I moved my head towards him, taking a huge gulp of the creamy, chocolatey milkshake.
“Just don’t let him use you.”
“I won’t.”
He smiled weakly at me and reached his hand up to my face. His hand wavered for a second before he brought his eyes back to mine. I couldn’t ignore the way my heart suddenly felt fuller in my chest and how all the oxygen from my body seemed to have disappeared.
His finger reached up and swiped my lip (which probably had leftover milkshake on it), but it lingered there for a moment too long. My eyes snapped to his and we stared at one another, saying nothing.
The air had shifted around us and I felt myself inching towards him. His eyes widened at the same time my breath hit his face, and then we both paused. My body felt hot, my mind was backtracking in my head, but my heart was chanting, “Do it! Do it! Do it!”
Do what? I asked it back, and then I hastily jolted myself backwards, slamming myself onto the back of the seat when it answered, “Kiss him!”
Then I let out a yowl.
“Jesus, Ivy,” Dawson groaned, reaching in the center console for the napkins.
The chili fries were everywhere. My capris were going to be stained from the rust-colored sauce and yellow cheese, and I would likely have burn marks from their simmering heat.
“You are a walking disaster,” he muttered while chuckling and handing me napkins.
I chuckled, too, ignoring the fact that I literally had just tried to kiss my best friend.
“And to think, I wasn’t even walking…” I said, although I was truly screaming on the inside. I was dying. DID I SERIOUSLY JUST TRY TO KISS HIM?
Dawson started to laugh at my little joke and then I nervously joined in. We laughed together for a few seconds and then began stuffing our faces with our food and shakes. It was completely obvious that we were both trying so desperately to cover up what had just almost happened.
…But maybe he didn’t notice?
Chapter Four
Dawson
Chipped red fingernails trailed over my thigh, scratching along the fibers of my jeans, inching closer and closer to my dick. Jessica’s cleavage was in full action, spilling out of her tight V-neck shirt. I stifled a groan, and not the kind that meant I wanted her hand to creep higher. Her hand on my leg was doing absolutely nothing for me right now.
This morning when I squeezed her ass as she breezed by me in the school parking lot, I was more than excited to know that we were going to Shane’s together. She gave me a flirty smile, smacking my hand away but I could see in her eyes that she was egging me on. I knew we would probably end up in my Camaro or somewhere deep within the woods, the smell of a bonfire laced within her blonde strands and her tongue tasting of some cheap beer, coaxing the life right out of me.
So why was I no longer eager?
I knew why, but I would never admit it out loud.
The bonfire was lit so high that I could see the flames before I even rounded the bend of the road. Shane lived with his mom and stepfather, who were currently out of town for his little brother’s baseball tournament. He threw parties every single time they left town, and since they lived out in the middle of Bumfuck Egypt, there were no neighbors to call and rat him out.
Plus, I was pretty sure they knew that he threw parties all the time. They just didn’t care.
The drive to his house was long. It was well beyond the city limits, surrounded by tall oak trees and open fields. Cows mooing in the distance, coyotes howling with the wind. Even through the thirty minute drive and through Jessica’s nonstop blabbering, the only thing I could focus on was Ivy and how she would be here with Andy.
Oh, and let’s not fucking forget that I almost kissed her a few hours ago.
My God, if she hadn’t pulled herself away, I would have kissed the life out of her. I swear it. I could almost taste the chocolate on her mouth. I could almost feel the touch of her soft, heart-shaped lips on mine.
But it was a good thing she pulled away. If she hadn’t and I really did kiss her, everything would have changed.
I know that whenever I did kiss Ivy, there would be no going back. There will be no going back to being just best friends. It’ll be something entirely different and let’s face it: I’m not ready to tackle that obstacle yet; I need to get my shit together first. I just wasn’t good enough for her.
No one was, but especially not me, the dumb jock with parents who were too busy worrying about their other fucked-up son…that is, when they weren’t arguing over money or having a pissing contest over which one could bring home the larger paycheck.
At this point in my life, I had no ambitions. I had no goals. I was pretty much coasting through high school, messing around with any girl who gave me a second glance. Which was more often than not.