Waiting on the Sidelines (Waiting on the Sidelines #1)(66)
“Oh, that’s funny, huh?” he said, devilishly. And then my cone was on my cheek before I knew what hit me. I was picking up my napkin, laughing at our small food fight, when he grabbed my hand and stopped me.
“I got it,” he smiled softly. “My fault, after all.”
And with the most tender touch he whiped the drip of cream from the side of my cheek and down to my top lip. He put a little water on his napkin and then slowly cleaned the stickiness away, his eyes burning through mine the entire time. Seconds later his mouth was on mine, and I lost myself for a bit in the moment.
It was different from kissing Sean, because I’ll admit there was a part of me that was seriously attracted to Tyler. And it was much harder than my kiss with Reed had been. I felt the force of his tongue and the strength in his lips as he sucked on my lower lip just a little. His hands clutched my back and he moved his fingers to the back of my head through my hair. It was intense, and I liked it. But it still somehow paled compared to my one small kiss with Reed.
I kissed Tyler once again when he walked me to my car. In fact, I didn’t make it on the road until nearly 11. My head was swimming while I drove home. I didn’t turn the radio on, instead opting to let the breeze from the open windows lull my thoughts. I drove carefully, still a little nervous about driving this desert stretch at night. I was pulling from my small road onto the gravel slowly, not wanting to stir up much noise this late, when my headlights brought him into full focus.
Reed was sitting on the back of his Jeep, his feet swinging back and forth a bit. He was eating sunflower seeds and spitting them every so often. I shut off my lights and killed the engine, reaching in for my bag. I decided to come back out later for my note and flower, not wanting to rub it in his face.
“Uh, stalk people much?” I half joked as I walked up my driveway.
He swung his feet to the ground and went to his Jeep door to open it just a little, turning to meet my eyes. “Just wanted to make sure you made it home safe,” he said plainly. “I know you haven’t driven at night much.”
“Oh,” I swallowed, still half in shock and strangely wanting to run into his arms and just let him hold me tightly.
“Date go well?” he asked, looking ahead to my house, still emotionless. I knew he was avoiding eye contact, not wanting to be able to read me.
“Yeah… I uh, I had steak,” was all I could seem to say. Stupid, Nolan.
“Steak’s good, I guess,” he smiled a little weakly, turning to look me in the eyes again. Moments passed and I was fighting internally to get myself inside when he continued. “So, did he … did he kiss you goodnight,” he asked uncomfortably, fighting to meet my gaze.
I didn’t want to answer. I just blinked a few times, chewing my bottom lip and finally shrugged, not wanting to lie but also not wanting to make it a big deal.
“Hmmm, ok then,” he said climbing into his Jeep and starting up his engine. I just stood there meekly. He turned back to look at me one last time before driving away, and just when I thought he was about to go, he said one last thing. “Did you get your rose?”
I nodded and he smiled faintly then drove away as something entirely new washed over my entire body. The rose was from Reed.
18. Shake Some Sense
My friends were amazingly different. Becky was overjoyed when I told her that Reed had given me a rose. Sarah was indignant and insisted that he owed me bouquets before I even breathed in his direction again. And Sienna, she was more interested in the two tiny words he had written. “You’re Amazing.”
With the three of them around to work out my heartache and romantic dilemmas, there wasn’t much left for me to think about, which was refreshing. School had been in session for a couple weeks and we were setting up for the pep rally and booster barbeque. I managed to luck out with only one class with Reed. Granted, it was literature, so it was usually in a block and longer than most other classes. But thanks to the power of seating charts, I was able to put myself on the other side of the room.
Reed was continuing to flirt with every girl in school. I couldn’t seem to make sense of his note to me, the fact that he waited until midnight in front of my house just to see me home safe and then his behavior with these other girls. His partying was still a little out of control. I had skipped the last desert party, but Becky let it slip that he had drank heavily and ended up making out with two of the cheerleaders on the same night. Apparently the two cheerleaders weren’t swift enough to realize that he was bouncing between the two of them, each leaving the party thinking Reed was their one and only boyfriend.
As amusing as the scene played out in my head, it also broke my heart just a little more. Yes, I was still sort of dating Tyler. I wasn’t really sure what to call us, but he had texted me every night since our summer jobs ended and he drove out twice just to take me out for MicNic burgers.
When Buck arrived with his large truck filled with boxes of sports drinks and bags of ice, we all walked over to help him start unloading. I hadn’t seen him since he helped me with the car, and I honestly missed the man.
“There’s my girl,” he said, coming over and giving me a big bear of a hug. Always in a sports coat, Buck was also showing off his red and blue dress shirt. This would look hideous on anyone else, but Buck could pull it off. He was dressed in his University of Arizona colors for tonight’s festivities. I had heard that their scouts were joining him for the rally to talk over a few things. I knew this one mattered to him more than most.