Putting Boys on the Ledge (8 page)

While the gals paid I walked to the doorway, swinging the bag between my fingers, wondering if anyone walking by would realize I'd just become a sexy diva. Can you imagine if they knew what was in there?

I'd pass out and die right on the spot.

"Blue?" Colin's deep voice echoed over the crowd, and I jumped a mile.

This couldn't be happening! I was standing in the doorway of a lingerie store with a thong burning its way through my shopping bag. No way was I going to acknowledge my name. I turned to my left and started walking down the mall...right into Colin, who was walking toward me waving.

Okay. Total embarrassment. What was up with the fact that I kept crashing into the guys I was trying to hide from? Seriously!

"Hi, Blue." Colin caught up to me, glancing behind me into the store. Then he grinned that annoying male grin. "Going shopping?"

Oh, God, total mortification time. "Um...no. Just hanging out with my friends."

He pointed to my shopping bag.

Darn it. It was no good to lie when evidence was in such abundance. "I… Um… you know…"

Glory be—before I had to come up with something coherent, an eight-year-old girl came rushing up to us and grabbed Colin's hand. "They have ice cream. Can we get ice cream?"

"Sure." Colin glanced at me. "My little sister."

He didn't even seem embarrassed to be caught hanging out with his little sister on a Thursday night at the mall. Unlike me, who would have been quite thrilled to crawl under a rock and die at that very moment—because of the thong, not because of my sister. Oh, how I'd rather be caught here with Marissa than with a thong.

"Oh, hi, Colin." Allie appeared next to me, while Frances and Natalie wandered into my peripheral vision on the other side. "All done mucking stalls already?"

"Yep. I had a good teacher." He grinned at me, a really nice smile that eased my embarrassment, but before I could start to really enjoy the moment, his sister yanked on his arm.

"Come on, Colin," she said. "Let's get ice cream."

"Hang on." He pointed at me. "That's Marissa's big sister."

The little girl looked at me with interest. "Is Marissa here?"

"Um …no. She's at home." How did his sister know Marissa? I was completely confused. As far as I knew, Colin was just a hot senior who was mucking out our stalls. Now, he had progressed into a guy who knew I'd just bought my first thong, who went out on Thursday nights with his sister, and apparently had some intimate connection with the other members of my family. It kind of made him less scary. I mean, he was still a senior, but he had a sister Marissa's age. That completely put him within the realm of people I could feel comfortable talking to.

His sister stuck out her lower lip and pouted. "If Marissa's not here, then let's go, Colin."

He shrugged apologetically at me. "Sometime we'll have to get them together. They can have a play date while we hang out."

Play date? Now I was laughing. How could I be scared of him now, even with the thong thing hovering between us. "How did you know I was Marissa's sister?"

"They go to school together," he said. "Your mom was talking to my mom, one thing led to another, and then I got the job cleaning your barn."

"Oh. I guess I'd wondered where you came from." I mean, I hadn't really, but it made sense now. That was so
normal.
I was sure Heath would never get a job because of some connection his little sister had. He was way too cool for that. He was unique, not ordinary, not like Colin.

"Secret's out." His shoulder jerked as his sister gave a hearty tug on his hand. "I've got to run. See you all later." He nodded at my friends, then allowed himself to be dragged through the food court, somehow managing to dodge all the people without losing his sister.

Natalie was staring after him. "He's sorta cute."

"Very cute, in a disheveled and rough sort of way," Allie agreed.

I watched him walk across the food court. He was taller than I'd noticed before, or maybe that was because his sister made him look tall. He wore the same baggy blue jeans, faded sweatshirt, and old boots as the day we'd met. Low points on the fashion scale, but he did look kinda cute.

If you were into his look.

Which I wasn't.

I was into Heath's look.

And I couldn't wait to get home and try on the thong. Can you imagine? Blue Waller in a thong. How funny is that? I'd feel like such a dope.

Or maybe not.

Maybe I'd exude confidence and Attitude, and Heath would be completely unable to resist my charms. He'd fall into my arms, declaring his undying love and devotion forever. Okay, yes, decision made. I was totally wearing this thong tomorrow night, even if it was the most uncomfortable thing I've ever had on my body.

* * *

My mom dropped us off at the corner, so we wouldn't have to be seen arriving at the cast party with a parent. Heath probably drove his own car—no way would he be impressed with a girl who let her mom chauffeur her around.

"Are you wearing the thong?" Frances asked as my mom drove away. I had to admit, there was something to be said for having parents who believed in trust and honesty. It was against their code of ethics to ban me from a party, because that would imply they didn't trust me, which, in turn, would force me into the very behaviors they were hoping to avoid. So, by allowing me free rein, they were ensuring that I would make all the right choices.

Which, I had to admit, was probably true. I wasn't exactly a raging social butterfly. Though, with any luck, that would all change after tonight's party.

"Yep." I pulled the green lace strap out of my jeans to show Frances. "Got it on." It wasn't actually that uncomfortable, and I felt completely risqué. Would everyone at the party know I was wearing a thong? They would once I changed into my tight skirt. No panty line means thong.

My heart was racing!

We stopped in a yard two doors down from the party, where Natalie pulled off her tights and I changed from my jeans into my skirt. My sweater ended up in my backpack, to reveal the spandex top I'd borrowed from Allie. Of course, Allie hadn't had to worry about her mom censoring her outfit when she left, and Frances wasn't about to change out of her jeans. So once Natalie and I had relocated our clothes to our bags and shoved our bags under a bush, we were ready.

For men.

At Allie's insistence I led the way up the walk. After all, it was my party.

My party. Could you even believe it? I got an invite to a party with seniors. On my own. Without Louisa. Without Theo…not that he'd invite his little sister to a party, if he could help it.

And I was wearing a thong.

I was so worthy of high school.

I stopped on the front porch. I'd planned to ring the doorbell, but the front door was open and I could hear party noise coming from inside. "Do I just go in?" I whispered to Allie, who was much more an expert on parties than the rest of us.

"Yep." But she was standing behind me, making no move to be the first one. "Go ahead."

Go ahead. Had she turned into a total wimp?

But I could do this.

I was wearing a thong.

So I grabbed the screen door, yanked it open, and marched inside, not waiting to see if my friends followed.

My first high school party.

This rocked.

I followed the sound of blasting music and rowdy laughter to the back of the house. There were at least fifty people hanging out in the kitchen and the back porch, with dark lights and very hot dancing going on in the family room.

Whoa.

This was something else.

I stopped and got bumped from behind by one of my friends, no doubt as much in awe as I was, probably gawking at the sexy displays on the dance floor instead of noticing that I'd stopped walking.

A couple people glanced toward me, but unfortunately, since I'd been at only the one rehearsal this week, no one recognized me. The rest of the week they'd been working on the dance numbers, of which I was not a part.

So the entire cast had been bonding all week and I'd missed it.

And now I felt like an idiot because no one here knew me. They probably thought I was just some random freshman who'd crashed their party. In about one second, someone was going to come up to me and ask me to leave.

No need. I'd save them the effort.

I'd just turned around to herd my friends out of there when a heavy hand came down on my shoulder. My stomach dropped, and I turned, prepared to be utterly humiliated as I was tossed out the door on my thonged butt.

Oh, my gosh. It was Heath. "Heath," I choked out, half expecting him to throw me out too.

But he smiled. "Glad you could make it, Blue." I watched his eyes travel over my outfit, and he nodded. "Looking good."

Looking good. He thought I was looking good!

Oh.

My.

God.

Did he know I was wearing a thong?

Then he slung his arm over my shoulder and led me toward the kitchen, introducing me to various people as "the girl who plays my mother." Everyone was super friendly and congratulated me on the part. It was truly amazing what being associated with a guy like Heath could do for one's social acceptance.

And he never took his arm off my shoulder. It was like I was his girlfriend. Like he was telling everyone there that I was with him.

It had to be the thong.

Tomorrow I was going to go buy about a hundred more and wear them every day for the rest of my life. Or at least until I was married and no longer trying to attract boys.

Heath lifted me onto the counter, then leaned next to me, his hip against my thigh. We were chatting with someone, but I really couldn't concentrate on what anyone was saying, because all I could think about was Heath. He wasn't talking to me, but his hip was burning my skin.

My skirt, already too short for my mom's approval, was hiked up by the fact that I was sitting on the counter, showing more than half my thigh.

Normally I'd be totally embarrassed, but I could see Heath's gaze flicking occasionally to my leg, so I decided that I liked my hem right where it was.

Then he put his hand on my knee.

On my knee! My knee was bare. His skin was touching my skin! It's a good thing I wasn't standing, because my legs were shaking so much I'd never be able to support myself.

He started rubbing his thumb over my knee. I glanced at his face, but he wasn't looking at me, just nodding in response to something someone said, as if he had no idea his hand was on my knee and creeping up my thigh!

Holy cow!

Was I supposed to let him do this? We were in public, for heaven's sake. Would people think I was a slut? Or was this cool?

I glanced frantically around the room. Allie was in the corner wrapped around some guy, but Frances and Natalie were watching me. When they saw me look at them, they gave me the thumbs-up and big grins.

Okay, so maybe this was all right.

"Want to dance?" he asked me.

"What?" Oh, nice. Could I sound a little more panicked?

Heath grinned and trailed his fingers through my hair, which was behaving incredibly well, by the way. "A slow song just came on. Want to dance?"

Did I want to dance?

Yes and no.

Yes, because I liked him so much I could hardly stand it.

No, because I was terrified.

A slow dance? With a senior? Would he be expecting something from me? I didn't even know how to kiss! He'd instantly know I was a bumbling idiot.

Not bothering to wait for my answer, Heath moved in front of me, set his hands on my hips, and lifted me off the counter, letting me down slowly, easing me down the front of him.

My face felt so hot it surely had to be flaming red.

Then he took my hand and led me across the kitchen to the family room. Where the lights were out. And music was blaring.

There was sweat dripping between my shoulder blades. So sexy. Total diva. Not.

I glanced over my shoulder at Natalie and Frances, but they were both talking to a couple guys and not noticing me at all. And Allie? I couldn't see her anywhere.

Until I got on the dance floor.

She was in the middle of the room, in the midst of a heavy make out session. His hands were on her back, under her shirt, and her fingers were entwined in his hair.

She made it look so easy.

Heath smiled at me, then slipped his hands around my waist and pulled me against him. My hands. Where should my hands go? I definitely didn't prepare adequately for this event. I glanced around the room and noticed that most girls had their hands around the guy's neck and they were resting their cheek against his chest.

Fine.

No problem.

But the moment I settled my hands behind Heath's neck, he tightened his grip on me and pulled me flush against him. So tight that his body was pressed against me all the way from my hips to my cheek, which was nestled against his chest.