The Reason I Stay (26 page)

And then I lean forward peck his lips. That peck turns into a kiss, which turns into a make-out session that gets relocated to my couch, which finally makes us completely forget about life’s worries and lose track of time.

Matt and I arrive at the Wolfs’ an hour before Tanie’s party actually starts. In that time, Matt is required to make his hangover cure for Tanie—who drank more than I did last night, and therefore is in far worse shape than I was—before going to help Eric and Christopher get the grill started, as I head upstairs to Tanie’s room to help her with her hair and makeup.

The moment we close the door behind us, she turns to me, hand on hips. “So, you got anything to tell me?”

I tilt my head, confused. “Sure. Happy graduation . . . again.”

I go in for a hug, but she pushes against my embrace. That and the massive eye roll she gives me are enough to let me know that’s not what she meant. For good measure, she picks up her cell phone from her vanity and tosses it to me.

“Check out the texts.” She takes a gulp from the Jack Daniels and coffee that Matt prepared for her, and curses, Tanie style.

I do as I’m told and open the text folder that contains about thirty messages sent by our high school friends and acquaintances. Knowing what I’ll find in them, I put the phone down on the bed and shake my head. “I don’t want to. How bad is it?”

“As far as I read, not terrible, but it’s kind of bad, Lex.”

I flop down backwards on her bed, and bring an arm to cover my eyes. Tanie lies next to me, and curls her pinky with mine. “I haven’t managed to track the original Mrs. Crane gossip, but the earliest version I’ve heard is that Matt spent the night at your place and then you both went outside in your underwear. The latest is so messy I don’t even know.

“I’ve tried to set the record straight using safe channels like Anna and Steph, but bad gossip spreads easier than good gossip. So I’m not sure how it’ll turn out. I wasn’t gonna say anything, but, well . . . people will be here, and I thought you should be ready.”

I sigh and take my arm off my eyes to look at her. It’s endearing how protective she is of me, and I’m more thankful to her than I could ever tell her.

“Thanks. You did the right thing.”

We smile at each other and then turn our faces up to look at the glow in the dark stars stuck to her ceiling. They haven’t glowed in about a decade, but there’s something familiar to them. Something that makes me feel like a child again, which is good and sad all at once, because so much has changed, and yet some things, the not so great ones, feel exactly the same.

I have no idea how many times we have laid in this bed, in this exact position, and talked about all the different gossip that rose about me. I know that between my mother, my gay uncle, my on-again and off-again relationship with Kyle, the untimely death of my best friend and the slutty phase I went through after that, my life has been filled with drama. But, honestly, I don’t get why people care.

After a while, she turns her face from the stars to look at me. “Are you happy?”

I look at her as well and smile. “Yep, I’m really happy.”

“And is he treating you well?”

“Surprisingly yes, considering our beginning.”

She chuckles, and her eyes soften with the kind of joy one only feels for their closest friends. And then she gives a crooked grin, and I know what’s coming. “And has Pedro taken over Virginia yet?”

I can’t help but to laugh at her ridiculous names. “Montana . . . that’s not a ladylike question.”

Tanie rolls her eyes. “Yeah, that’s a best friend question. And . . . I dare you to reply.”

So I do. “Nope, but the welcome banners are all hung and waiting.”

“Yay!” She laughs for a moment. Then in a more serious tone, she adds, “Then don’t let those dumb-axes take that away. You deserve happiness, Lex. And, you deserve to have a good boyfriend that treats you right. So you just have fun and make all those bleaches jealous of your hot little boy-toy, and if they give you grief, just tell them to go funk themselves, okay?”

I kiss her cheek and give her my promise.

With a Cheshire cat grin on her face, Tanie jumps up from the bed to get ready. As she removes the red T-shirt she’s wearing and tosses it over the bed, she asks, “Now, I dare you to give me the truth behind the gossip.” And I do.

When Tanie and I finally come back down from her bedroom, party guests are already scattered in little groups around the living room and backyard. With arms linked together, we make our way through the house, stopping by different groups of old friends. I greet them all with smiles and kind words, but my eyes keep roaming around, looking for Matt.

My focus on finding him is such I can almost tune out the whispers and stares directed my way. But then the personal questions coming from people who I know are just interested in my life to the extent of juicy gossip start, and that’s when I decide that I’ve had enough of this crap.

I’m done with people watching me. I’m done with people meddling in my life. I’m done with people talking about me like I’m entertainment. Tanie is right—after so long being unhappy, I’m more than entitled to my own little share of joy, which means that just like Matt with his dad earlier today, it’s about time for me to take a stand and put a stop to it. Nevertheless, as appealing as the idea of quitting the town and telling all of these dumbasses to go fuck themselves is, I can’t really do it. What I can do is confirm the rumors, and hope that once they’re true they’ll no longer be interesting. And that’s exactly what I do.

I excuse myself from the boring-as-hell conversation with Amanda, Tanie’s old chemistry lab partner, and make my way to the backyard. There, talking to Eric and some of our other male friends is my gorgeous boyfriend.

A smug smirk breaks across his face as soon as I step foot on the lawn. We hold each other’s gaze—and a lot of other folks’—as I walk toward him.

“Hey, y’all. I need to borrow Matt a moment.”

They look at us with knowing smiles as I take Matt’s hand and guide him toward the big tree in the center of the yard. Once we’re standing under the canopy, I swing one arm around his neck as the other drifts down his back, and bring my mouth to his.

I kiss him, hard. Matt wraps his arms around my waist, responding to my attack the exact way I needed him to. He presses my body against his until there’s not an inch of space between us. My fingers dig in his hair and skin, and the whole world fades away as our tongues dance together.

When we finally separate our mouths enough to take in a breath, he tilts his head and raises a brow. “Not that I didn’t enjoy that, but there are people watching.”

“I know.”

“Explain.”

I chuckle. “I just quit my job, and told Dennis to fuck off.”

Matt laughs. “I hope that was metaphorical, since yours is the only source of income we have at the moment, but either way . . . good for you.”

He then swats my butt and kisses me again. During that kiss, Tanie yells, “Vote Pedro for governor of Virginia!” Which makes me pull back from Matt’s lips to laugh.

“Who’s Pedro?” he asks.

We turn around to return to our friends. Before I can reply, I see a familiar pale face with gray eyes and hair the color of coal. A face that instantly makes me stop laughing. A face that, like the eight standing behind it, hasn’t been invited, and isn’t welcome. A face that is looking at Matt and me with undiluted hatred. As all other faces look away from Matt and me, losing interest after the show, that one doesn’t.

Shit!

T
he good thing about my and Lexie’s moment under the tree is that I now have no doubt that she wants me as much as I want her. The bad thing is that our little display earns us the evil eye from Mamma Wolf, who gives us a speech about proper behavior around children and orders us to
keep it in our pants
—her actual words.

Lexie is as red as a tomato by the time Georgia walks away. I’m not. In fact, I’m shooting up metaphorical fireworks, and for that reason, as soon as we are alone—or as alone as you can get in a backyard party—I wrap my arms around her and hold her close, delivering kisses to the top of her head. She wiggles her way out of my arms so fast you’d think they were on fire.

“You should go back to the boys. Tighten those manly bonds, and all.”

“Are you coming with me?”

“No.” She shakes her head, blond tendrils coming loose and framing her face. “I’m gonna drink something cold, and maybe cool off inside the freezer for a minute or thirty.”

I laugh and move in to kiss her, but she pulls away, winks and walks toward the other side of the yard. I watch her for a while, her flowery dress swaying around her hips, which ignites fantasies of it swaying down to the floor in her living room, leaving her naked in my arms. That thought alone makes my already hard dick painful, and I decide she’s right. I have to find men to talk to and distract myself, otherwise I’ll be in serious shit.

I walk back toward the grill where Eric and the other three guys, all in plaid shirts and baseball caps, are gathered. They guy-nod me, and a cold beer gets shoved in my hand. The conversation resumes to their previous topics of cars and football. I try to be as engaged in the chat as possible, but all I can think about is Lexie.

For the next couple of hours, I follow her with my eyes as she talks to the Valentines, and to some girls who keep giving me the do-me eyes, before she finally settles in the swing set with Kodee and Brass. With some effort, I push her away from my brain and focus on my conversation, spending the next few hours being a guy and having guy friends, which ends up being great.