wasn’t getting an attracted to you vibe from Gibs. He was protective—which I enjoyed—and did his part to make it look like we were together. But despite those little moments—like his arm around me at the bonfire, or the way he’d looked at me when we’d been singing together—I felt the force of his friend-zoning.
So I let it go.
I went into his bedroom, where I’d been keeping my things, and changed into a cute summer dress. It was one of my favorites because it never wrinkled, no matter how scrunched up it was in my bag.
Gibson pushed the door open behind me and I turned. Oh dear sweet lord, he was in nothing but a towel, slung low around his hips, his skin damp and glistening. My eyes traced down the length of his body. Past a dusting of chest hair. Solid abs. A trail of body hair that disappeared beneath that towel. A droplet of water slid down his chest, between his pecs, tracing a wet path to his belly button.
Holy shit. With clothes on, Gibson was ruggedly handsome in a don’t approach me kind of way. But half-naked, he was stunning. A glorious specimen of rough, powerful man that sent my hormones into a tailspin of unbridled lust.
“Sorry,” he said, backing out the door. “Didn’t realize you were in here.”
“No, it’s fine,” I choked out, then cleared my throat to try to cover. “I’m done.”
We stood there for a long moment, staring at each other. A slip of his hand and that towel would drop right to the floor. As if powered by a force I couldn’t control, my eyes slid down his body again. Was he hard underneath that towel?
I felt my cheeks warm, and I was not a blusher. He cleared his throat and moved aside. Tucking my hair behind my ear, I darted past him. I needed to get him out of my line of vision before I did something embarrassing. Like licked the water off his neck.
The bedroom door shut behind me and I sank down onto the couch. What was I doing? Gibson and I had been good friends, but I’d never been so crazy around him. When we were younger, even my little teenage crush hadn’t been that big of a deal. I’d liked him, but it hadn’t bothered me that we couldn’t be more. I hadn’t thought about it all that much. Just enjoyed spending time with him.
And that time sure had been special.
15
CALLIE
Thirteen years ago
Moonshine Diner was packed, the smell of sunscreen thick in the air. It seemed like half the population of Bootleg Springs High School had decided to come in from the midday heat, piling into booths for the lunch special—a pepperoni roll and a Pepsi.
I sat with Tanya Varney and Lacey Dickerson, sipping what was left of my Pepsi. It was mostly ice, now. They leaned close to each other, whispering and giggling about the boys in the booth behind us. They lived here year-round, so they knew each other well. But like all the kids in Bootleg, they were always nice to me when I was here summers. Included me like I was one of them. It was one of the reasons I liked it here.
“What about you, Callie?” Tanya asked. “Do you have a boyfriend back at school?”
“No, there aren’t any boys I like enough.” That was partially true. There were plenty of boys at my high school in Virginia who were cute, but none that I liked that way. But it wouldn’t have mattered if I had. My parents would never allow me to date. However, I didn’t like talking about my parents unless I had to, so I left that part out.
“Really?” she asked. “Not a single one?”
I shrugged. “Not really.”
“I bet you could date Amos Sheridan if you wanted to,” Lacey said, lowering her voice. He was sitting right behind us. “He’s so cute and I bet he likes you.”
My eyes flicked to the boys in the other booth. Amos was cute. A lot of the boys in Bootleg Springs were cute. It made hanging out at the lake with all the local kids more fun. The other girls mooned over them, and the boys loved to show off.
Fun or not, I was more of an observer than a participant. I had to be.
“I don’t know, Lacey,” I said. “I bet he likes you more than me.”
“Oh my god, Bowie Bodine just walked in,” Tanya whispered. “He’s so gorgeous.”