Kissing the Shy Guy - Stephanie Street Page 0,18

lifted my chin. "I've been known to do nice things before."

Adam's face relaxed into that easy smile I was beginning to really like. "I'm sorry. That was mean, huh? It caught me off guard, seeing you here."

I knew what he meant exactly. The moment felt surreal. Before the choir room, I'd barely taken notice of Adam in years. He made it easy by being so quiet. I hardly knew anything about him except that he played guitar and was in a band with Jarom Jones and Bash Sinclair, two other guys from our school. And Asher Sloane. Asher was new this year. I'd been interested when I first met him, but his head had already been turned by that tomboy hockey player, Jordan Parks. I didn't get the appeal myself, but they were inseparable.

"I understand." And I did. I had a reputation at school for not being easy to get along with. It didn't bother me. I'd been the one to cultivate it. But I hated the thought of Adam thinking badly of me. We'd shared a moment the other day. One I hadn't been able to forget. Had he?

"I should get going. My mom's going to be wondering what happened to me." That was true enough. And besides, I didn't know what else to say, other than hold me, because I'd been dreaming of reliving the moment when he had held me. If I didn't leave, I just might throw myself at him.

Adam dipped his head and took a step back. "Sure."

I took a few steps, then stopped and looked over my shoulder. He hadn't moved. "I'm sorry for your loss."

One corner of his mouth lifted. "Thanks, Jenna."

7

Adam

Good hell! What was Jenna doing at my great-uncle Tom’s funeral? Serving dinner! That didn’t sound like something Jenna would do. Even after running into her the other day and the connection I felt, I couldn’t stop thinking about Jarom, who detested Jenna, and all the ways he’d verbally ripped her to shreds over the last few years. They had choir together right before lunch when we got together to rehearse. Inevitably, the first ten minutes of our jam sessions were devoted to Jarom, and occasionally Asher, bashing Jenna.

Which was unfortunate. If not for Jarom’s opinions spoiling things for me, I’d be enjoying the memories of those brief moments with Jenna very much. She was beautiful in a way that brought song lyrics to mind, not the poetic kind, but the rock and roll kind. Full lips. Wide hips. Thick, sexy hair. Smooth, satin skin. And eyes that beckoned like a siren. A siren with fangs, if Jarom could be believed.

But it wasn’t just Jarom. Laura, my younger sister, was in choir and drama with Jenna, too. Not only did I have to listen to a daily list of Jenna’s flaws from Jarom at lunch, I heard them all over again at dinner. With all the negative vibes I kept getting about the girl, you’d think I could tear my gaze from her as she walked away from me and into the church, but I couldn’t. Instead, I stood there like an idiot until she disappeared before making my own way inside.

“It’s about time you made it.” My cousin, Kyle. He stood just inside the gymnasium turned banquet hall. Kyle and I were the same age, but I hadn’t seen him for a couple of years. His family had come in from out of town for the funeral and would be leaving the next day.

I rubbed my hand over the back of my neck. “Don’t start. I’ve already heard it from my sisters and Mom.” My dad would wait until we got home to rip me a new one.

Kyle grinned. “What must your life be like? Constantly surrounded by women.”

I shot him a grossed out look. “Don’t make it sound like that. They’re all related by blood or marriage.”

“Still, six sisters.” Kyle shook his head as we walked to a table in the gym, commandeered by more of our cousins. “You must have done something horrible in a former life to deserve that.”

“Shut up, Kyle,” his own sister, Savannah, said before turning to me. “Your mom’s been looking for you.”

“I know,” I sighed, scanning the crowd of my extended family members. “I sent her a text when I got here.”

“She’s talking to my mom in the foyer down the hall,” another of my cousins, Megan, informed me. Megan was older than me by two years.

“Hey, Meg. Good to see you.” I gave