“Oooh, I want cheese fries,” Kristen says from the back of the truck as Hunter drives.
“You’ll get whatever I order, wench.”
“Oh please, I have my own money, Demon.” She pushed my shoulder and I faked leaning forward. She couldn’t budge me if she tried, but I let her have a small win. Kristen hadn’t called me by my given name in years. The hate was strong with this one.
“She’s on a date,” Hunter growled.
“Who?” Kristen and I glanced at each other confused before we looked at Hunter.
“Taylor Jane.”
“Wait, so I’m missing bowling so you can check up on the girl you swear you don’t like?” I asked.
“I don’t like her like that.” For some reason I didn’t believe my cousin. He didn’t lie, ever, but it felt like some massive bullshit to me when he continued to mumble. “Fucking ginger-haired soccer player.”
“Ooookay. Well are we going to eat then?” My stomach grumbled. I wasn’t picky either way but I would get a meal out of this somewhere.
“If that’s what you want,” he said noncommittally, pulling into the diner’s parking lot and taking up a spot in the back by the stinky dumpsters.
We got out of the truck and followed Hunter inside, who seemed hell-bent on some mission he refused to elaborate o
n. He stopped short and turned right back around, going outside and almost knocking me over.
“Dude, what the hell?” I called out to him but he brushed me off and shouted he would be inside in a minute—some excuse about re-parking the truck. Now that I knew was bullshit but I wasn’t about to argue with him right then. Kristen and I shrugged his weirdness off and went inside. I saw the obvious culprit: Jeremy Dolan stuffing his face with food.
“Hey buddy.” I sat down next to him, giving him a bro-hug that pretty much said the date was over with a squeeze of my arms around his skinny shoulders. Hunter could grumble from afar but I’d put the physical action behind my words. I wasn’t sure if we were on a rescue Taylor mission or a keep Hunter from killing mission.
“What are you doing here?” Taylor whispered, glaring. She and Kristen picked up the conversation while I chatted with Jeremy over sports in general. The waitress, Joyce, brought over some soup of some kind and I waited for Hunter to materialize since it was his brilliant idea to drive there and interrupt what looked like a completely innocent date between Jeremy and Taylor. This kid wasn’t going to be making the moves on TJ if he knew what was good for him.
“Hey, where’s Hunter?” I asked, looking around.
“I don’t know. He’s your cousin,” Kristen snapped back, aiming her fork at me with a threat to emasculate me if I let her. Sometimes she was a real man-eater.
“Yeah, and he drove us here, wench. Wasn’t he parking the truck?”
Kristen shook her head and Taylor shifted in the crowded booth, pushing Becky out, a panicky look in her eyes.
“Be right back,” she said.
Jeremy watched her get up, looking a little too starry-eyed even for my liking. Kristen glared at me and I nodded, knowing we should probably discuss this strangeness before Hunter, Taylor, or both of them came back to the table.
“Damn she’s hot,” Jeremy gushed, making me angry. Where I had been positive he wouldn’t touch her before, I now knew I was wrong. If I didn’t intervene chances were that Hunter would tear him in half.
“Dude.” I slapped him in the back of the head. “That girl is my neighbor and practically a sister. Watch your mouth.”
Kristen looked at me from across the table, biting her lower lip. I looked at her and shrugged. What did she expect me to say? I wasn’t going to let this guy take advantage of Taylor—and that’s when the light bulb in my head went off. Of course Hunter didn’t like-like Taylor, he probably like-loved her and couldn’t deal with his own shit. That made me chuckle and earned a funny look from Kristen, who probably had no idea. I’d explain it to her later.
I gave it about five minutes before I stood up. “I left my wallet in the truck, be right back.”
“I’ll help you find it,” Kristen said and left with me trailing behind. The whole night was turning into crap, but I would have plenty of fodder to tease Hunter with later.
We were barely out the door and around the corner when she pushed me against the brick wall, my back scraping against brick and mortar. Hands grabbed my shirt, pressing me back, and rose up to get a handhold of my hair. Twin fists anchored me as we stared into each other’s eyes. I hadn’t been this close to Kristen in a good long while, and definitely not in any physical sense. My legs shifted wider as my erection pressed against denim and her eyes dilated in the almost-dark outside the diner. I had a parting fear she might knee me in the balls but smelling her fruity lips so close to mind I was willing to take the chance.
“Kristen, what are you doing?” My head dipped down, lips inching closer to hers and the possibility I could only hope for in the space between us getting hotter by the second.
“Damn that was hot,” she said before locking her sweet tasting lips to mine unexpectedly.
My eyes bugged out before closing and giving in to the heady sensation that was my Pebbles. I wrapped my arms around her, pulling her in closer and tighter. I didn’t want to let go until we were forced to come up for air, gasping with need.