Dating Trouble (Grover Beach Team Book 5) (25 page)

Shaking my head, I swiped my thumb across the screen to open the message. It was from—my heart sank a little—Charlie Brown.

Neither of us dared to call you today, even though we both considered driving to your house for a Christmas hug at least three times this evening. Anyway…
There was a link to YouTube attached here and beneath it stood:
Chris and Ethan.

Wow, that was a surprise. And what a nice one, too, when I clicked the link and “We Wish You a Merry Christmas” played out. It made me smile and think of a possible reply. But did I really want to go down that road? That I even considered it must have been a side effect of the cheesy movie I had watched earlier. A moment later, I’d typed a message for Ethan.
Merry Christmas to you, too… And to your family.

Noncommittal. I wouldn’t name Chris specifically, but Ethan would pass on my message to all of his two family members for sure. My mind drifted across town to their house. Christmas Eve must be wonderful there. Warm and cozy, with a great meal and dessert. The guys laughing together with their mom while they sit around the tree. Tight hugs for everyone.

If I was there, would Chris catch me under the mistletoe for a kiss?

A sigh escaped me. I missed his smile. And his bright eyes, too. The laughs he gave me with his witty comebacks and the banter he used for getting close to me. But most of all, I missed his goddamn texts every night.

Why did he have to ruin it all?

I put my cell away and went to bed hoping for a happier Christmas next year.

TWO DAYS AFTER Christmas, Ethan reached the limits of his patience with me.
Either you come over and play Wii with me now, or I’ll come to your house and blow it down. Your call.

Ethan the big bad wolf? The thought coaxed a smile out of me.
Coming
, I texted back. Panic swamped me only after I hit send. What if Chris was home, too? Running into him during my winter break, which had been fairly nice so far, wasn’t an appealing idea. But we’d be in Ethan’s room the whole time. No trouble. Right?

Trading the flannel bottoms that I still wore at three o’clock in the afternoon for snug-fit jeans and a yellow sweatshirt, I grabbed a hair band from my desk and tied my hair into a high ponytail.

“Mom, can I use the car?” I asked, running down the stairs.

“Sure, honey.” She forced a smile as she handed over the keys. “Have fun.”

Hopefully more than she was having, since the book she’d been reading had obviously moved her to tears. Or was she thinking about Dad again? I longed to comfort her, but the last time I’d tried, she’d brushed it off as nothing, so I let it rest. “See you later.”

Grover Beach seemed deserted today. Most people were probably visiting family out of town, or they stayed in, enjoying a lazy afternoon in front of the TV. No stop at a single crossing, this must be my lucky day. At the Donovan house, I parked the car behind Beverly’s, then walked up to the front door and rang the bell.

Nervous seconds passed. I wrung my hands. Odds were two to one that it wasn’t Chris opening the door. Two to one was good. I could live with that. Today was my lucky day. He wasn’t going to—

The door opened. It took me only one glimpse at those surprised blue eyes, and there was little doubt the powers above had plotted against me. My heart stopped, then restarted with a panicky drum roll. “Hey,” I said to Chris.

“Hi.” He scrunched his face in wonder, holding on to the door with one hand. His white tee rode up on that side and revealed a thin strip of skin above his jeans. Just enough to make any girl’s mouth water. A happy glow wormed into his gaze. “Why—”

“Ethan,” I cut him off…and destroyed his budding hope that I might have come to talk to him.

“Right.” A muscle ticked in his jaw. After another second, Chris stepped aside and let me pass, his gaze focused on the floor rather than me. “He’s in his room.”

Without a
thank you
, which certainly hovered on my tongue but wouldn’t come out with my throat gone dry, I headed that way. Halfway down the hallway, I broke into a run. There was no time to knock. I fell into Ethan’s room without warning and closed us off from the rest of the house with my back pressed against the door.

“Susan!” Ethan jumped off his bed.

“Hi, there.” Panting, I tried to get rid of the queasiness in my stomach. “Set up the game. I’m ready for a race.”

The thundering sound of another door slamming shook the entire house and made me jump, a tiny gasp escaping me.

Ethan squinted at the wall as if he could see right through it. He laughed as he came to me. “Ran into Chris, did you?”

I shrugged helplessly and nodded with a grimace.

No asking, no warning, no sign of his intentions next, he wrapped me up in a tight embrace that knocked the rest of the air out of my lungs. “Merry Christmas, Susan. I’m glad you’re here.”

“Yeah, me too…I think.”

Ethan held me at arm’s length again and studied my face with a smirky look. “You think?”

“Me, too.”
Period.
I smiled and kissed him on the cheek. “Merry Christmas back at you.”

He led me to his bed, making me take up my usual place in his room, and set up a game of
Mario Kart
. Boy, did it feel good to be with him again. Nick was great at
FIFA
, but he hated
Mario Kart
. I’d missed racing Ethan these past weeks.

“So, are you going to talk to Chr—”

“Not one word about him,” I cut Ethan off quickly. “I mean it. If you make me talk about your brother, I swear I’m outta here before you drive over the finish line.”

The game paused. Big blue eyes stared at me. Ethan pressed his lips together and grinned. “Gotcha. Not a single word.” He continued the game and kept his promise. Good for him, because I would have made good on my threat in an instant.

An hour later, my hand was cramping from pressing the buttons on the controller. I put it down. “Let’s stop here, or my thumbs will fall off.”

“Want to do something else? Watch TV or play chess or something?”

In fact, being here for an hour was probably long enough for a reset of our friendship. “Maybe next time.”

“Next time?” Ethan smiled in anticipation. “I’ll nail you down on that.”

Nodding, I climbed out of his bed. I did intend to come back here…someday.

“Need a ride home?” he offered.

“No, I drove my mom’s car.”

“Good. So, I guess we’ll see you at Hunter’s New Year’s party?”

My chest slumped inside at another mention of that party. “Nah, I’m not going.”

“Why not?” His brows knitted together shortly before his eyes widened. The penny dropped. “Oh.”

I gave him a dry smile. “Exactly.”

“Okay. Then just call me if you want to hang out again.”

“Will do.” With Ethan on my heels, I opened the door and walked out into the hallway.

Beverly’s voice drifted from the kitchen. I hadn’t wished her a Merry Christmas yet, so I made a detour. In the threshold, I froze. She sat at the table, her back on me, and said, “If she means so much to you, then don’t give up. She’s here. Talk to her, love.”

Across from her sat Chris. He looked up, his face paling like that of a snowman. When his mother turned around to me on that cue, her eyes widened. “Susan! We— I was—” She rose from her chair and came over, her mouth tweaking in a warm smile as she regained control over her stammering.

“Happy holidays,” I murmured, letting her squeeze my hand. My gaze was stuck on Chris the entire time. Leaning back, his expression appeared so defeated. His eyes were fixed on a plate with a piece of cake that was damaged beyond recognition. While Beverly obviously had enjoyed hers, he must have stabbed at his with the fork.

The desperation he emitted churned my stomach. Could the reason for this really be me?

“Why don’t you come in, sweetie?” Beverly tugged at my hand. “Have a cup of tea with us.”

I yanked my hand out of hers, startling her, which wasn’t my intention. “Sorry, but I can’t. My mom’s waiting for me. I have to go.” Lie, lie, and truth. I really needed to get out of here. Working up the strength for a polite smile, I whirled around and dashed to the door.

Ethan caught up with me in the next moment. He must have been behind me all this time. “Wait,” he said in a low voice and spun me to face him. “Will it always be like this from now on?” He grimaced. “Because that’s really awkward.”

My knees shook. “I’m sorry for that. Maybe I shouldn’t have come at all.” Not as rude as before, I pulled my hand out of Ethan’s and slipped out through the door, heading for the car.

“Don’t forget to call,” he shouted after me. I assured him with a nod but didn’t look back.
Go, go, go,
my mind urged me. I could think about everything later. When I was back in safety. Far away from Chris…who’d looked every bit as close to crying as I’d so often been recently because of him.

*

That night, I sat on my bed with my phone in my hand. I’d typed a message. For Chris.
Want to talk?
But I couldn’t make myself send it off. It would have been so simple—just pressing that damn little button. But it seemed impossible every time I started to think past that moment. What would happen if he really called me? What would he say?

Would he sneak his way back into my heart?

Probably.

Did I want this?

Maybe.

Was that good for me?

Definitely not.

He was a liar. A damn jerk who coaxed my deepest secrets out of me and played me for a sucker. At the memory of that particular date at Charlie’s and later in that bar in Pismo Beach, my stomach rolled with betrayal once again. How could this be the base of a fair friendship? Or a possible relationship?

Something warm slid down my cheek. I dabbed at the tear and deleted the stupid text.

*

In the following days, I made it a point not to be home and drown in self-pity. Hunter’s place at Misty Beach was a nice distraction when most of the guys came to hang out. Sam told us about her Christmas with her aunt and uncle, and how she and Chloe finally sorted things out between them. It was weird to think of Chloe as an actually nice girl with issues, but we were all happy for Sam. Especially me. A functioning family was worth everything.

Only when the conversation took a turn to the approaching party did I find an excuse to slip out since I wasn’t planning on going.

When not hanging with the guys, my alternative plan for not thinking about Chris was to read. Luckily, it worked. Most of the time. Sort of…
Gah
! Who was I fooling? I checked my damn phone every half hour for a new message. Nothing. All those days, the stupid device remained silent, except for the calls from the girls.

Well, I could deal with that. It’s what I wanted after all. Right?

Since everyone seemed overly excited for the New Year’s party, I decided to spend the day in an exclusive cloud of pampering at my house, so there wouldn’t even be a flicker of regret that I wasn’t going. After sleeping in, I took a two-hour bubble bath at noon, paid extra attention to my skin and hair with beauty products, and afterward settled down with tea and a new book in front of the fireplace.

Wrapped into my fluffy white dressing gown, I rocked back and forth in the rocking chair and warmed my bare feet at the fire. Mom had to work until nine, so the house was all mine. Amazing, how fast I’d grown used to the silence in here. But there were moments when I really missed my dad’s voice…like right now. On the positive side, I could just call him.

“Hey, Dad,” I said when he picked up.

“Sweetheart, how are you doing?”

“I’m all right. Are you still at Nana’s place?”

“Yes. I’ll come back tomorrow. We can have a dinner for two again—” He broke off at the ring of my doorbell. “Who’s that?” he asked.

“I'm not sure.” Scrunching my brows, I got out of the rocking chair and went to answer the door, but kept talking to my dad. “Can’t wait to cook with you.”

“Your Nana’s packing a jar of cookies for you, too,” he continued, but I wasn't listening anymore. On the doorstep of my house stood a bunch of girls, all wearing an evil grin.

“That’s great. Tell her thanks,” I said absently to my dad, my eyes wide like saucers, focusing on my friends. “Um, hey, the guys are here. Can I call you later?”

“Sure. Love you, sweetheart.”

“Love you, too, Dad.” I hung up and my hand dropped. “What in the world are you doing here?”

“Surprise!” Sam shouted and led the rest of my friends into the kitchen, looping her arm through mine to pull me along.

Did I say I don’t like surprises? Especially not when they came with a conspiratorial smile and Simone wearing her
I’ll-do-your-makeup
face.

“We know you don’t want to come to the party tonight,” Lisa began.

“But we don’t give a damn about what you
think
you want,” Sam added. “You’re going and we’re here to make sure of that.”

Allie was the last to come in after all of them. Both arms loaded with bags, she moaned. “Hey, people, is the word
burro
tattooed on my forehead? There’s still stuff in the car. Can somebody get that, please?”

Lisa jogged outside and soon returned with more bags and boxes.

“What is all that?” I demanded.

“Our ball gowns and accessories,” Simone stated. “What did you think we would be wearing tonight? Slacks and a hoodie?”

Well, obviously not. She ran her fingers through my still damp hair. “Good, you already took care of that. No need to dump you in the tub then.” With a snicker, she pushed me down onto one of the chairs at the kitchen table. “Now let me finish this.”

As her silent helper, Sam retrieved a hairdryer and curling iron from one of the many bags. The next instant, warm wind was blowing around my face and ears.

“Hey,” I protested over the noise of the hairdryer once I’d found my voice again. “Don’t I get a say in this, too?”

“No!” all four of them shouted back. And obviously, for them, this settled it.

Making a face like Grumpy the dwarf, I folded my arms over my chest. There was little else I could do while my hair was pulled and twirled around a huge circular brush.

Happy with my defeat, Sam smiled up to her ears. “Anybody want a cappuccino?” After helping my dad pack and move into his apartment two weeks ago, she knew her way around this kitchen and set us all up with a steaming cup. I took a big gulp to quench my irritation with a shot of caffeine.