gray eyes as wide and curious as could be. When she sat down beside me on the couch, I ruffled her wavy, blonde hair.
“It’s nothing, Kate. Luke wants me to go to this party at Chance’s house, as payment for helping me with my car yesterday. I never said I’d go, he’s taking liberties by telling Evan.”
She stared at me before she burst out laughing. “You expect me to believe this is nothing? You’ve been interested in him for a long time.”
I would never be rid of my old mistake. Who knew having a crush could haunt you for years? I sat back and drank a sip of the coffee. “That was before. I’m not into catching syphilis, or gonorrhea, or whatever the kids are sharing nowadays.”
“People change, Lara. He’ll get tired of the women falling at his feet, soon enough. Obviously, you did something yesterday for him to come back to you.”
“It’s not hard to figure out. I have a vagina and he hasn’t tapped it yet, so he’s trying to find a way in. End of mystery.”
“Ah. So, you’re teasing him, and dragging him along.”
“For the third time, I never said I would go!”
Lips tilting in a sly smirk, she put her arm around me. “Me thinks the lady doth protest too much.” She giggled. “Now, are you going to let me help you find something to wear?”
Feeling defeated, I sighed and gave in. “Sure. Why not? It would do me some good to get out of the house for the night.”
“I can’t believe I’m doing this,” I murmured to myself.
It was nighttime, and I should’ve left for Luke’s house five minutes ago. Checking my makeup one last time, I grabbed my keys and locked up. When I got to his door, a note was taped to the doorbell.
Come on in.
Snatching the note, I opened the door and slammed it shut. Luke was nowhere to be found. “Hey, dumb ass, don’t you know anyone could’ve walked in your house? How stupid can you be?”
He chuckled from down the hall. “Don’t worry, I wasn’t expecting anyone other than you. I poured you a glass of wine. It’s in the kitchen.”
Before I could walk any farther, he appeared around the corner, still wet from his shower, butt-ass naked. He ran a towel through his hair and then slung it over his shoulder. When he lifted his head, his eyes lit up and he nodded in approval at my skin tight blue dress—Kate had made me wear it.
“You look amazing,” he murmured.
“And you look . . . a little underdressed. I thought you told me to be here at six. Or is this how you get all of the ladies, by swinging your prize hog around?”
He leaned against the wall, smirking. “Prize hog, huh? Like what you see, do you?”
“Jesus. Of course, that’s all you would hear.”
“Oh, I heard everything. But it’s nice to know you noticed.” He winked, wrapping the towel around his waist. “I did tell you to be here at six, but I had a few issues with my bike I wanted to fix. Why don’t you drink your glass of wine, and I’ll get dressed.”
This was going to be a long night. “Sounds good to me.” He disappeared down the hall and I made my way into the kitchen. I was going to need more than one glass of wine. “Where’s the bottle?”
“In the refrigerator,” he called.
I fetched the bottle and started to pour myself another glass, but thought better of it. The last thing I needed was to be drunk around him.
“Are you okay?”
When I shut the refrigerator door and found him standing right there, I almost dropped my wine glass. I hadn’t heard him walk up. “I’m fine. I thought I needed a little more to take the edge off, but I don’t think it’s a good idea.”
“Edge off what?” he asked.
I scoffed. “Having to spend time with you.”
“Ouch. You’re starting right out of the gate tonight, I see.” He walked by me and grabbed his truck keys and wallet off the counter.
He was the type to wear ripped jeans stained with grease, but not tonight. His blond hair was gelled in messy spikes and he had on a pair of slacks with a light green polo shirt that matched his eyes. Every woman at the party was going to be all over him.
“Are you ready to go?” he asked, glancing at me over his shoulder.
I set my glass in the sink and nodded. “Let’s