Echoes Between Us - McGarry, Katie Page 0,60
skin of her cheek and neck.
Her eyes darken and she wets her lips. She stares down at my mouth as if she also feels this heat. As if she’s also been thinking about touching and kissing me.
Movement over her shoulder, outside of the car, and my gaze snaps and narrows on the figures on the steps of the porch. Veronica turns her head to look, and she gasps. “No way.”
A click of the door handle and she darts out of the car then shoots across the yard. My gut twists as I watch as Leo Wheeling lazily drops one foot then another down the steps of the porch. He wears a satisfied smirk as he wraps his arms around Veronica.
He hugs her, she hugs him, and jealousy taints my soul. At a deliberate and methodical snail’s pace, I leave the car, walk up the yard and make direct eye contact with the two other guys on the porch. One is Jesse Lachlin, the other, Nazareth Kravitz. Jesse leans against the support beam, Nazareth sits on the top step. Neither of them are the type to glance away. Lucky me. Guess the three of us will have a nice staring contest for as long as it takes because I’m not giving in.
“What are you doing here?” Veronica says as she pulls back from Wheeling, and I hate that she acts as if it’s Christmas.
Lachlin disapprovingly looks to Veronica, and so does Kravitz. That makes me curious. Which one of us are they unhappy about? Me or Wheeling? And if it’s Wheeling, why? The four of them have been friends for nearly as long as I’ve lived in this town.
“I was bored and thought about how much I missed hanging with you so I drove home.” Wheeling touches her, his fingers playing with the ends of her hair, and I want to sock the cocky bastard in the stomach. But I won’t because she’s glowing.
Here’s the sad thing, I have no reason to hate him—other than he just interrupted the best night I’ve had in months. Can’t explain what I’m feeling right now because I don’t do relationships, but I do know that I like Veronica and this guy is getting in the way of my time with her.
“I didn’t think I’d have to wait a few hours to see you, though,” Wheeling says.
“We were working on our project, and I turned off my cell to make sure it didn’t interfere with anything.”
“Good thing you did, too,” I speak for the first time. Wheeling glares in my direction, and he’s as happy to see me as I am to see him. “Otherwise you would have been pissed if your cell rang as you talked to the ghosts.”
I get what I want, Veronica’s smile in my direction. “You’re right. That would have made me angry. By the way, Sawyer, this is Leo. Leo, this is—”
“I know who he is.”
Yeah, I’m sure he does. We know a few people in common. He even dated a few friends of mine. No one has a bad word to say about him other than he chooses to hang with this group over anyone else. I used to think that was a bad thing, but after spending time with Veronica, I’m understanding I need to reevaluate a few things about life.
“Play nice, Leo,” Veronica mutters under her breath, and the ticked-off glare she gives him gives me a fantastic high.
“Text me when you want to go over that recording, Veronica,” I say. “I’ll be downstairs when you’re ready.” She didn’t kiss me tonight, maybe she’ll never kiss me, but unlike him, I’ll see her Monday and each day after that. And Wheeling? He’ll head back to college.
From over Veronica’s head, Wheeling’s eyes flicker with rage and I can’t help the smirk as I jog up the stairs.
I go inside, unlock the door to my apartment, flick on the living room light and my high takes a nosedive. A curse word leaves my mouth as I spot the television on, a corkscrew on the coffee table, two bottles of wine and a lipstick-stained glass that contains a backwash amount of red liquid. On the couch, Mom is a passed-out and snoring lump.
She’s in her white silk dress shirt and black dress pants with high heels off. Hair falls out of her slicked-back bun and her mascara is smudged. I pick up one of the bottles, shake it and it’s empty. The other one is empty as well.
“Great,” I say