Bending Under Pressure (11 page)

My eyes snap up to hers in surprise. I never expected her to repeat my words back to me, to be forward with what she wants. I’m glad she did because I
really
like it. Without any hesitation, I press my mouth to hers. The knuckles of her fist touch my stomach and I tense because I feel that light, small touch
everywhere
. I attempt to roll on top of her, to feel as much of her as I can, but I forget the fact that we’re in a hammock.

We flip over, causing her to shriek with surprise. I grip Haley’s hips and take the brunt of the fall as I land on my back with her on top of me.

“Oh, God,” I groan from more than just the pain of hitting the hard ground. “I’m sorry, Hales.”

When I lift my head to look at her, she starts laughing. Gut-busting laughter falls out of her as she rests her forehead against my chest, where her hands are resting. I can’t help but chuckle myself.

“I...I...” she tries to speak, lifting her head as her giggles settle down. “That was almost better than the kiss.”

“Seriously? My body doesn’t agree with that.”

Her eyes widen. “Oh! Are you okay?” She slides off me and out from under the hammock.

“Yeah,” I answer as I follow her. “Glad I could make you laugh, though.” I stand and hold out a hand, which she takes, and I help her up. I feel like an idiot. What kind of dummy forgets they’re on a hammock and tilts it over when he’s on it with a cute girl?

Haley glances down at our hands, and I wonder if she’s thinking the same thing I am. She lifts her head. “I think there’s only one way to salvage today.”

My interest perks. “What way is that?”

A slow grin lifts her lips. “A visit to Dead Man’s Curve.”

She’s a genius. “Let’s go.” We walk back into the house for my keys and wallet and when we pass through the living room where my parents are, I say, “We’re going for a ride.”

“Don’t be out too late,” Dad tells me.

“We won’t.”

I can feel Haley’s excitement grow the closer we get. When I turn onto Dead Man’s Curve, she speaks.

“Can I steer again?”

I grin. “I’ve created a monster, haven’t I?”

She smiles. “Yes.”

“Do you want your first lesson?”

“No, I just want to steer tonight.”

I nod and unbuckle my seatbelt. Haley quickly gets out and runs around while I move my seat back and adjust my steering wheel. She slides into my lap with a grin. This time, there is no hesitation as her hands grab the wheel. After making some minor adjustments, we’re ready.

“Count us down, Hales,” I tell her, flexing my fingers on the stick.

“Three, two, one,” she rushes.

I laugh as we take off. Remembering she loves the speed, I get us going fast as soon as possible, so it doesn’t have to end sooner than it has to. Haley is much more relaxed than before. Our stomachs drop like clockwork as we drive over the hills and down the other side. Before long, I have to downshift before we get to the curve.

“No,” Haley says softly and I can hear the pout in her voice. “It’s over too soon. We need to find a road that’s longer and doesn’t have curves. Can we go again?” she finishes, glancing over her shoulder at me.

“Eyes on the road, Hales.” I chuckle when she quickly rolls her eyes and faces forward again. “And I’m afraid not. We need to get back so you’re not late getting home.” I stop at the end of the road for the stop sign. “You should get back in your seat. The last thing we need is for someone to see us like this.” I unbuckle the seatbelt.

Haley surprises me when she doesn’t get out. Instead, she turns a little in my lap. The motion makes me want to groan as all the dirty thoughts I’ve had since I met her start bombarding me.

“The guy who gets me to sneak out, go racing, and lets me sit in his lap while we drive at insane speeds wants to make sure I get home on time?” she smirks.

“Yes, because how can we hang out when you aren’t sneaking out if you’re grounded?”

“I guess you have a point,” she sighs in agreement.

I grin. “Then get your butt over there.”

“Fine.” She opens the door and runs around the car.

Once she’s inside and is safely buckled in, we head back to my house. It doesn’t take us long, but it’s too soon. We get out and I walk with her to her car. I open the door for her and she turns to face me, turning her keys over in her hands.

“So, you’re coming to my matches tomorrow?”

“Yep.”

“Keelan,” we turn to see Cam standing on the porch. “Glad you’re back. I need your help whenever you’re done.”

“All right.”

He disappears inside and Haley says, “I guess I should go then. Thanks for today.”

I want to kiss her again, but I refrain because as much as I hate it, I don’t have the courage right now. Maybe it’s because Cam interrupted the flow of things. “I’ll text you later,” I say before kissing her cheek.

She nods before getting into her car. I watch her leave before going inside and to find out what Cameron needs my help with.

“H
ey, Haley.”

I smile as I take a seat next to Seth. “Hey.”

“Did you have any trouble with the worksheet?”

Worksheet? “Crap,” I mutter as it hits me. “I totally forgot about it.” I pick my bag up from the floor and unzip it, searching for the piece of paper. I think I put it in my binder and yep, there it is. The homework I was supposed to complete and instead was too busy contemplating my dad’s text and then hanging out with Keelan. Dad said he felt bad and wanted to meet me for dinner. I told him I couldn’t because I had a tennis match. The good thing about telling the truth is it bought me time.

“Here.” Seth slips his paper onto my desk. “You have two minutes.”

I glance at the clock and see he’s right. Two minutes until class starts. “Thank you.” Quickly, I jot down the short answers, purposely getting two wrong because I’m paranoid that it’ll be obvious. It probably wouldn’t because we just had to pick words from a box and match them, but still. With a smile, I return his paper. “You’re a lifesaver.”

Seth grins. “Any time, Haley.” He flicks his eyes to the front of the room before leaning toward me a bit. “My birthday party is a pool party. It’s Sunday if you want to come. It’ll be the last fun summer thing before it gets too cold,” he adds as if he needs to convince me. When I don’t immediately agree, he continues, “Everyone will be there.”

“Like Jess?” I definitely wouldn’t want to go alone. Plus, if Jess is there, then I can bet a certain pair of brothers will also be there.

“Yep.”

“Tell me the time and place and I’ll be there.”

His grin widens. “Sweet.”

The teacher claps her hands to get our attention and class begins. About halfway through, Seth rips the top corner off his sheet, writes something down, and passes it to me. He gave me his number to text him and he’ll text me the details in case I don’t ride with Jess. Honestly, I thought things might be weird with him after he asked me out, but they haven’t been. I’m so thankful because he’s my fourth period buddy. I have Keelan in first, Jess in second, everyone in third, and then I sit near Seth and do group work with him in fourth.

He’s pretty cool. If I weren’t hoping for something to happen with Keelan, I probably would have gone out with him. Is it bad that I turned him down because of that? Should I have said yes because Keelan and I aren’t technically something? But I think it would have put a damper on things with Keelan if I went out on a date with Seth. Obviously, right? Ugh, I don’t need to overthink this. It’s done and over.

Once the bell rings, I quickly grab my things and head to my car. We have ten minutes to make it to the courts. Nervousness flutters in my stomach. Keelan is supposed to watch today. Usually, I don’t pay attention to whoever is watching, like my mom, my dad, or Walter, because it distracts me. How in the world am I going to focus with him here? How can I acknowledge him while ignoring him?

There’s no time to think about it.

Everyone seems to arrive at the same time. Coach Spell sends us straight to our stretching and only a few laps before he sends us, four a court, to rally for warming up. Jess stops to wave and blow a kiss to Cam when she notices they arrive. I only smile at Keelan. His returning grin is heart stopping.

“So, how many times have you kissed Keelan?” Jess asks as the ball is returned to us.

I completely miss the hit. “Jess!” I glare at her. “How can I get ready for tennis if you keep asking me that?” I ignored her when she asked the moment we got here and that has only made her ask me more. She’s relentless.

She shrugs nonchalantly. “I’m curious. Cam said you were over there again last night.”

I groan. Cameron has a big mouth. I swivel on my feet to face where the guys are sitting on the bench on the other side of the fence. “Stop telling her everything, Cam!”

The brothers look confused, and it makes Jess laugh. “Just tell me.”

“I don’t want to,” I say for the millionth time. Kissing Keelan is one thing, but telling people, even my new closest friend, is another thing. It’s private.

“You don’t think he hasn’t told Cam and that I could easily find out anyway?”

I falter during my return, the ball hitting the net. Would Keelan tell his brother about that? Did he tell him about the hilarious way we fell out of the hammock?

“Hold your freak out,” Jess laughs. “I was kidding. Wow, you really don’t want anyone to know what you two do, do you?”

I force a laugh to hide that I was indeed freaking out. It’s just the thought of someone else knowing and being included in what’s already an intense moment is scary. “I’d rather it be on my own terms if I do discuss it,” I say instead because that’s part of the truth as well.

Jess nods. “Okay. I’ll patiently wait on all the dirty details of you and Keelan then. It’s been forever since he’s had a girlfriend. and I didn’t like her, so it’s not like I could hear about his love life from her.”

“Jess?”

“Yeah?”

“Please shut up.”

She laughs and we focus on the job at hand. Finally. Coach Spell calls us together for his pregame speech. It’s nothing special or motivational. He simply reminds us each of our strengths and to do our best.

My first set goes okay. My opponent wins it though. It’s as if I’m off-kilter or something. My swings are a moment too late, my aims slightly off, and my feet too slow. I get killed in the second set. I try to remind myself that the girl is simply good, so it’s possible my play isn’t as bad as it seems, she’s just that good. Her serves are strong and fast. Her returns are spot on and I’m running back and forth across the court like crazy because she keeps hitting them on opposite ends when she can. Plus, every so often, she manages to hit it so it lands close to the net on my side. I suck at the front of the net! And then, there’s the disaster of the doubles match. I’m so out of sync with Jess and we get clobbered.

My shoulders droop after shaking hands with the winners. Of course, I have to lose in front of Keelan. My eyes widen when I turn to see not only my father but also Carly standing next to Cameron and Keelan.
They’re talking!
What is he doing here? Why is he talking to Keelan? Why did he bring Carly? How can I escape? I’m overwhelmed by all my feelings. Anger. Hurt. Envy. But I have to admit to a twinge of happiness.

“Haley?”

I snap out of my stare and turn to Jess frantically. “Please, please, please find a way to get Keelan away from him.”

“Who is it?”

“My dad!”

“Aside from the obvious, we don’t want him around Keelan...why? You’re really freaking out, Haley.”

“Because I’m not talking to him!” I rush out in a whisper. “He cheated on my mom, and that girl is part of his new family. Tell me how I can leave without anyone noticing.”

Jess gives me sad eyes as she wraps an arm around my shoulders and we begin to walk to the court exit. “We’re in wide open spaces. There’s no way to leave without them noticing, especially when they’ve already spotted us.”

As if this couldn’t get any worse, Walter and Mom are standing near Coach Spell, who is gathering everyone around. They aren’t frowning because I lost. They know Dad is here. I quickly run to them first.

“I didn’t invite him,” I blurt out. “Can you get rid of him? Please? I’m not ready, Mom.”

“Haley!” Coach Spell yells.

Crap. I’m the only one not there. I give one last pleading look at Mom and Walter before jogging away. I stand so I can see what happens next. Mom and Walter exchange a few words as Keelan, Cam, Dad, and Carly get closer. My heart hammers faster in my chest as Walter walks over to Dad; Cam and Keelan break away from him. Why isn’t Mom talking to him? Why did she send Walter?

My lungs stop working as I hold my breath, watching my stepdad shake my dad’s hand. He’s most likely introducing himself. I can spot the moment when Dad realizes who he is, when he spots Mom standing a few feet away with her stony glare. Dad straightens his posture. He glances my way, and I feel like a deer in the headlights, frozen under his gaze. He’s too far away for me to really read his face.

Then, he nods and walks back to his car with Carly in tow. Coach Spell dismisses us. I think I surprise everyone when I run over to wrap my arms around Walter’s neck and hug him. It wasn’t until I was faced with seeing Dad that I realized I’m so not ready to deal with what happened yet.