it just within her reach. “What are you smiling about?” she asked as I entered the apartment.

As I sat down beside her I told her all about my day—okay, I told her all about Oliver in my day. She listened, taking in every word. I felt delirious with happiness and slumped back onto the couch, smiling from ear to ear.

“That’s so awesome, Laney.” She became quiet and stared off.

“What’s wrong?” I asked, lifting my head off the back of the couch.

She hesitated. “Carter came by.”

“And?” I asked, excited and impatient. I sat up to face her.

She stared off again. “He came by to see how I was feeling.”

“That was really thoughtful of him.”

“Yeah, I know,” she sighed.

“What is it?”

“Well… I just wish I knew if he liked me back. Don’t get me wrong; I’m really happy for you. It’s obvious that Oliver likes you…” I spaced off after that.
Oliver likes me? How awesome is that!
Everything about him seems so…so, awesome, for lack of a better word. There’s got to be some major flaw somewhere. No one can be so…
Kiera’s voice stopped my thought process.

“You know?” she finished. No, I don’t know. I totally missed what she said.

“I’m sorry. What was that?”

She huffed and gave me an irritated look. “I said” she over-enunciated the words, “I wish I could be as confident as you and just talk to him, ask him out, maybe.”

Oh, I’m a total jerk for spacing off.
“I’m sorry. I spaced. And I don’t know what you’re talking about. I say some really lame stuff. I actually asked him about the weather. The weather, Kiera.”

She giggled.

“How about we invite them both over for a movie or dinner, or something?” I could have been setting myself up.
Would I be too nervous to eat in front of Oliver? Oh, my. I’m starting to sound like Kiera.

She smiled at me, her sweet, innocent smile. She was so cute in her pink, plaid, flannel jammy pants and her pink, long-sleeved jammy top. Her hair was pulled up in a messy part ponytail-part bun—a messy pony-bun. She reminded me of Tinkerbell, little and cute. If only she was wearing green. I suppressed a giggle.

“That’s a great idea.” She paused. You could almost see her thought process at work. “Ask Oliver when you see him tomorrow. Invite them both over through him.” She beamed at what she thought was a brilliant plan.

“Sure,” I said, forcing my smile not to look nervous. Now I had to work up the nerve to ask him. I smiled back at her for real, remembering that I had told Oliver that Kiera had a crush on Carter.
I’ll just tell him that
she
wants to invite them over for dinner and he’ll catch on. I hope…

Chapter 5 - In Desperate Need of Underpants

Kiera and I had planned to go to the mall that night. I was in desperate need of new underwear and I wanted to get them before going home to Aunt Lilly’s this weekend so I could wash them with the rest of my laundry while I was there.

Unfortunately, Kiera didn’t think she was feeling up to going, so I headed off to the mall alone.

The sun was setting as I walked through the mall parking lot to the front entrance. A cool breeze brushed my face. It felt nice. I was ready for fall.

I paused just after I walked inside the entrance in front of Pretzel Town. I hadn’t had dinner and they had the best pretzels and lemonade.
After I buy underpants
, I told myself, and I continued on to the panty store which I liked to call “Fancy Pants Central.”

Fancy Pants was a bit pricey, but they had the best undergarments. I knew exactly what I wanted and where they were located. I was on a mission; I wanted that pretzel, but I needed underwear. I grabbed a shopping bag from the stand they were hanging from as I entered the store and started searching through the hipsters for my size. Five pairs later, I headed for my favorite cotton-lace thongs and quickly grabbed whatever colors I could find that would fit me. Then it was time for a new bra. My favorite style was on sale and in my favorite color, turquoise. I found one in my size and a pair of matching panties, just for fun. After getting distracted by all the new perfumes that I loved to smell, but never bought, I headed to the register and paid.

As I left the store, I was preoccupied. I shoved the receipt into my wallet, not watching where I was going, and wondering if my father had any idea that he was supporting my underwear habit with the funds he kept my bank account supplied with, when I smacked into someone.

“Oh! I’m so sorry,” I said, looking up into those beautiful green eyes that I had grown accustomed to fantasizing about.

He grabbed my elbow to steady me as I stumbled back. A wave of something, like prickly energy, ran through me.

“Oh,” I breathed and I dropped my bag. It fell open and my new turquoise bra and a couple pairs of panties tried to escape. I quickly crouched down to gather them up before he caught a glimpse of my underpants. It was too late. He was quicker than I was. Our eyes met over strewn panties as he gathered my items into the dark red bag and handed it back to me. I felt my cheeks burn with embarrassment and I noticed his had a tint of pink to them as well.

“Hi,” he said quietly, as we both rose from picking up my underwear. Not that I had any problems with him seeing them, or touching them; it just wasn’t the time or the place.
Holy crap!
I really needed to get myself under control.

I felt the blush burn across my cheeks and my neck. “Hi,” I quietly said back. I took a deep breath, hoping the pink would fade. “You following me?” I joked lightheartedly.

“Maybe.” The crooked smile that followed his response was irresistible.

The burn in my cheeks continued. I hadn’t expected that.

He chuckled. “I needed a new pair of shoes.” He nodded to the bag in his hand.

I was so focused on his amazing face that I hadn’t noticed the Converse bag in his hand.

“You have more shopping to do?” he asked.

“No. You?” I responded quietly. Unexpectedly running into him had really thrown me. I was having a hard time functioning. Plus, it didn’t help that the panties that had escaped the bag were the cheekless ones, not the ones that actually cover my butt.

“Nope, I’m all done.” His smile made my heart flutter. “May I walk you to your car?”

I nodded. I couldn’t seem to find any words.

“Where are you parked?”

“Just outside the front entrance,” I managed. He had to think I was mental
.

“Me too.” His smile continued, as did my accelerated heart rate.

We started for the parking lot. He shoved his free hand in his jeans pocket. He was absolutely beautiful. I avoided looking at Pretzel Town. The smell alone was causing my mouth to water, but my stomach wasn’t feeling much like it wanted food right then. I was afraid that looking at the pretzels, actually seeing them, would change its mind and it would rumble loudly, embarrassing me even more.

As we exited the mall, he held the door open for me. It had gotten dark out and I didn’t like being out alone at night. I welcomed his company in the parking lot. Who was I kidding? I would have welcomed his company anywhere.

“Thanks,” I said, as we reached my car.

“Anytime.” He winked at me again. My heart skipped.

I got in and started my car. He casually waved at me as he walked away. I smiled back. I felt like an idiot. How embarrassing that my underwear had fallen out of the freakin’ bag right in front of him. Ugh! Why did he have such an effect on me? I started my drive home. Kiera was going to love this one. I rambled on in my head, going over all the things I could’ve said. I was frustrated that I was too embarrassed to tell him that I was going to get a pretzel and lemonade before I left. Now I was embarrassed and starving.

I pulled into my parking spot and then grabbed my purse and my shopping bag. Just as I stepped out of my car, he pulled into the parking lot. I hurried for the stairs and ran up, not wanting to make an ass of myself again. I was unlocking my door as he cleared the top step behind me.

“Goodnight, Laney,” he said, as he passed by me on his way to his place.

“‘Night,” I said trying to sound calm and carefree—neither of which I was.

I flung open the door and threw myself inside, slamming it behind me. Kiera was still on the couch.

“You alright?” she said over the back end of the pen she was chewing on. She was looking at me like I was having a mental breakdown. I felt like I might be.

I leaned my back against the door. “My underwear fell out of the bag in front of Oliver at the mall.”

Her eyes opened as wide as I thought possible and the pen dropped from her mouth, making an ominous sound as it hit the open book in her lap. She gaped at me, which only confirmed that my embarrassment was justified.

“I know!” I responded to her expression.

Her giggles soon followed along with my own, although mine had a hint of hysterics to them; I don’t think she noticed.

Once she settled down, and I had moved on to getting something to eat, she asked me, “So, did you get a chance to invite him and Carter over?”

I rolled my eyes at her and, with full sarcasm, I said, “Yeah, over my scattered panties, I asked him to dinner and told him to bring a friend.”

That sent her into a rolling fit of laughter, complete with snorting. I couldn’t help laughing, too.

BOOK: Laney
5.28Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

Other books

Seduced in Secret by Shiloh Walker
The Balloon Man by Charlotte MacLeod
Final Sail by Elaine Viets
Alex by Adam J Nicolai
Hidden Pearl by Trueax, Rain
Unhappenings by Edward Aubry