Chapter 6

Chapter Six

Tannen

I dreamed of her all damned night long! And when I wasn’t dreaming about her, I was thinking about her. When I hear her yelling for Danny, a little after noon I can’t help but make my way over to the window to find out what this kid looks like. You could call it summing up the competition.

“Danni, come on! We’re going to be late!”

My eyes go right to her standing in a bright red sweater with a big glittery green tree on it with rainbow ornaments. She looks so bright against the gray sky it almost hurts to look at her. When I spot movement out of the corner of my eye I stiffen ready to take in the sight of the man who has my Peach. The only person that starts walking towards her though is a small blonde girl. They both laugh and help each other to the car.

Thankfully they go so slow that I can pop out the door and head for my truck like that was my end goal all along. I wait for them to get in the car before I walk over and lean against her door, waiting for her to roll the window down. She might think that eye roll is going to dissuade me, or I might find it annoying, but she is way off. I think it’s the cutest damn thing I’ve ever seen.

She introduces me to her friend…Danni with an ‘I’ and a vague memory of sleepovers for Marley with a little blonde girl with braces and braids comes back to me.

“Don’t even think about it?”

“What?” Could she tell I was thinking about kissing her in front of her best friend?

“Don’t hit on my best friend just because she’s beautiful. She’s not your type anyway. She’s not a cheerleader or snobby enough for you.”

“So, wait, let me see if I got this right. You think if I see a pretty woman I what? Can’t help but have sex with them?”

The two girls look at one another before grinning. Marley turns to me and gives me a pretty solid answer. “Yeah. Pretty much.”

“You’re pretty and I haven’t fucked you.”

“Yet.”

Marley whips her head around to stare down her friend who said the word in a soft whisper but made it loud enough that we all heard it. I can’t fight the grin that stretches across my face. Why fight it?

“Whose side are you on, Danni?”

Danni gives a mischievous smile before looking away from Marley, “You want to go with us, Tannen? We’re going to the Cherry Lounge to hang out with some friends.”

“Oh yeah. Absolutely.” I’m in the car before Marley can make an excuse for why I shouldn’t come with them.

I can feel Marley’s ire and frustration as we drive to the Lounge, a place I spent most of my high school Saturdays. When we get there, a few people I know along with the friends the girls meet up with, makes us quite a large group. I make sure I stay close to Marley and that my arm is around her for most of the night, especially when a guy happens to be closer than I would like.

At first, she tries to put space between us but over the course of the evening, I wear her down, getting her use to my touch, playing with the tips of her hair which she wore up for the night, and brushing my thigh against hers.

When a tall, dark-haired woman comes over to our table, I notice immediately that Marley stiffens and tries to shrug my arm off her shoulder.

“Tannen! Hi! I didn’t realize you were back.”

She acts like we are old friends but I’m not sure who the hell she is. I don’t want to be rude but I’m not liking the way Marley acts around her like maybe this girl has been mean to her in the past.

“You should come over so we can catch up like the last time you were home.”

Like the last time? We never caught up. The last time I was here I barely stayed for more than a few hours and the time before that I spent all my time at my mom’s. Marley shrinks away from me trying to put space between us, but I won’t allow it.

“You should come over so we can catch up like the last time.”

Is she doing it on purpose because Marley is beside me or is she delusional or getting me confused with someone else? Any way I look at it, she’s going to be very lonely because I’m not leaving here without Marley.

Unfortunately, Marley has other ideas.