Late to the Party - Kelly Quindlen Page 0,81

kiss? Not tonight, but at some point?”

In the strangest, most wondrous way, as we sat there with our hands intertwined on her knee, I was suddenly calm. Not outwardly—my arms were shaking—but in my heart, in my stomach, in the places where I knew myself best.

“Yeah,” I said breathlessly. “And actually, I would love to kiss you right now.”

Lydia broke into a grin. “Really?”

“Really.”

She sat there, her eyes dancing back and forth between mine, and in a crazy twist I never would have believed of myself, I was the one who leaned forward. There was one infinite split second where I almost froze again, but I pressed my way forward, and then I kissed her, softly and carefully, right there on the front porch steps.

It was poetry. It was the top of a roller coaster. It was electric, sweet-toothed magic.

“Okay?” Lydia asked, checking my expression.

“Better than okay,” I said, looking at her mouth. “That was … that was…” I couldn’t stop nodding. “Um, yes. Wow.”

She laughed and tugged me toward her again, and this time, she kissed me. I watched her eyelashes flutter when she pulled away.

“Yep,” she whispered, with her eyes still closed, “yep, that was definitely a wow.”

18

My parents left early Saturday morning, their car loaded up with suitcases and bottles of wine. Grant and I stood sleepily in the driveway, watching them pack the car, both of us murmuring our agreement when they told us to keep the house clean, to be nice to each other, and to call them if anything went wrong.

“And Codi, don’t forget to pick Grant up tomorrow morning,” my mom said for the fifth time. “Grant, be good at Darin’s house, and keep your phone on for your sister.”

“Yeah,” Grant and I said together.

The moment our parents were gone, Grant and I went back inside to sleep. We didn’t talk again until I was driving him to his friend Darin’s house to spend the night. It was late afternoon by this point, and I was itching to drop him off so I could head home and get things ready for the party.

“Are you friends with Ricky again?” Grant asked as we cruised down suburban roads.

“Oh,” I said, surprised by the sudden question. “Yeah, I am. We made up and everything’s cool now.”

“Cool,” Grant said. “What about Maritza and JaKory?”

“Um…” I breathed out, switching the radio for something to do. “I still haven’t talked to them, but I’m gonna call them tomorrow.”

“Good,” he said matter-of-factly. “You don’t want this drama to get out of control.”

I burst out laughing. My little brother sounded like a friendship consultant, determined to keep me in check. Grant frowned at me, confused by the laughter, but then a smile stole over his face. He changed the radio station back to the previous one and kicked up his feet like his work here was done.

* * *

Saturday night arrived, dark and hot and deceptively humble. I cleared space in the garage refrigerator while waiting for Ricky’s truck to come rumbling up the street, my hair still warm from the curling iron and my cotton dress sticking at my hips. Lydia had already texted that she’d be coming with the rest of our friends, and I was bursting with the need to see her, to touch her, to steal a few secret moments in the heat of the party.

Ricky looked handsome when he got out of his truck. His short-sleeve button-up was fitted against his muscles and he wore an impressive watch I’d never seen before. There was a nervous energy about him, but he grinned and pulled me into a hug.

“Cute dress,” he said, wrinkling his nose. “Who you trying to show off for?”

“Look who’s talking. I could smell your aftershave before you even opened the door.”

He laughed, but there was hesitation in his eyes. “Is it too much?”

“No,” I said, hugging him again. “Tucker will love it.”

We stocked the refrigerator with cases of beer supplied by Leo; our other friends had promised they were bringing more. I closed off the bedrooms upstairs, making a mental note to tell Leo to keep people out of them. We queued up Ricky’s playlist—he said there was no way he was letting me pick the music—and synced up his phone to my parents’ sound system. Then we had nothing to do but wait.

They arrived slowly. Samuel and Terrica got there first, bounding in with another case of beer; Leo and his cousin ambled in after that, scanning the house for the best