Is there an us?
Colter finishes talking with Phillip and strolls over to me. He bites his lip and all I can think about is how those teeth have nibbled on my lip and how I want them to do it again. I tear my gaze away from his mouth.
“You doing okay? I feel like I haven’t seen you in forever.”
He’s right. We haven’t seen each other in a few days, because I’ve been avoiding him. I couldn’t look him in the eye after the night we kissed.
“I’m fine. It’s not like you haven’t called to make sure I’m still alive,” I tease.
He doesn’t smile. He just gives me that pathetic, sincere concern expression he’s perfected. “Sorry about Kirstyn. She’s totally flaked on you, hasn’t she?”
I want to ask him why he’s still friends with her. Why he subjects himself to her. But I don’t, ’cause I have no spine. “She’s been busy. I just need her to be there to put up the decorations.”
He smiles, and I swear he can solve any problem with that one expression. I melt into myself. “You don’t have to work with her. I can move her to marketing or something.”
“No, I’m good. Don’t worry about me.”
He reaches out and tucks a loose hair behind my ear. “I always worry about you.”
My throat dries like I’ve eaten a thousand peanuts. I cough a little to get it wet. “Do you have to work tonight?”
He eyes me suspiciously. “Yeah, but I have a short shift. Why?”
“I need help buying all this shit for the dance.”
“Oh, Party City’s near Kmart. I’ll meet you there after my shift tonight.” His face lights up like a kid on his birthday.
“You’re a dork, you know that right?” I say, gathering my coat to leave.
He grabs me and pulls me into him. “That’s why you like being around me. Just admit it,” he whispers in my ear.
An involuntary shiver wracks my body. “I admit nothing,” I say into his shoulder. I see Mrs. Sawyer eyeing me, so I let him go.
He cups my cheek quickly, then he’s off spreading his annoying cheer to the others in the room. I try to sneak out before anyone can remark on the display of affection he just showed me in front of everyone.
Jackson catches me sneaking out and gives me that look. I’ve seen it before many times. He thinks he’s got me figured out.
“I wish you’d just admit you like him and put us all out of our misery,” he says.
“Shhh, someone will hear.”
“And that would be a bad thing?”
I grab his sleeve and pull him into the next room. It’s full of fancy furniture and dark wood end tables. The framed photos of Colter’s family stare at me in judgment. “Look, he’s just a friend, okay?”
“Fine, don’t admit it.” He winks at me.
I sigh. “I’m surprised to see you without your other arm.”
“Contrary to what you think, Janie and I can have separate activities. She left to go to the mall with her mom. The amount of time that girl shops is beyond me. What else could she possibly buy?”
I laugh. “More shoes?”
He grabs his coat from the closet and hands me mine. “I feel like shooting something, don’t you?”
“Um.”
“Perfect, let’s put those gun skills to the test,” Jackson says, opening the door, not giving me a choice or a word to edge into the conversation. “Don’t think about it, just do it.”
“Maybe we should just—”
He shoves me out the door and I stumble a little on the steps. “Nope, we’re going. Get ready, Stevens. It’s time you learn how to shoot.”
Oh, boy.
30
The gun club on Washington Avenue is a boys’ club. There’s no other way to say it. When the guy tips his hat to Jackson and whistles at me, I know I’m in enemy territory. Jackson’s dad has come with us to be my accompanying adult while I sign my life away and have a small lesson on how to hold a gun and why it’s awesome to shoot things. I’ve been watching Jackson shoot for at least a half hour to see how it’s done.
Now I’m crouched down on a wooden bench thing, facing a large field I can barely see through the plastic goggles I have to wear. Jackson is practically drooling on the wooden bench next to me and his dad is watching us both, his arms folded across his chest.