Foreplay (The Ivy Chronicles #1)(70)

Only it wasn’t working. It wasn’t there. Not with      him.

I lifted my lips from his throat and stared down at      him, stunned, horrified. He blinked, looking up at me, his deep brown eyes      glassy with desire. “Pepper? Everything okay?”

I shook my head, words stuck in my throat.

“Hunter! Lila and Pepper!” Mrs. Montgomery called      from the base of the stairs. “We’re putting up the desserts. Want any      first?”

Annoyance flashed across Hunter’s face at the      interruption. “No thanks, Mom!” His gaze zeroed back on me. He brushed his thumb      against my cheek. “Pepper?”

“I—I need to go home.”

“Now?”

I nodded and climbed off him. “Yes. I gotta get up      early to meet Lila.”

He rose to his feet, one hand stretching out for me      like he wanted to touch me but was unsure. “Are we okay?”

I tucked a strand of hair behind my ear, avoiding      his gaze. He actually sounded worried. “Yeah. We’re good.”

“Is it that guy from Gino’s? Reece?”

My gaze snapped back to him. “Why do you ask      that?”

“I saw how you were together.”

“We’re not together,” I snapped, too quickly      probably.

“You’re more than friends. I could see that      much.”

“No,” I bit out. “We’re not.”

He nodded slowly, as if trying to accept that.      “Okay. Good. Then I—” He stopped and dragged a hand through his hair. “Then I      want to give us a shot, Pepper. I’ve been thinking about you a lot the last      couple of weeks. I know it’s tricky considering you and my sister are best      friends, but I think it’s worth the risk.”

This was it. Finally. He was offering what I’d      always wanted. A chance to be with him. The rest, the fireworks I’d felt with      Reece, they would come. They had to. I refused to believe otherwise.

“I want to try, too,” I said slowly, the words      withering something inside me. What was wrong with       me? Where was the elation?

He reached for my arm, slid his fingers down, and      captured my hand in his. “Well, all right then. Let’s do this. I’m going to      court you, Pepper.”

“Court me?”

“Yeah. Like you deserve.”

God. It was like a      dream. Those words. From Hunter. Directed at me.

I knew I should say something. “Oh,” I managed to      get out.

He smiled, seemingly unbothered at my lack of      enthusiasm.

Holding my hand, he walked me outside to Mrs.      Lansky’s car parked in their circular driveway. I unlocked the door.

“I’ll pick you up Sunday morning. Eight o’clock      okay?”

I nodded, accepting his quick peck on the lips.

He opened the driver’s door for me and I slid      inside. Buckling my seat belt, I started the car and waved good-bye.

Pepper, you home already?” Gram poked her head in my room. I didn’t      bother telling her I’d been home for over an hour and it was already eleven      thirty. Gram slept off and on throughout the day like a cat. I didn’t know if it      was her age, the pain of her arthritis, or the myriad of medicines she took      keeping her up all hours.

“Yes, Gram. I got home a little while ago.”

She stood at the threshold in her housecoat. The      kind that snaps up the front. She still wore one of those. I’m not sure what      store even sold them anymore, but she seemed to have an endless supply of      them.

Her heavily lined mouth worked in an exaggerated      manner before speaking, her tongue darting to moisten her lips. I asked her once      why she did that and she said her medication made her mouth dry. “Did you have a      good time at the Montgomerys’?”

“Yes, Gram. They all said to tell you Happy      Thanksgiving.”

“Ah, that’s nice. Well, good night, dear.” Gram’s      feet shuffled down the hall, leaving me alone again. I stared at my ceiling,      watching the spinning blades of the fan. That sound had lulled me to sleep for      so many years. Years when I had lain in this bed fantasizing over becoming Mrs.      Hunter Montgomery. And now we were dating. He wanted to court me. Take that, former cheerleaders      of Taylor High School.