“Night,” I said quietly and headed up the stairs to my room. I started to wonder where in the world Lane was going to be sleeping. Hopefully not in the guest room that just happened to be right next to mine. My dad wouldn’t do that, would he? Put an eighteen-year-old boy right next to my room? But then why would he even worry about it. Lane hated my guts.
The curiosity finally got the better of me, and right as I passed our guest bedroom, I gently tapped the door open and there was my answer. Lane’s bags were thrown carelessly all over his new bed.
Chapter Four
“Jessa, don’t be a baby. Just close your eyes and jump!”
“Shut-up, Lane! I’m not a baby, I’m just judging the distance so I don’t break my leg. Be quiet and let me think.” He didn’t really need to know that I was about to pee my pants. Especially because if my father found out what I was doing, well that would probably make me not see the sun for a few days, because he’d have me on lock-down. “Okay, I’m jumping!”
Falling thirty feet to what was called the Black Hole, was nothing like I imagined it would be. It was not only terrifying; it was exhilarating.
“I can’t believe you did that!” Lane screamed and swam right over to me. “Shit, Jess!” He was laughing and slightly drowning all at the same time.
“Swim back to the rock, you idiot. I don’t want to save you and get my freaking heart back in my chest at the same time!” I yelled and laughed when his poor attempt at the dog paddle happened right in front of me.
Finally, we were both pulling ourselves back on the huge rock in the middle of our small swimming hole. “That was crazy. I’ve never felt anything like that. Seriously, why have we waited so long to- “Lane wasn’t listening to a damn thing I was saying. No, his eyes were practically bulging out of his eyes and they were directed right at my chest. “What are you looking at?” I asked but when I looked down at my white, very see through tank, I’d answered my own question.
Being caught ogling my chest, I finally got Lane to look at me. “Nothing, sorry. I know right? What a jump.”
Eyeing him carefully, I knew there was something that was off about him. He was starting to act funny. I mean, I know that my chest had practically exploded over the past year, but it’s not like he didn’t know I had boobs. “Lane, were you checking out my boobs?”
Lane coughed and adjusted his shorts, looking everywhere but my face. “No, why would I look at your boobs. That’s gross.”
“You think boobs are gross? Do I need to know something?”
Lane finally looked at me and the blush that filled his cheeks was actually adorable. “No, they aren’t gross, Jessa. Just yours, okay?”
Now that hurt. Why were my boobs gross? “That’s mean, Lane. Why? Because they aren’t Kathy King’s boobs?”
“Whatever, I don’t even know what you’re talking about.”
“I know she flashed you after P.E. last week.”
That got his attention. “Who told you that?”
Jeff Adamson. That’s who, but I wasn’t a rat. “No one, it’s just going around the school. I don’t care that she did that, but don’t call my boobs gross. In fact, I bet mine are bigger.”
“I can’t really see yours that well.” And then something weird happened. Something kind of shifted between us. I had the huge urge to lift my shirt up and prove to him that my boobs were not gross. I’d never done anything like that with Lane, or any guy for that matter.
“If I show you my boobs, you can’t tell anyone. If you do, I’ll tell everyone that you wet your bed until you were nine.”
Lane shifted uncomfortably on the rock and looked around, I’m guessing to make sure we were alone. “I would never do that to you.”
Reaching around the back of my tank, I grabbed my swimsuit and pulled the string until I felt my top fall down to my lap. Shit, I was about to show Lane my boobs, but again, some part of me wanted to. To show him that I wasn’t just his best friend. That my boobs were just as good as miss fancy herself. “Ready? I’m just going to show you one time, so don’t you dare ask me to ever show you them again, Lane Rhyer.” Keeping my eyes on Lane, I slowly lifted my very wet, white tank top and showed him everything I had to offer. His eyes never left my chest. In fact, if I wasn’t watching him so closely, I would have missed it. I would have missed his tongue glide quickly across his top lip. I would have missed how his pupils dilated, and how his hand went straight to the front of his swim shorts. Because if I wouldn’t have seen those small, little things, I would have believed what he said next.
“Yup, gross.” And his splash in the water let me know that he may have told me that he didn’t like what he saw, but his body movements told me something else. However, being a thirteen-year-old newly developing teen, his reaction crushed me.
Beep. Beep. Beep, beep beep beep. “Okay, I’m awake.” Alarm clocks suck, but not as much as waking up on the first day of your senior year, knowing what could have been an amazing year, was going to probably be the exact opposite. “You’re done, thank you very much.” Pushing the off button wasn’t what I wanted to do, but I knew if I wanted to look my best on my first day of school, that it would have to happen.
Checking my phone, I had my normal morning text from my boyfriend, Brady.
Morning, babe. Can’t wait to see you. I wish I would have just come out last night, to give you a goodnight kiss.
Did I mention he loved me? Like full on obsessed, loved me? Brady was the typical high school dreamboat. Captain of the football team, most likely to receive a full ride to K-State, and only had eyes for me. Every girl in school pretended to love me, but secretly hated my guts for dating him. Especially my nemesis, Kathy freaking King. Yes, the same Kathy that flashed Lane when we were younger.
“Morning, can’t wait to see you, too.”
Now don’t get me wrong, I liked Brady. Very much. He’s easy on the eyes and made me laugh. I never considered him the sharpest tool in the shed, but he was the perfect boyfriend for high school. And he respected me, knowing that I wasn’t ready to take our relationship to the next level. Which was very important to me.
Forty-five minutes later I was ready to go when I heard my pick-up start up out in front of the house. “Oh, no you aren’t!” I yelled and made a mad dash down the stairs. “Lane!” I screamed and rounded the corner to the kitchen just in time to see Lane leaning against the counter, eating a toaster strudel.
“Problem, sis?”
This most definitely wasn’t my best friend anymore. Some giant asshole, with an extremely, annoyingly amazing build took his place, and was now calling me his sister. Well, two can play at that game. If he wanted to be a jerk, so could I.
I must have taken him off guard because when I marched straight up to him and smacked his strudel right out of his hands, making it spin and flip onto the kitchen counter, he didn’t have a witty comeback. “Don’t call me your sister, asshole.” I said between clinched teeth and went to grab my backpack by the front door.
“Bye dad. Bye, Janice. I’m heading to school,” I said in my sweetest voice, but just before I got my last word out, Janice was flying down the stairs with a camera in her hands.
“I want to get a picture, hold on!” she said with way too much excitement, and looked like she had practically just gotten out of bed. Which was unusual because she was typically up before even my dad, feeding our animals.
“One picture,” I said quickly and posed by the back door.
“Lane, honey. I’d love for you to be in this, too.”
Just when I thought Lane might cave, he stepped around me and headed out the door. “No, thanks.”
I shrugged my shoulders at Janice and smiled brightly for her. She really was a nice lady, and as much as she didn’t want to admi
t it, having Lane write her off as his mother was taking its toll on her. “Thanks, Hun. Have a great first day. Your dad says goodbye and wanted to be here, but he’s out messing with a sprinkler.”
“No prob. Tell him bye for me.” I leaned over and placed a quick kiss on her cheek. “And try not to stress about Lane; I’m sure it’ll get better.” Janice gave me a sad smile, and I could practically hear her thinking that it was a nice thought.
Stepping outside, it finally dawned on me why Lane had started my pick-up. “I’m not letting you ride with me to school. You’ll have to figure out another way to get there.”
Lane actually laughed and walked over to the driver’s side. “You’re right, I’m not riding with you. You’re riding with me to school.”
Who in the hell did this guy think he was? “You’re not driving my truck, again, Lane. Don’t even think about it. I’m still pissed at you for taking it last night without even asking me. We aren’t friends anymore.”
I don’t know if it was in my imagination, but for a split second it almost looked like Lane was hurt by my words. If it was there, it didn’t last but a second because Lane made a mad dash to open the door before I took off running in his direction. “Lane Rhyer, don’t you even think about it!” I squealed as he tried to shut the door on me, but I pounced like a lion and came barreling in, landing right on his lap. “I will hurt you!” I screamed and did the one thing I knew he’d hate. Reaching up and finding his nipple through his think cotton shirt was easy, trying to rip the damn thing off was the hard part.
“Shit, Jessa!” was all I got out before he started to twist and turn, bucking me off his lap and back out the door. “I was just messing with you; you didn’t need to rip my damn nipple off.”
Satisfied, I smiled when he passed by me and walked around to the passenger side. “You always were easy to win over with a little titty-twister.”
Lane didn’t say anything; he didn’t need to. I knew there was going to be a bruise there in the morning.
The ride in to town was very uncomfortable. Gone was my friend that I could talk to for hours, and in his place was a foreigner. Lane did everything in his power to ignore me. It didn’t matter what question I’d had planned to ask him, because the minute I pulled my truck in reverse, he popped his earphones in and listened to music so loud, I could actually make out the singer’s words.
What he didn’t know was that I didn’t want to talk to him just as much as he didn’t want to talk to me. When he left us, four years ago, he took a piece of me with him. He didn’t treat me like the friend I thought I was, but more like a stranger. Yes, I was royally pissed off at my dad for some time after I’d found out about the affair, but when some secrets came out that were just as alarming, it made me sympathize for the two of them. Janice finally won me over and I’ve been happy for them for years now. In fact, Janice is as close to a mother figure as I’ll ever have. Which makes it extremely awkward between Lane and I, because what we never talked about was when our bodies started to change, started to morph into young adults, so did our friendship.
“What in the hell are you wearing, Jessa?”
Lane’s words cut a little deep, but I wasn’t going to let him notice. “It’s called make-up, dumb shit.”
“Dumb shit? Really?” His cocked eyebrow, letting me know that he wasn’t expecting that reaction out of me. I was rarely ever mean to him.
Lane and I were sitting on top of a few hay bales during a hot summer day, about a month before he would get a little show of my now growing chest. For some reason, I’d decided to sneak in some eyeliner and mascara at my last Walmart visit, which would have gotten me killed if my dad would have found out. “Don’t like me calling you that? Then don’t act like one.”
“I’ve just never seen you with make-up on. You look… different.”
I gave in and finally glanced over at him and gave him a stern look. “If you call me ugly, I’m going to punch you in your face.”
Lane’s belly laugh made me crack a small smile, but what surprised me the most was his next statement. “I wasn’t going to say that at all. It’s just that you look, well, really pretty.”
I could feel the warmth spread across my cheeks and I knew I was full on blushing. Lane never gave me girly compliments, because our relationship just wasn’t like that. But I could tell he was starting to check out the girls in our class more, and even talked about maybe inviting a few to hang out with us. For some reason, I hated that thought. Lane was my best friend, and I didn’t like thinking about sharing him.
“Are you going to just sit there like an idiot, or are you going to come inside?” Lane’s rough voice broke my thoughts, and I realized that we were in the school parking lot, but I wasn’t moving.
I quickly rolled my eyes and reached behind my seat to grab my bag. “Whatever. I have volleyball practice after school, so if you want a ride you’ll have to wait. Or, you can find your own way home.”
“Sassy today. I like it,” Lane said and shot me a quick wink, which just made me want to rip his eyeball out.
“Sure,” was all I said before I slammed my door and noticed Brady’s black mustang pull up beside us. I loved his car, maybe more that I would have liked to admit. Okay, maybe it was the sole reason I even agreed to go out with him in the first place. I know, shallow moment.
“Babe!”
I swear I heard Lane let out a little grunt when Brady stepped out and embraced me in a full on hug. My skin-tight leggings and loose white tee left little to the imagination, and I couldn’t lie if anyone asked me if I had thought of Lane when I picked out my outfit, because for some reason, I needed to show him that he wasn’t the only one who had done some growing up.
“Hi,” I whispered and place a soft kiss on his lips. I know he was surprised by my action, because I was a firm believer in no PDA. Kissing never happened at school, let alone in the middle of a parking lot.
Brady pulled back and smiled at me brightly. “I like this new senior side to you.”
I just laughed and glanced over at Lane, who was watching me like a hawk. He looked pissed, like he wanted to rip me out of Brady’s arms, but I knew that was crazy. He basically hated every single part of me.
“Is that Lane?” Brady asked just loud enough so he could hear.
I pulled him over to the other side of the truck, but before I could get a word out, Lane turned and walked toward the school, not looking back once in my direction. “Yeah, that’s Lane. Don’t worry about him, he has the biggest chip on his shoulder that I’ve ever seen.”
“I can’t imagine moving to a new school right before senior year. I’m sure he’s going through a lot. You know?”
“You’re a great guy, you know that Brady Waters?” Brady smiled and went in for another kiss, but I dodged him just in time, pretending like I wanted to get in to school before the bell rang.
Chapter Five
Looking down at my watch for the hundredth time didn’t help improve my mood. I’d been waiting for Lane for the past thirty minutes, and was about to give up on him and go home. I knew he had a cell, but I never got his number. To hell with you, Lane Rhyer. But just as I thoughts those words, I saw him walking out of the stadium with a perky blonde girl.
Squinting my eyes just a little more, I could finally make out who the cheerleader was. Kathy freaking King. That bitch was always in my business and interfering with my life. I thought I’d finally gotten rid of her last year when Brady had to practically tell her in front of the entire cafeteria that he was with me, and that she needed to stop calling him. She cried and ran out of the room, finally giving up on going after everything I had. Bitch.
“Oh, Jessa. I didn’t think you’d wait up for me. No need to, Kathy here said she’d give me a ride out to your house.” Lane looked pleased, probably because if looks could kill, that fake blonde bitch w
ould be a red and black cheerleader puddle right about then.
“Hey, Jessa. Can you believe Lane is back? And look how freaking hot he is? You always were a looker, but damn. When I saw him, my insides flipped.” Her giggle almost made me throw up a little in my mouth, but Lane looked more than amused.
“That’s great, Kathy.” I smiled tightly at her and stepped around my truck, letting my full appearance show. Lanes eyes bulged when he saw me in my volleyball practice uniform, and he couldn’t hide his wandering eyes making a complete pass over my body. My legs were a lot longer and leaner than the last time he saw me, and from what I was seeing, he liked them.
“It is great, and it’s also great that Lane took my advice and went out for the football team. Now I get to cheer for him all season!” Her squeal made me wince and I couldn’t imagine Lane actually wanting to be around that chick. Even though she was super easy, she was ten times more annoying.
Looking over at Lane, he put his arm around miss Barbie and squeezed her. “This one is trouble, that’s for sure.” Kathy’s giggle was all I could take, and so I rolled my eyes and opened my door.
“Again, that’s so great.”
Lane leaned down and whispered something in Kathy’s ear, making her pout like a damn two-year-old. “I can take you, Lane. It’s not a big deal.”
Lane said something else I couldn’t hear, and just as I jumped in my truck and started to shut my door, Lane ran over and opened the passenger side. “I hate to make her drive all the way out.”
I rolled my eyes, but secretly couldn’t help the satisfaction that she wouldn’t be able to take him home. Take that, Kathy freaking King. “Whatever. This is the last time I’ll wait for you, just so you know.”
After pulling out of the school parking lot, Lane reached over and turned on the radio to what was once our favorite station. With us both being country kids, we loved our country music. I wasn’t sure if he still liked it, but it made me smile when Blake Shelton filled my cab.