Heat crawled up my skin, and I fervently hoped it wasn’t also visible in the form of a flush. “Kissing!” my brain screamed like it had been injected with truth serum. Incredible, combustible, hot and sexy kissing. I swallowed. “Uh—”
“Don’t you just have to say you’re his GF if she asks?” Keri Ann went to peer out the window. “In fact, shouldn’t you be out there right now? It looks brutal. Maybe you could rip the Band-Aid off? Let her know quickly? Short burst of painful truth, so she can get over it already.”
“He’ll ask if he needs help, I’m sure.” I headed for the stairs ahead of her. The last thing I needed to see was Joseph fending off some poor girl. It struck a little close to home if I couldn’t get these feelings under control. On that note, I was going to have to rescind my offer of a favor. I had a slight conflict of interest. Added to which, he might ask me to step up right when things were going well with Chase or whoever else may show up later in the summer.
As if he knew I was talking about him, my phone buzzed.
Chase: Burger sounds good. I’m at the beach right now, wanna join?
I chewed my lip as I read and re-read his text. So much had happened between my text and his reply. And I really should go spend time with my mom. Not to mention it was a school night. And God, I just needed to breathe for a second and get my head together. I stepped backward down the stairs. I needed to go home.
Me: Rain check on beach and dinner.
“Hey, K,” I called to Keri Ann who was fussing over Nana. “I’m gonna head home.”
Keri Ann looked up. “Everything all right?”
“Yeah, I gotta spend some time with my mom.”
“Tell her, hi.”
I hopped to the bottom step and back to the entryway. “I will. Bye Nana.”
Taking a deep breath, I opened the door and faced the two backs sitting on the bottom step of the porch. One broad back, muscles defined through his t-shirt and one smaller skinny body with wavy blonde hair. They both turned at the sound of me coming outside. Courtney’s eyes were red rimmed, and Joey’s were troubled.
“Hey,” I said. “I’ll just grab my bike. Leave you guys to it.” I held the rail and hobbled down. Joey stood and reached up to take my hand.
“I got it,” I said.
He looked meaningfully at me. “Let me help.” His tone didn’t match the determined and pleading look he gave me that Courtney couldn’t see. I grit my teeth and stretched my mouth to a smile that came out as more of a grimace as I took his outstretched hand. God, even taking his hand felt too intimate. My bare skin touching his bare skin. I shuddered.
“Cold?”
“No,” I snapped.
A sniff sounded. “So you two are really together?” Courtney said, looking at me.
“Yes, we are,” said Joey.
“I was asking Jazz.”
Butler Cove High was a fairly small school, it was no surprise she knew my name as her ex-boyfriend’s sister’s best friend. Instead of answering, I shrugged. I’d told one too many lies today, and I didn’t feel like adding to the tally. If she stuck around long enough she’d know it was a crock anyway.
“I have to get home.” I picked up my bike and righted it from where I’d practically thrown it in the azaleas this morning.
“You shouldn’t ride with your ankle like that,” Joey said, laying a hand on the handlebars. “Let me take you in the truck.”
“I’m fine, really.”
He sighed. “See you later then?”
Was he seriously continuing the farce? Ugh. “See you later,” I returned and hid my pained wince as I put my foot down on the peddle.
THE NEXT FEW days at school were uneventful. It was ridiculous that we were even having to show up. If we hadn’t learned it by now, it was never going to happen. It was one more week until the senior exam, and then Memorial Day weekend would hit the island. It would be Chase’s last weekend. It was bad timing really that I still had school every day when we could be hanging out. I hadn’t seen him since I blew him off on Sunday evening. By Thursday, after three full days of distance from my Joe Glow, it seemed like maybe I’d had a hormonal blip. It worked great as long as I didn’t remember his kiss. Anyway remembering the kiss was stupid because obviously, obviously, he’d only done that for Courtney’s benefit. But the look on his face after the kiss. The look that said it had been completely unexpected was what my mind couldn’t let go of. And unexpected because something had happened he hadn’t planned. And God knew, Joseph was a planner. Control the variables as much as possible. Avoid risk.
Smart, really.
I met up with Keri Ann after last period at the bike rack. The afternoon heat had built up to a heaviness that foretold coming thunder.
“You want to come over and hang out?” she asked as she spun the combination lock.