To my surprise, the head that popped around the door wasn’t Mum’s but Adam’s.
My heart did this little flippy thing in my chest that it did every time I saw him and I smiled brightly at him. “What are you doing here?”
He stepped inside and closed the door, his brows drawing together in consternation as I stood up to greet him. His eyes travelled the length of me and I saw a muscle tick in his jaw.
I was wearing a white sleeveless shift dress. It had a modest neckline and I was wearing a cardigan to cover my arms, and black tights to cover my bare legs, but I was guessing the short hemline still pissed him off. The reminder that he thought of me as a little sister he needed to protect pissed me off. I crossed my arms over my chest, and the movement brought his eyes back up to my face.
“Clark told Braden you had a date tonight. We both wanted to drop by for the momentous occasion. Who is he?”
I rolled my eyes at his overbearing tone. “Just a boy.”
“And how old is this boy?” Adam asked softly as he took a few steps toward me.
“Where’s Braden?”
“Downstairs. Don’t dodge the question. How old?”
“Sam is seventeen.”
“What?” he inhaled sharply. “And Elodie agreed to this?”
He didn’t mention Clark, since Clark was far more laid-back about these things than Mum.
“She’s excited for me actually.”
“She’s chirping like a nervous chicken downstairs.”
“That’s because Sam will be here any minute.” I avoided his eyes, not liking that stubborn tilt to his chin.
“Where is he taking you?”
“Cinema, then dinner.”
“You’ll be home before eleven?”
I grabbed my purse up off my bed and threw out an exaggerated sigh. “Yes-uh.”
“And you won’t let him touch you.”
It wasn’t a question.
I froze at his command and narrowed my eyes on him as he took the last remaining steps toward me until he was standing right in front of me, so close I had to tilt my head back to meet his gaze. “It’s a date, Adam,” I whispered. “Touching is supposed to be involved.”
“Not when you’re a fifteen year old girl. Not when you’re you.” I flinched back, taking that as an insult and Adam immediately grimaced. “Els, I didn’t mean it like that. I just mean… you’re not just some girl.”
“Look, Braden gave me this speech three hours ago on the phone.”
“Ellie,” Adam gave me a look that clearly said “shut up”. “You’re special. You deserve a boy who understands that, and a boy who understands that won’t try any funny business tonight, okay?”
“Funny business?” I raised my eyebrows at him. “I’m pretty sure Sam won’t try any funny business.”
“Els, you’re a romantic, and you’re young. Boys his age… they’re not romantic. They have one thing on their mind and one thing only. And the little swine isn’t getting it from you.”
Annoyed at his suggestion I was some na?ve little girl, I brushed past him. “Don’t you have a comatose date waiting somewhere for you?”
“You cheeky little bugger,” he grumbled behind me as I walked out of my room and started heading down the stairs. “I preferred you when you were wee and cute and didn’t talk back.”
I grunted at that and then inhaled on said grunt, choking, at the sound of the doorbell.
“I’ll get that,” Adam announced determinedly, but I flung out my arms and legs in a star-shape, blocking his passage.
Unfortunately, I didn’t have enough limbs to stop Clark, who hurried out of the living room wearing a glower the likes I’d never seen before.
Uh oh.
So perhaps Clark wasn’t as cool about my whole first date thing after all.
“Dammit,” I breathed, hurrying down the last few steps as Braden came out of the living room with a bottle of beer in hand. Eyes wide at his sudden appearance and the darkening of his expression when he saw my dress, I raced by him and collided against Clark’s back as he finished greeting my date at the door.
“She’s right here,” Clark said as I stumbled around him, giving him a questioning look. He was all glaring and intimidating. It was weird.
“Sam,” I breathed, feeling my butterflies explode into a flurry again at the sight of him.
Sam was as tall as Braden, although lanky and slim, and he had messy light brown hair that seemed to have a life of its own. He was famous at school for that hair. All the girls wanted to be the girl who got to run her fingers through that hair. I was hoping after tonight that girl would be me.
Sam finished eyeing Clark warily and then threw a dimpled smile my way. “Hey, Ellie.
You look great.”
“She does not.” Braden suddenly appeared behind me and Clark, and I closed my eyes in actual pain after watching Adam squeeze in beside him. They were both trying to fry Sam’s arse with the power of their eyeballs. “She looks fifteen. You remember that.”
Oh God. Kill me. Kill me now.
“If you touch her, I’ll make sure you lose all sense of feeling. Permanently,” Adam warned darkly.