Chapter 2

two

BAIT & SWITCH

X ander’s eyes flash in my direction and I raise a brow when our eyes meet.

He smirks, never pausing in his conversation with my dad. I roll my eyes and go back to eating my dinner, stopping only to wipe the corners of my mouth. Just in case. He’s just as insufferable as he’s always been. Even after spending more time with him since he moved here, I can never tell what he’s thinking. It’s infuriating.

My phone vibrates in my pocket. I attempt to check it, but before I even have it fully out of my pocket, Zac snarks, “No phones at the dinner table.”

I glare at him and mutter, “No one likes a narc.”

My dad raises his brow, but does nothing to hide the twitch of his lips. “Those are the rules, Em.”

“It’s not even out of my pocket,” I defend.

“But it was about to be,” Zac says and I glare at him again. Not that he cares even a little bit.

Becca is always so jealous that she only has a little sister, but I would trade both of my bonehead older brothers and their friends in order to have a cute little sister .

I turn to my dad. “You know, it’s never too late to change your mind.”

Amusement makes the blue of his eyes even brighter as he waits for me to explain.

“You can always drop them off at a safe haven location. No questions asked.”

Xander snorts, Zac shoves me, my dad throws his head back as he releases a deep belly laugh, and Tate just looks offended.

“I haven’t even done anything,” he argues.

“Today,” I counter.

Xander joins my dad laughing when Tate shakes his head and mutters, “Told you she was hanging out with Torryn too much.”

My dad shakes his head, wiping under his eyes as his laughter dies down. “I think it actually might be too late for that one, M&M.”

“Yeah, it’s for babies, you little shit,” Zac says, getting himself smacked in the back of the head.

I smirk, looking back and forth between Zac and Tate. “I see no problem.”

Xander starts cracking up again. “Maybe the problem is actually she isn’t hanging out with Torryn enough.”

Tate snorts. “What? So she can call us much worse than babies?”

“Exactly.” Xander grins and I find myself nodding with him. I should take a couple more pages out of her book. Finally put all of these boys in their places. No one bosses her around like she’s two years old.

“What’s going to happen with Tor now if you’re getting back on the ice?” I ask, realizing Xander is about to lose all of the free time he’s had recently. Something tugs in my gut at the realization but I ignore it .

Xander rubs the back of his neck, trading worried glances with Tate as he does and my dad watches on curiously. “Well, we still have a few weeks to figure it out.”

My dad’s eyes volley between all of us. “Who is this Torryn?” He focuses on Xander. “Do you have a girlfriend?” Before Xander even has a chance to process the question, my dad is throwing more at him. “What is she like? Where did you meet her? Did you invite her to dinner tomorrow? Does she have family locally? You should really see if she can come here. I’d love to meet her.”

With each new word out of his mouth, Xander grows more flustered in a way only my parents have been able to make him and I laugh all the harder. I can’t wait to tell Torryn about this.

“No!” Xander bursts out a little too enthusiastically, making my dad raise his brows and my laughter double. “She’s,” he starts but stops. “Can I even call her a friend? That seems too nice of a word for her.” My dad looks confused as he stares at all of us, trying to understand our reactions. “Not a girlfriend though. Definitely not a girlfriend. Barely even a girl.”

“I’m telling her you said that,” Zac says, laughing with me now. It never fails to amuse me when Xander gets flustered with my dad.

“If Tor was interested in anyone at this table, it would be Tate.” Xander nods, pointing at Tate, whose cheeks are turning red.

“Or Dad,” Zac adds, before scrunching his face.

“Ew,” we say at the same time.

Tate puts his hands up to stop the conversation, even his ears are burning red now. “Please stop.” He looks at our dad. “Levine is in love with Torryn.”

That explanation just confuses my dad more. I grab a French fry off my plate and take a bite nodding. “He just doesn’t know it yet.”

Zac and Xander nod their agreement. At least we can all agree on one thing, but my poor dad is still lost. “What does this have to do with Xander then?” he asks, bewildered.

How did this conversation veer so far off track?

Tate sighs. “There’s this creep who is harassing her. We’ve been helping make sure she’s never alone, so he doesn’t have a chance to do anything more to her.”

“I’ve had the most free time,” Xander picks up the explanation. “She works late nights, and I’ve been hanging out with her while the other guys are already in bed.”

My dad nods, finally putting the pieces together. “You won’t be able to do that anymore if we’re going to get you back in shape.”

“Yes, sir,” he agrees, making my dad roll his eyes at the deference. Some habits are hard to break. “I was going to talk to them tomorrow. I don’t want to ruin her Thanksgiving.”

Zac snorts. “Nothing could faze that girl. She’ll probably be thankful to lose the babysitter.”

Xander scoffs, “She loves me. She’s going to be devastated to not have me sitting at her bar anymore.”

Yeah, right.

“Bar?” my dad questions and Xander’s face drops.

“I mean booth?”

My dad shakes his head, unimpressed. “Don’t forget you’re skating on very thin ice, Alexander.” Oh shoot, that’s his coach voice. He very rarely breaks that out at home. “You need to stay out of trouble if you don’t want to blow what’s left of your chance.”

Xander cringes. “Yes, sir. I promise I’ve been on my best behavior. Torryn works at a bar, but I just sit with her. ”

My dad hums a response before going back to eating his dinner, making Xander and Tate trade another glance.

“She sounds like an interesting girl.” He meets Tate’s eyes. “You have no interest?”

Tate’s face burns and I snicker, catching Xander’s eyes as he smirks too. “No,” Tate says too fast. “She’s Baylor’s girl. End of story.”

My dad puts his hands up in a peace offering. “Okay, sorry, sorry. Forgive me for being curious when none of you have ever brought a significant other around.” He stares at the three boys pointedly. “Or even talked about a girl at the dinner table before. You should bring her around though. She sounds amusing.”

Oh yeah, my dad would love her and her dry sense of humor. I shove another French fry in my mouth. “I’m sure you’ll meet her. Despite his protests, she’s basically Xander’s only friend outside of Tate.”

He flips me off from across the table, but it just makes my smile grow wider as I shove one last fry in my mouth. “Can I be excused?”

My dad nods and I begin to clear my plate. “Petition for Xander to do the dishes since he doesn’t know how to answer his phone.”

“Seconded,” Tate says immediately.

“What the fuck?” Xander exclaims. “I’m a guest.”

My dad gives him a cool look. “Since when?”

The front door shuts and the boys’ voices carry down the driveway as they climb into Tate’s car. Must be nice to have freedom like that .

I roll over in my bed, checking my most recent texts from Becca begging me to come out and meet them. The last thing I want is to run into my brothers though.

As I scroll through them, my phone lights up with her face as she calls me. I answer, smiling when she screams my name.

“Emmy, you answered!”

“Of course I did,” I laugh.

I can practically see her pushing out her lower lip in a pout when she responds, “You weren’t responding to my texts.”

“I was just catching up on them,” I explain. Love the girl, but she has a phone addiction like no one else I know. She sends fifty texts when one would have sufficed. Sometimes it’s better to just let her go off and read once there’s a break in her stream of consciousness.

“Well there’s been a change in plans. Too many older siblings at the bars tonight.” She always forgets I don’t have a fake ID anyway. “We’re going to do a little bonfire at the lake.”

I scrunch my nose as I look at the dark sky outside my window. “The lake?”

She giggles and I can hear a deeper voice in the background but can’t make out what’s being said. “Come on, it’ll be fun.”

“It’ll be freezing,” I counter.

“That’s what the fire is for, silly,” she argues. But I know my best friend. No way was she convinced to change her plans to something as tame as a bonfire on the beach without something else thrown in there.

“We can come pick you up now?”

I sit up in my bed, climbing out from under the covers and staring at my pajamas. Wasn’t I just lamenting about the lack of freedom I have? Who says I can’t go out? My brothers and their idiot friends will most certainly not be at the lake. They're idiots, but apparently smarter than my best friend. “Who is we?” I guess they’re smarter than me too .

“Just me and Cam. A couple others might meet us there too. Still deciding.”

I start stripping out of my pajamas. “Fine,” I relent. “Swing by to pick me up.”

Becca squeals. “We’ll be there in five.”

She hangs up the phone before I can even respond, or question why she’s so close to my house. Neither her nor Cam live five minutes away from me. I pick up the pace getting dressed, choosing warm clothes so I don’t regret my life choices once we get there.

My phone is vibrating with her arrival before I’ve even finished pulling my jacket on. Geez. Was she parked at the bottom of my driveway or something?

I leave my bedroom and find my dad still sitting at the counter with his laptop, going over film from some of the prospects he’s been watching. “I’m going out with Becca for a bit,” I explain as I grab my bag.

He checks his watch dramatically, but before he can say a word, I remind him, “New curfew.” A couple of good things did come out of my idiot brothers kidnapping my homecoming date after all. At least I was able to negotiate a later curfew with Daddy dearest.

He huffs, but nods. “Be safe. Call Tate if you need a ride home. They’re coming back here to sleep.”

Weird.

Kissing my dad’s cheek in goodbye, I agree. “You got it.”

My smile falls as soon as I open the back door of Cam’s car and find a face I recognize but have never actually seen in person. “Jeremy?” I force a fake smile and climb into the seat, shifting my gaze to Becca in the front seat with a what the fuck look.

“Becca must not have been lying when she said you girls talk about me.” His arrogant smirk makes me clench my teeth and smile all the harder so he doesn’t notice.

The way Becca winces and gives me a bright but insincere smile tells me everything I need to know about what’s happening.

This is why she was so insistent on me coming out tonight. She’s been trying to get me to agree to a double date with Cam’s cousin for weeks. She knows very well I’m not interested. Meeting him in person isn’t going to change that. The way his gaze slides over me like slick oil is only making me more confident in my initial assessment.

It doesn’t take long for us to get to the lake, but having to spend the entire ride playing keep away with my hand, makes it feel three times as long. By the time we park the car, I'm ready to turn around and head back home. I should have just driven myself.

Jeremy’s thick arm lands on my shoulder as he pulls me into his side and leads me across the sand. I may end up swallowing my pride and letting my big brother save me after all. Becca looks back from where she’s walking with Cam, smiling encouragingly.

I force myself to take a deep breath and not shove Jeremy away from me, but I rush my steps to catch up to Becca and Cam who have already found a spot and are dropping their stuff.

As soon as we reach them, I use it as an excuse to easily pull away from Jeremy and take a seat next to the empty fire pit. “You guys didn’t happen to bring wood, did you?” I ask, even though I’m fairly positive I know the answer.

“Bonfires are overrated,” Cam scoffs.

Of course they are. Becca has a hell of a lot of explaining to do. This isn’t turning out like anything she promised.

“We were thinking something so much more fun,” Becca says before she lifts her shirt above her head, revealing her white sheer lace bra that her nipples show through, and tosses it on the sand at my feet. A smirk twists her lips upward as a challenge burns in her dark brown eyes and her thumbs hooks into the waistband of her pants.

“You’re insane,” I argue, shaking my head and crossing my arms in front of my chest.

Cam’s eyes eat up every inch of skin that Becca exposes before his eyes flick in my direction at my words. I hold myself tighter. Jeremy nudges me at my side. “What’s the worst thing that could happen?”

The look I give all three of them should be enough for them to realize how astounded I am by the stupid idea, but just in case it isn’t. “Frostbite?” I ask sarcastically.

It’s November and the temperatures aren’t exactly warm and sunny even during the day. That water is probably unbearably cold. If they want to go skinny dipping, more power to them, but I prefer my nipples to stay attached to my boobs.

Becca rolls her eyes. “You’re being dramatic, Emmy.”

I eye the goosebumps rapidly rising on her skin with an arched brow. “Guess you can fill me in on everything I missed through your chattering teeth about thirty seconds after you hit the water.”

Indignation and surprise flashes across her features as she glares at me. On a normal day, sure. I let Becca talk me into most things. Why not? Do it for the plot.

But this has to be one of her more idiotic ideas. Not a single part of it sounds fun. And I’m too annoyed with her to care about pissing her off.

“Fine,” she snaps. “Suit yourself.” She grabs Cam’s hand before he’s even finished stepping out of his jeans and turns her back on me, pulling him along as he stumbles behind her.

Jeremy sits next to me, leaning into my shoulder and my irritation spikes. Texting Tate is sounding better and better. “Good call, Em.” I hate when people use my nickname when they don’t even know me. “It’s not very sexy to have your balls crawl back up inside you.”

Eww.

I hum an acknowledgment, turning my head away from him so he doesn’t see my expression. Becca and Cam are nearly to the water.

His arm wraps around me once more, pulling me into his side. “This is so much nicer.”

I don’t really acknowledge his words, folding my hands in my lap as Becca’s yelp fills the night air. Cam laughs, dragging her further into the water. At least they’re having fun.

“They won’t last long out there,” I point out. They’ve barely made it to their knees and Becca is already trying to turn around.

“Guess we won’t have a lot of time to ourselves then.” His voice drops lower as his hand skims up my thigh. I grab his hand before it reaches my hip and place it on the sand between us.

“I’m not into that,” I say dryly.

He chuckles, rubbing my shoulder. “Cam said you were a good girl.”

I don’t even know what that means but I’m going to wring Becca’s neck for setting me up like this.

“That’s okay,” he continues, oblivious to my discomfort. “I can work with that. We can go slow.”

Leaning away, I study his face. He isn’t unattractive with hazel eyes and light brown hair that falls into his face. But what on Earth gives him the confidence to assume he already has me? Because Becca and Cam wanted to set us up? That means nothing. No part of me is curious to learn more about him. Not even a hint of butterflies making my stomach flare with intrigue. Nothing.

Unease washes through me. I hate confrontation. I pull out from under his arm. “I don’t think we know each other well enough to be talking about how fast we should be going.”

He looks surprised, but that only confuses me more. We met approximately twenty minutes ago. At what point have I even hinted at being interested in this guy? Because I haven’t blatantly told him off that means we’re already a sure thing?

“What a good idea!” I flinch at the sound of Becca’s voice so close. She stands just at my feet, soaking wet with goosebumps covering every inch of her skin as she shivers. Her nipples are fully on display and I don’t miss the way Jeremy checks her nearly nude body out. Cam doesn’t either, and yet he only smirks when his cousin meets his eyes. Gross.

I grab the blanket I brought and wrap it around Becca’s shoulders. “Your lips are turning blue, babe,” I sigh. Becca has always had such a wild side to her. So much life she wants to live before we get to the end of this year. A part of me feels like she really believes her life will end when high school does.

“Worth it,” she laughs between chattering teeth. I shake my head, laughing at her as I rub her arms with my blanket. “I knew you two would be cute together,” she whispers, eyes darting to where Jeremy and Cam are now talking a few feet away from us.

I arch a brow. “This has been the most uncomfortable night of my life,” I whisper harshly. “Why would you set me up like that?”

She starts pulling me away from the guys. “We’re going to the car, babe,” she calls over her shoulder where Cam is drying off with a towel he brought and changing into dry clothes.

I trail behind her until we are far enough away and she drops my hand, walking slower across the sand. “Because, Em, you never would have agreed to it if I told you.”

I huff in annoyance. “Exactly. So why go behind my back?”

“Because I love you and sometimes you need a push,” she defends. We reach the car and she opens the back door, grabbing a bag of clothes I didn’t notice earlier. She strips completely naked before pulling on a sweatshirt and some pajama pants. I cross my arms in front of my chest, waiting for her to continue. “You don’t like new things. You don’t like new people. You avoid them like the plague. You never really found your footing here and it’s been years since you’ve moved here.” I look down at my nails, the shimmery polish from Homecoming starting to chip. It’s not like I can argue that. I thought it would take time for people around here to open up to me, but even after all these years, it’s still me and Becca. Well, Becca has other friends. It’s only me that’s the problem. The outsider.

“It’s our senior year and you’ve never really dated. You’re still a virgin. Have you even had a crush on anyone?”

I look away from her, unable to meet her eyes.

“Exactly.” She takes my silence as agreement. “I just want you to put yourself out there a little more. Have some fun. Live a little. Nothing at school was panning out, so I gave a little push.”

She may have a point. Isn’t that what I wanted this year? A normal high school experience. Isn’t dating a part of that? “But Jeremy?” I can’t help but be skeptical about this match. “He acted like I was already his, Becca. I don’t like it.”

She grabs my hand and squeezes it. “He was just nervous. He was so excited to meet you. I think you should give him a real chance. Maybe without me and Cam hovering, yeah?”

Will that really change anything? There’s been absolutely no chemistry. At all .

“I don’t know, B,” I sigh.

She looks at me through her lashes. “Just one date?”

Taking a deep breath, I look over at Jeremy and Cam laughing together. I don’t understand why it means so much to her, but I guess I can try. “Just one,” I finally relent.

She squeals and just like that, I have a date for a Saturday lunch.