Dating Trouble (Grover Beach Team Book 5) (22 page)

Ted eyed him from behind the bar, but Ethan seemed oblivious to it. Or he ignored it on purpose. Playing hard to get? Well, I had no idea how guys ticked, so maybe that was the way to go.

Reaching him, I leaned down and whispered in his ear, “Who are you texting?”

“Whoa!” Ethan almost jumped out of his chair. “Don’t you sneak up on me like that, woman!”

“Why? Did you think it was Ted?” I teased.

He grimaced. “Not funny.”

“Okay, sorry. So who are you texting?”

Pressing his lips together, he made a deliberating
hmmm
sound. “My brother.”

“Why?”

“He asked how the afternoon was going.”

Oh my God! “You did not tell him what I said before!”

Ethan began to smile, which made me glare at him. “Give me that phone and let me see,” I demanded, reaching for his cell, but he pulled it out of my reach way too fast.

“Does the term
privacy of correspondence
ring a bell?” Laughing, he pushed his cell into his pocket. “Drink up, we’re leaving.”

“We are?” My hazelnut deluxe was only half finished. “Why the rush?”

“Things aren’t working the way I’d hoped.” His eyes flickered to the bar and back at me. “It wasn’t a good idea to bring you for cover.”

So my toilet time didn’t get him anywhere. Shame. “Okay. What do you want to do instead? And don’t suggest
Mario Kart
. You know I’m not going anywhere near your house right now.”

Ethan rolled his eyes. “I wasn’t going to suggest that. Let’s just go find another place. There’s a nice bar in Pismo Beach. We can grab some food, and they have great music.” He barely gave me time to finish my coffee—I downed half the beverage in one go—as he’d already risen from his chair and tossed some money on the table.

“Bye, Ted!” I shouted, while being dragged out the door by Ethan.

“See ya!” his answer drifted after us.

Outside the café, I dug my heels into the asphalt and stopped Ethan, nailing him with a hard stare. “What the hell, Ethan!”

He spun around to me, one eyebrow lifted.

“It’s okay if you don’t want to sit in there with me, but you could have at least said goodbye to Ted. From his looks, he really could have a thing for you. Why do you want to ruin this?”

Three deep breaths later, Ethan was still staring at my face. Then he bit his lip and cut a glance at the sky. “You’re right. I’m an idiot.” He let go of my hand and walked back through the door.

“What are you doing?” I hissed after him.

He shrugged and glanced at me over his shoulder. “Giving him my number…I think.”

Refusing to follow him and destroy his courage, I waited until the door opened again and he came out, wearing a smug grin.

My eyes grew wide. “You really gave him your number?”

A curt nod.

My mouth curved up with excitement. “Awesome! What did he say?”

“No way. I’m not talking to you about this,” Ethan warned in a voice that spelled:
No further questions.

Silently cheering for my friend, I respected his wish. Maybe he’d tell me more once Ted really called him.

He ushered me into his car and drove off without another look back.

On the way here, I hadn’t noticed it so much, but the inside of the car soon started to take on a very yummy scent. A smell that even my butterfly friends remembered. “Did you borrow your brother’s cologne?” I asked as we took a turn onto the road parallel to the ocean. “You smell like Chris.”

Ethan cast me a quick glance, one corner of his mouth tilted up. “Good?”

My answer was a tiny nod.

His grin grew a little wider, self-assured. “You said the other day that you liked how he smelled. I thought it couldn’t hurt to try it. You know…for Ted.”

And now, all that good scent was wasted on me instead of him. What a pity. “Do you think he’ll call you?”

“I don’t know.” Ethan shrugged. The sun was slowly dipping into the sea. The last rays breaking through the windshield made him squint. He put on his sunglasses and tossed me another cheeky look. “A text would be cool.”

A cozy warmth came up with the memory of how Chris’s texts made my heart flutter each time my cell beeped. It would be so sweet if my friend here could sample the same excitement. Hidden in the fabric of my skirt, I crossed my fingers for him.

The bar Ethan took me to was cozy. Spot lamps cast a warm glow over the entire place which was furnished in wood dark as bitter chocolate. Several lights were tinted in purple and blue but most of them shone in a friendly yellow. Right from the first glimpse inside, I loved it.

The actual bar at the right side and the dining area to the left were separated by a wide dance floor. A few couples twisted across the parquet.

“Agh,” Ethan groaned as we walked around the couples, finding a place to sit. “Oldies night.”

“What? I like it. And look at us”—I made my skirt sway a little—“we seem to have picked just the right clothes for it, too.”

Sliding into a green upholstered booth, Ethan grabbed the menu. “I’m hungry. Are you?”

“You always are.” I laughed and snatched the colorful, laminated card from him. Nothing on it jumped out at me. “I think I’ll go with fries.”

Signs on each wall said that this was a self-service place, so Ethan headed for the bar. He returned with a tray carrying two Cokes, a cheeseburger, and extra fries. Pushing the basket toward me, he started munching his burger and snuck a French fry from my side every now and then.

Done with the meal, he wiped his fingers on a napkin. “You’re not really a big eater, are you? I noticed when you stayed over for dinner.”

I took a sip of Coke and grinned. “I like to save up my quantum of calories for liquor-filled pralines. They’re my soft spot.”

“I thought I was your soft spot…” Ethan’s voice was so low that I wasn’t sure if he meant for me to hear that, especially when his gaze was focused on the empty fries basket instead of me. But he sure noticed my baffled stare when he looked up. He shrugged, pressing his lips together, and waggled his brows once in a sheepish way.

This date was starting to get a little weird. Not at all like what I’d expected. Something was on Ethan’s mind, I could tell when he captured my gaze, but he wouldn’t come out with what was going on with him. Instead, and probably to break the awkward silence, he reached under the table and pulled playfully on my skirt. “Does that swing?”

A startled laugh burst out of me. “What?”

Ethan rose from his seat, shrugged out of his jacket, and pulled me out of the booth. “They’re playing your song. Let’s dance.”

I recognized the oldie that had just started to play, even though I couldn’t put a name on it. Why this would be my song eluded me. “I—agh… Wait!”

But Ethan didn’t waste a minute. Still holding my hand, he dragged me to the dance floor, where he twirled me under his arm and caught me in a light embrace.

“I can’t dance. My knee. You know that. And why is this my song?”

“Don’t get your panties in a twist. Just move your hips a little.” With a cheeky grin, Ethan pulled me toward his hard body. “And because it’s called ‘Runaround Sue.’” One hand on my waist and holding my right hand with his other, he started to sway with me.

The catchy rhythm took only a second to grow on me. Leaving the lead to Ethan, I laughed out loud as he danced me across the floor. With a gentle push, he made me twirl away from him. Knees bent just slightly and legs far apart and teetering, he came twisting after me in the sexiest way.

The guy was…gay.
God, why do you hate me so?
As smoothly as possible, I twisted, too, loving how my skirt fanned out with that move. Ethan snapped his fingers and I clapped my hands left and right as he twisted in front of me. His gaze was hot on me as he crooked his finger, beckoning me to him. My hand stretched out, he clasped it, and we moved together once more.

His toned body grinding against mine was more than I could take. Mouth watering, I soon began feeling his skin where our hands joined. His hand was warm like Chris’s, heating mine, too. And his smell today…I swear, I was falling in love with Ethan all over again.

It got worse when the groovy song ended and a slow one began. Ethan didn’t let me slip away from him. If anything, he held me tighter, adjusting the movements to the new rhythm of “Stand By Me.”

Somewhat shyly, I placed my hand on his shoulder, my cold fingers brushing over the warm skin on his neck. For a brief moment, he closed his eyes, smiling, and I could see a shiver slithering through him. When he looked at me again, his gaze never wavered from mine. The smile stayed, growing a little more intense coupled with that stare.

My breathing came faster. First I thought it was because of the way the twist had me worked up, but the truth was, it only had to do with being so close to this guy. The hand he’d put at the small of my back started to stroke over the fabric of my dress. A pleasant warmth spread out from there.

Moments later, Ethan lifted my other hand to his neck too, then let go, skimming his fingers down my arm and side until he held me around the waist with both arms. His forehead dipped to mine, and still he trapped me with his intense gaze. His warm breath caressed my face. Mere seconds, and he was going to kiss me.

“Ethan…” I whispered hoarsely.

“Where?”

“What?”

He quirked his brows. “Never mind.”

My last thought was shot to hell as his lips touched mine. So tenderly and softly, like I’d imagined them to feel from the first moment I’d met Ethan on the soccer field. But I’d already sampled his brother’s lips—they’d tasted like heaven to me. Nothing in this world could ever compare to my first kiss with Chris.

Guilt filled my chest up to the base of my throat. Even though I closed my eyes and welcomed how his mouth molded to mine, I knew I had to stop this. I shouldn’t be kissing Ethan…but it felt so right.

Still swaying gently, my arms wrapped around his shoulders and neck tighter, my fingers sliding down his skin until they clasped the collar of his shirt.

Wait—what?

There was something beneath it.

Stiffening, I felt the set of silver chains. My eyes shot open. “Chris—”

He didn’t lift his gaze to mine, but he reached for my hands, taking them away from his neck and lacing our fingers. “Don’t think about it, Sue, just don’t,” he begged in a quiet whisper and placed another tender kiss on my lips.

My hands trapped in his, he held them prisoner behind my back. Caged in his arms and my body flush to his, I didn’t know how to get out of here…and I didn’t even know if I wanted to. My system was on alert down to the very last cell, my blood pumping hard and hot through my veins. I’d missed his touch, his smell, and his kiss so much the past two weeks that running from it now felt impossible.

Teasing my mouth open, Chris slid his tongue past the seam of my lips, tentatively stroking mine. Fireworks exploded with that little touch. I was in a whole different world, where no regret existed. No shame and no thought about tomorrow. Only Chris…me…and ten thousand butterflies.

Closing my eyes, I kissed him back.

THE REALIZATION CAME with the end of the song. He’d deceived me. Lied to me. He made me say things…

Oh hell, he’d made me tell
him
about my feelings for him!

I broke free from the kiss. Chris still had his hands on my hips, but I yanked them off me and took a step back. For the length of time it would take a feather to drop, our gazes were still locked in that world where only the two of us existed. As he came toward me and slowly reached out, I left that world.

“Don’t touch me!” I hissed.

His hand froze midair. “Sue—”

It was too late for that. Too late for any explanation. I spun on my heel and stormed out.

My dad’s new apartment was across town. He could be here in five minutes. I had my phone out and rang him before Chris caught up with me on the street.

“Susan—please let me explain!”

The cell pressed to my ear, I swirled around. He held his jacket clasped in one hand—the thing that took him the five extra seconds to follow me.

“I don’t need your explanation. You’re a bloody—”

“Hello?” my dad’s voice was in my ear.

“Dad? Hi. I’m sorry to bother you, but could you pick me up at the”—I lifted my head and read the sign above the door—“Merry Melody? It’s a bar across town at…” Heck, where was a street sign?

“I know where it is. Are you okay, sweetheart? You sound stressed.”

“I’m fine.” Damn, and now Chris had made me lie to my dad, too. “Just a misunderstanding. I need a ride home.”

“Stay where you are. I’ll be there in a few minutes.”

I hung up, still holding the phone for support as I turned back to Chris.

He looked at me with sad eyes. “You didn’t have to call your dad. I can take you home.”

“Do you honestly think I’ll ever get into the same car with you again? You goddamn liar!”

“Please. It’s really not what—”

“—it looks like?” I finished for him. Oh, how original. “Save me that! I’m done with you.”

A muscle ticked in his jaw as he pressed his lips together. “Jesus Christ, why won’t you let me explain? You gave me no other choice! All the things you loved about Ethan—” Helplessly, he tossed his hands in the air, the jacket flying. “I had to show you somehow that you can have them with me, too.”

At his brother’s name I stiffened, my blood turning cold. Just how deep did this betrayal run? Slowly and in a low voice, I asked, “Does Ethan know what you did tonight?”

His silence was clear enough. My eyes shut of their own accord when the painful truth sank in. So many things ran through my head, but I couldn’t get one of them out.

The bar door opened again, and an older couple walked out, laughing and chatting. As they glanced at us, the woman gave me a compassionate smile of understanding. She probably thought it was a lovers’ quarrel with the tension and anger vibrating off us.

Soon we were alone again, wrapped in utter silence. My gaze returned to Chris. “I’m sorry,” he whispered.

“I don’t believe you.” My vision misted over, but I blinked the tears away fast. It wasn’t too hard with the wrath brewing inside me. My hands fisted at my sides. Chris, for all it’s worth, backed a step away.

His sigh sounded more like a pained moan. “What can I say to make it up to you?”

“You’ve already said enough. I don’t care for more of your false words or actions.” A well of heat rose within me. Suppressing my anger wouldn’t work much longer. “Go away and leave me alone.”

“Sue—”

God, how I hated that he called me that now. It had become something special, his pet name for me. Just like
sweetness
. Somewhere in this game, I’d come to like it. And now he’d ruined it for all time.

“Me not telling you the truth from the start was a mistake, I realize that now. I was going to tell you before the evening was over, I swear, but first you had to
really
see me. Nothing about this date was fake.”

No, nothing…
“Apart from your identity!” I screamed.

A car came up behind me and parked on the curb. Thank god. The engine running, my dad got out, his expression wary. “Hey, sweetheart.” He put an arm around me and kissed my forehead. No matter how bad this situation must look to him, he still held out a hand to Chris. “Ethan,” he said in a low greeting.

Expression guarded, Chris shook his hand. “No. I’m Chris. Hello, sir.”

Suspicion marred my dad’s face. “I see.” He turned to me. “I believe you will explain that on the way?”

“Yes. Let’s just leave.” I hooked my arm through his and walked to the car. Without another look at Chris standing on the sidewalk, I climbed into the passenger seat and buckled myself in with my head lowered. Dad said goodbye to Chris in his friendly, paternal manner but, thank God, he drove off without hesitation.

Since the cell was still clasped tightly in my hand, I typed a message for Ethan.
You’re in trouble.
After sending it off, and because I really didn’t feel like dealing with any of the twins tonight, I turned off my phone.

*

The moment I strode into my room and slammed the door behind me, I snatched the dark red bandana from my pillow and tossed it into the trash can beside my desk. The past couple of weeks it had been lying on my bed, but no longer.

Stripping down to my underwear, I flung the damn blue dress across the room and it hit a wall. A scream erupted from my throat. In a frenzy, I pulled the hair tie from my ponytail and disheveled my hair with both hands until it fell all over my face. “Screw you, Chris Donovan!”

To hell with him for fooling me…for making me say all those stupid things about him in the café…for charming me in the bar and making me dance with him. With a wipe of my arm, the stack of books on my desk went flying. Damn him for ruining other guys for me. Tears stung my eyes. Back against the wall, I sank to the floor and buried my face in my folded arms. A sob broke free.

Screw him for being the one I wanted.

A knock rattled the door. “Susan?” my mother asked quietly. “Can I come in?” I wanted to tell her no, but she’d already popped her head in, and of course there was no going back from there. “Oh, honey.” She hastened toward me.

I hid my tearing eyes in my arms again. The Bambi blanket was being draped over my shoulders. Mom pulled it together at the front and laid her arms around me, rubbing my back. “Your dad told me what happened. Do you want to talk about it?”

No. Heck, it was a miracle I could still talk when my dad drove me home. It must have been the anger that had made me spill all the details like a darn fountain in front of him. But now my voice had abandoned me. I shook my head.

Mom just sat there and held me until my feet had turned into ice cubes and it was no longer my sobs that shook me, but the cold. She helped me put on my flannel bottoms and handed me a sweatshirt and thick woolen socks. When I was dressed, she took my hand and led me downstairs where she parked me on the couch while she went to get me a cup of hot cocoa. With whipped cream topping…

“Thanks, Mom.” I dipped my lip into the cream and licked it off. “Why are you home anyway? Isn’t it a night shift for you again?”

“I called in sick. I think I’m running a fever.”

Placing my cold palm on her forehead, I checked. No, she definitely didn’t have a fever. But her eyes were swollen and her nose blotchy. From crying?

There wasn’t a single day in the past three years that my mom had stayed home without a cause, such as tending to me after getting my appendix removed in ninth grade. Dad’s leaving must have hit her harder than expected.

Curling my legs on the couch and holding on tight to the warm cup, I tipped to her side and put my head on her shoulder. She stroked my cheek and my hair, then pressed a kiss to my brow. “It’s not easy to be seventeen, hm?”

“Doesn’t seem like it’s any easier at forty-two.”

A quiet laugh came from my mom. “No. It isn’t.”

Soon, I fell asleep on the couch and didn’t even notice when my mom covered me with a wool blanket, turned off the light, and snuck away.

In the morning, she woke me with a special breakfast of sausage, eggs, and hash browns. There was also a plate with a pile of pancakes and maple syrup waiting to be attacked.

Looking at the scrumptious meal, I heaved a sigh. “Mom, I don’t want to go to school today.”

“I know, honey, but I don’t like you playing hooky. It’s Friday. Don’t you think you can cope until noon?”

“No.” I would only run into Chris…or Ethan. And I didn't want to see either one of them today. “You ditched work last night. It’s only fair that I stay home today, too.”

Mom clicked her tongue and gave me a sheepish smile. “I knew you’d say something like that. That’s why I made us a special breakfast. Fine. But only today.” She pointed a strict finger at me. “On Monday you’re going back, no matter what.”

“Thanks, Mom. I promise.” Kissing her on the cheek, I sat down and picked up my fork. But the hunger that should’ve risen with such an epic Friday morning breakfast remained hidden. I shoved the scrambled eggs around on my plate until a crumb fell over the edge.

Cutting her sausage but not eating, either, Mom sent me a sad look across the table. “You don’t look hungry.”

“Neither do you.”

“Maybe we should call Grandpa. He’d loved to be served pancakes and eggs.”

That’s what we did, and with him in the kitchen, the mood crawled up a few notches. It was enough to make me force down half a sausage and a hash brown.

A little later, my mother got ready for work. She’d traded her shift with one of her colleagues and would work for the rest of the day. I trudged back to my room, turned on the TV, and switched to the Disney Channel. Donald Duck was the only guy I could stomach today. After some time, I remembered that I hadn’t turned my cell back on since last night.

There were twenty-four missed calls—thirteen from Chris, six from Ethan, two from Lisa and Sam, and one from Hunter. Apart from that, seventeen new text messages waited in my inbox. Without hesitation, I deleted all sixteen from Chris, but read the one from Ryan he’d sent the night before.
Chris begged me to talk to you. Can I talk to you…?

All of them were at school right now and certainly wondering why I hadn’t shown up. I sent Sam a message to call me at lunch. Instead of following such a simple order, though, she decided to drop by herself. And she brought Tony and Nick.

Feeling a little awkward when I opened the door still in my PJs, I grimaced. “What the heck are you doing here?”

“We’re the cheer-up commando,” Nick announced, shoving past me and raiding the fridge for something to eat. Since they’d skipped lunch because of me, that was probably fair.

“Sorry, I couldn’t shake them off,” Sam mouthed, coming in with Tony. She sat down in a kitchen chair.

Tony straddled the one next to her. “So you really had no idea who you were with yesterday?”

“Tony!” Sam poked an elbow in his ribs.

His bluntness made me laugh, because I expected no less from him. At least now it was clear that everyone knew everything already. No need to play keep-a-secret. But a little subtlety wouldn’t have hurt.

“Twins?” I replied with a sarcastic edge to my voice. “Identical? How do
you
keep them apart?”

Tony stole one half of Nick’s sandwich as he joined us at the table and bit off the corner. Around the bite in his mouth he murmured, “Most of the time, it’s clear from where I meet them. If I don’t know, I just ask.”

“Yeah, right.” I blinked a couple times. “Because asking would have gotten me a damn lot farther with Chris last night.”

A casual shrug. “Probably not. By the way, Ethan says”—he creased his forehead and made an intense face after he swallowed the bite—“Thanks for the message and then turning off your phone. If you don’t answer it soon, he’s going to toss stones at your window.”

Yep, I expected something like that. “You’ll see him at soccer practice today, right?”

Both Tony and Nick nodded.

“Good. Tell him he better have a really,
really
good explanation, or I’ll never again answer my phone when he’s calling.”

“I don’t know…” Sam lifted one shoulder in a shrug. “I liked his explanation. In fact, I like both their excuses for doing what they did.” She heaved a romantic sigh. “Team Chris all the way.”

Slowly, I turned my head toward her, my gaze baffled but hard as stone.

“Whoa, it’s late!” she said quickly and jumped from her chair. “We better get moving, guys, or lunch will be over while we’re still sitting here.” With a sheepish grin on her face, she pulled the boys up and ushered them out the door.

“Call me if you want to hang out this weekend!” Nick shouted over his shoulder as he was pushed by a dwarf that reached no farther than an inch beneath his collar bone.

“Will do.” It was a halfhearted promise, but maybe some nice company could take my mind off the recent embarrassment in my life.