Chapter Seventeen

Luke

I hurried to the second floor of Brady’s house and toward his parents’ bedroom. Damn. I hoped no one walked in on me while I was in there. When I got to their room, I felt the wall for a light switch. I opened the top drawer of the nearest dresser, but when I found boxers and white tube socks, I shut it. Definitely not Brady’s mom’s dresser.

So I moved to the next one. This time, I found a pile of neatly folded panties and thongs. I had no idea if they’d fit Ayla or not, but I rummaged through them until I found a pair of white lacy ones with a stretchy waistband. My face grew hot, not wanting to think about Brady’s fifty-year-old mom wearing some of this stuff. I had no idea how she’d feel about someone else’s underwear, but it was either this or Ayla went commando.

As I tried to fix some of the piles, my hand brushed against something else. My eyes widened, when I realized my fingers had just touched an item I never wanted to talk about or see. Something that looked an awful lot like a fake dick.

I slammed the dresser drawer shut and raced away from the room. Ayla owed me big for this. Before I went out to my car, I scrubbed my hands clean.

Once I grabbed my duffel bag and Ayla’s purse from the car, I headed back to where she waited for me and knocked. “Hey, I’m back.”

“Okay. Can you just hand the stuff in?”

“Yep. Oh, and there’s a grocery bag in here that you can put your dirty clothes in,” I said.

“Thanks. Sorry about all this.” Her voice quivered.

Suddenly I felt really bad for her. “It’s fine. Really. Although you’re going to owe me huge.”

She sniffled. “I know.”

“No, I don’t think you do…I’ll have to tell you about it after you’re changed.”

I sat outside the bathroom for a few minutes until at last the door cracked open. “Where did you get the underwear?” she said as she joined me. “They’re kind of tight—but at least I could get them on.”

“About that.” My cheeks burned. Ayla wore my basketball shorts, which were kind of long on her, as was the sweatshirt, but she looked cute in it. My chest tightened as I stared at her. Like it was completely normal for her to wear my stuff, like she belonged in it—belonged with me.

“What about it?” She watched me.

“I stole them from Brady’s mom’s room.”

She giggled. “No way.”

“Yeah. And I found a dildo in her dresser. My hand actually touched it.”

Ayla busted up laughing. “Oh. My. God. You’re kidding.”

“No. I wish I was. I think I’m traumatized for life.” I wiped my hand on her sleeve. “There, now you’ve got the rubber-dick cooties.”

She shrieked, rubbing at her arm. “That’s gross. You’ve probably contaminated me now. Can you get STDs from those things?”

“I don’t know. I don’t think we actually studied that in sex ed. Besides, it’s not like I used the thing.” I squeezed my eyes shut. “I’ll never be able to look at Brady’s mom the same.”

“Maybe we should keep this to ourselves. You know, you and the plastic thingy and me wearing his mom’s underwear. It just makes me feel dirty.”

I snorted. “See, don’t ever say I don’t like you. Do you think I just go rummaging around in people’s dressers for anyone?”

Ayla’s gaze softened as she stared at me. “You like me?”

Oh, shit. Had I said that out loud? And did I mean it? “Well, I don’t hate you…” I grinned.

She rolled her eyes then socked me on the arm. “That’s good to know. Now, can we go put this stuff away?” She pointed at the bag with her wet clothes in it.

“Good idea.”

After we got everything taken care of, we headed into the side yard again. Jack’s eyes swept over us. “Where have you two been?”

“I was showing Ayla to the bathroom so she could change before we played basketball,” I said.

Brady stood with Chloe next to Jack.

“Are you sure you weren’t doing something else in the bathroom?” Jack said, a smirk on his face. “Because it doesn’t normally take that long to change.”

“What Ayla and I do or don’t do isn’t any of your business,” I snapped. Shit. Why was Jack getting on my nerves so much lately? Maybe because he was an ass. Ever since Ayla had pointed out his many shortcomings, I’d started noticing how bad he could be.

“Damn, you’re pissy tonight.” Jack narrowed his eyes at me then glared at Ayla.

“Just tired of the same shit all the time.”

“Hey, why don’t we play some b-ball now?” Brady stepped between us before either one of us could do something stupid.

Chloe hurried to Ayla’s side, and I heard her whisper, asking if we’d really done something. I didn’t hear her answer, but from the relief on Chloe’s face, I could tell that Ayla had told her no.

Jeez, did Chloe think I was that bad a guy? That I’d just mess with a girl in the bathroom? Maybe I did need a new reputation.

We split into teams. Me, Brady, Ayla, and Chloe against everybody but Jack and Jenna, who decided to sit out and watch. We got the ball first, since we had fewer people. I dribbled down the court, passing off to Brady, who flipped the ball back to me. I stood on the three-point line and swished the first basket of the game.

Ayla glanced at me. “Dang, you play like you’re going into the Big Ten or something.”

I laughed. “Nah. Hoping to get into the peewee league this fall. Do you think they’d take me?”

“Sadly, no.” She bumped me with her arm, then turned back to the game.

Up ahead of us, Danny passed the ball to Jarrod, who attempted to pass it to Anthony. But at the last second, Ayla reached her hand out and swatted it away. We all watched as the basketball flew through the air, hitting Jenna in the back of the head.

She spun around so fast it reminded me of the chick from The Exorcist. Any second now, I expected to see her spewing green shit from her mouth.

“Who the fuck did that?” She glowered.

“Sorry,” Ayla said.

Jenna marched toward her. “You better watch yourself.”

LaLani moved in front of her. “Calm your tits, Jenna. It was an accident. If you don’t want to get hit with any more balls, you probably shouldn’t sit so close to the basket.”

Ayla’s mouth dropped open in surprise, as if she hadn’t expected anyone to come to her rescue. But the truth was, none of us—besides Jack—could stand Jenna.

“Yeah, right,” Jenna said. “Ayla’s got it out for me because she knows I’m going to beat her for class president.”

“And beaning you with a basketball helps her how?” Chloe’s arms crossed as she kicked the basketball back onto the court.

Brady leaned down and picked it up, then tossed it toward the basket.

“She was probably trying to break my nose or something—maybe send me to the emergency room.”

“Like I’d need a basketball to do that,” Ayla muttered under her breath.

“Look, let’s all just chill and play. If I wanted to listen to fighting, I could’ve hung out with my twelve-year-old twin sisters.” Danny rebounded the ball and dribbled back down the court, this time sending a nice pass to Jarrod.

Jenna harrumphed but sat down. If she were a robot, she’d have fried Ayla’s face off with some high-tech laser or something.

I ran next to Ayla down the court. “Just ignore her. That’s what the rest of us do.”

She smiled. “Yeah, but the difference is, she doesn’t hate you guys.”

“If it makes you feel any better, we don’t like her,” I said. “Now come on, let’s try to win this game.”

“Are there prizes for the winner?” Ayla peered up at me.

“Maybe. You’ll have to wait and see.” I winked then caught a pass from Brady and went in for a layup with the ball. We played for about an hour, until the sky started to darken. By then, Brady had their chef come out to man the grill.

The scent of steak wafted in the cool night air. My mouth watered. It’d been a long time since I’d had steak—we normally couldn’t afford it. Mom would sometimes grab a pack of pork chops when they were on sale, but our normal food was anything that could be made in bulk and used for leftovers. Mom liked to get a bang for her buck.

I sat down in a lawn chair and tugged Ayla into the spot next to me. Toward the wood line, I watched as lanterns blinked to life along the hay wagon trail.

“What’re those lights for?” Ayla pointed in between bites of grilled chicken and potatoes.

“Brady’s grandpa made a trail back there years ago. The lights line the path the hay wagon takes. It loops through the woods and along part of the lake. It’s actually pretty cool.”

A mosquito buzzed near my ear, and I swatted it away.

“Need some bug spray?” Brady called from next to me.

“Yeah, otherwise I’m gonna be eaten alive.”

He reached under his chair and picked up a green can, then tossed it to me. I stood, moving away from Ayla’s plate of food, dousing myself in it. “Do you want me to spray you, too?” I asked her.

“Sure.” She set her stuff down, then came and stood next to me. She only came up to my chest, but I liked that. It was easier to curl her into my arms—and it made me that much more protective of her.

“Cover your face.” I sprayed it around her, sending up a fog of fumes in the air. Once we were both done, we sat back down.

Brady and Chloe sat talking, about what I had no idea—but they seemed to get along really well.

As I listened to Ayla’s infectious giggle, I had to remind myself this wasn’t real. That even though we’d been spending a lot of time together, in a couple of weeks we’d go our separate ways.

I speared a potato with my fork, my chest tightening. Or maybe we could still do things together, things like this, sitting by a bonfire, cuddling and talking. It’d been a long time since I’d felt this comfortable with someone. Like I could tell her anything. But all good things ended, or at least in my world they did. Unless I could find a way for things to work out. The firelight glinted off her dark brown curls, swirls of auburn shimmering in them.

She turned her gaze on me, and I relaxed, falling into their warmth, and realized that I didn’t want this to end.

When I finished my food, I set my plate on the table beside me, then reached across to grab her hand as if that simple gesture would keep her from going anywhere.

Soon everyone had finished eating, and in the distance I heard the sound of Brady’s grandpa’s tractor coming.

Brady hopped up and ran toward the pool house. He disappeared inside. After a couple of minutes, he came back out holding an armful of blankets. He handed two out to each couple.

Ayla held onto the red, white, and black flannel blankets, while I slipped a pack of mint gum from my pocket. I offered her a piece.

“Thanks. All I can taste in my mouth right now is the garlic from the potatoes.” She laughed, tossing the wrapper into the fire. “So if you’re a vampire, you might want to steer clear.”

“So no biting you?”

“If you bite me, I’ll bite you back—you’ve been forewarned.”

Seeing her flirt with me made me wonder if maybe this wasn’t so one-sided. If she was enjoying spending time with me, too.

Soon the tractor parked in front of us, with a trailer piled with hay attached to the back. “C’mon.” I took Ayla’s hand and led her to a spot on the left side. There was a nice area carved out that’d give us a good view of the lake when we went around it.

I climbed up first and took one of the blankets from Ayla to spread out. Then I reached back down to help her up. It took us a moment to get situated, but once we were, I tossed the other blanket over our legs to stay warm. For once, I didn’t feel like I was pretending. Sure, I knew the others could see us, but I wasn’t doing this for them or their benefit. I liked being here with Ayla, having her close to me…

The crisp night air billowed through the trees, sending a spray of leaves fluttering down. Lantern light casted strange, almost monstrous shadows along the path.

“Every time we do this, I always think of horror movies,” LaLani said, cuddling up next to Danny.

Brady laughed. “No one has ever died on one of my hayrides. There are no men with chain saws or axes waiting for us.”

Ayla turned to me. “He didn’t say anything about people with creepy masks or vampires or werewolves.”

I grinned at her. “Don’t tell me you’re scared.”

She wrinkled her nose at me. “No. I don’t get scared.”

“Is that so?”

“Yep. I’m like the queen of horror movies. I think Dre and I have seen pretty much every classic one ever made.”

“You only watch the classics?” I quirked an eyebrow.

“No. We go to the newer ones, too. It’s just there’s something iconic about the old ones, you know. Like Nosferatu, it’s a silent vampire movie with Max Schreck, Alexander Granach, Gustav von Wangenheim…I don’t know, there’s just something freaky about the old silent films. Like, you can see what’s happening, but there’s no distractions. Or I love pretty much anything with Bela Lugosi in it.”

“Maybe you’ll have to introduce me to some of these,” I said, entwining my fingers with hers.

“Any time. I own a ton of old horror movies,” she said. Her thumb brushed against the back of my hand, sending shock waves through my body.

The scent of her coconut shampoo drifted in the air around us as the wind picked up. We watched the scenery pass by while the tractor brought us farther into the woods. The sound of crickets and frogs chirping filled the night.

I shifted next to Ayla so I could wrap an arm around her shoulders, and to my surprise, she nestled up next to me so that her head rested against my chest. God, I was so aware of her. The way her hand fit perfectly in mine. The scent of her hair. The way her eyes crinkled when she smiled. I loved the sound of her voice when she got excited about something. Or how her brow furrowed when she was pissed.

I swallowed hard as my hand stroked her hair. She moved closer to me, her arm slipping around my waist. She turned so that she stared up at me. With trembling fingers, I traced the side of her face. The skin there was soft. In the soft glow of lantern lights, I found myself leaning closer to her. Last night’s kiss had been perfect. But I wanted another one. To prove what I felt wasn’t a fluke.

She didn’t move, but instead watched me. I cupped her chin, then lowered my mouth until my lips brushed hers. I heard the surprised exhale from her, but she didn’t pull away. Her mouth moved against mine, hesitant and unsure at first.

I deepened the kiss, slipping my tongue into her mouth. A soft moan escaped her, and I felt heat racing through my body. My pulse quickened as I drew her into my lap, trying desperately to get closer to her. Her fingers curled into my hair at the nape of my neck.

Fuck. What was I doing? This wasn’t real. We weren’t real.

Did I honestly want to fall for someone who in a couple of weeks would be gone from my life? Yeah, I’d agreed to put on a show, but was this going too far? If I wasn’t careful, I’d ending up falling for her and breaking my heart in the process. I’d seen what a high school romance had done to my parents; did I want the same?

I pulled back, trying to distance myself from her. But one look in her eyes made me realize I didn’t want to let her go.

Confusion splayed across her face. “I—um, well—I’m sorry. I guess I got kind of carried away,” she said.

I cleared my throat. “Yeah. Me too. Sometimes I forget we aren’t…” I didn’t finish, realizing the others might hear us.

She nodded, turning to look at the lake instead. Was she mad at me? I wrapped the blanket back around us, then let my arm settle on her shoulders once more.

Tonight I realized there was a lot more going on between us than the blackmailing. My heart thudded against my chest like a drum line solo.

I was falling for Ayla Hawkins, and I had no idea what to do about it.

After the kiss we shared, I kind of thought it might be mutual. But now she wouldn’t even meet my eye. Maybe she was trying to distance herself—like I should be trying to do.

Fuck. I was in too deep and needed to back the hell up, or we’d both end up getting hurt.

When the wagon got back to the house, everyone hopped off. I helped Brady grab all the blankets and brought them into the laundry room.

He flipped on the light, and we tossed them into the wicker hamper next to the washer.

“So, Ayla’s your fake girlfriend?” Brady stared me down. “That kiss looked pretty real to me. Just who are you trying to fool?”

I shrugged. “Didn’t realize you liked to watch people make out.”

“And you’re changing the subject. Come on, Luke, we’ve been best friends since elementary school. Look me in the eye and tell me you don’t like her.”

My fingers knotted into my hair. “Everything’s really complicated. I don’t know what to think or feel right now. I wasn’t expecting this.”

“Expecting what?” Brady rested his arm against the doorjamb.

“To feel anything. Look, when this first happened, I was pissed and trying to save our asses. I wanted to hate her. But then I started to get to know her. She’s not at all what I thought, Brady.”

He smiled. “And you like her.”

I covered my face with my hands. “I don’t know.”

“I think you do.”

Of course, he was right. But I wasn’t ready to admit anything yet. At least not out loud.