“We are seniors. We are the queens of the school. We need to come up with a plan for how we’re going to make this year fun and exciting. And I’m going to start by having a party.” She’d told me all this while I’d been getting my locks chopped off. “Besides, we need you to have some fun. Last year sucked the big one for you, and it hurt me to see you so sad.”
Georgia had the best intentions for me, and she loved my dad almost as much as she loved hers. In some way, I thought she was masking her own sadness about my dad.
Still, I couldn’t have fun knowing that he was withering away.
2
I cruised into a packed parking lot and gritted my teeth. It seemed the entire school was at the Latte House. I spotted Grady’s souped-up black truck, which reminded me of those vehicles in Transformers. My evil mind wanted to scratch the pristine paint or deflate a tire or two, but I believed in karma, and I wasn’t exactly the malicious type.
However, in all fairness to Grady, he hadn’t been as vocal in our junior year. We’d both ignored each other, even at the parties he’d thrown. Maybe he had a heart and felt bad when he’d heard about Dad. Either way, I wasn’t letting my shields down.
I coasted around a row of cars, and just as I was about to jump off my board, someone shouted, “Watch out!”
The next few seconds were a blur. The only thing I registered was pain in my hip before I fell hard, my right arm taking the brunt of the impact against the scorching pavement. What the hell?
A mob of people ran over to me as my mind scrambled to figure out what had happened.
“Holy shit!” a girl screamed. “Do you not watch where you’re going?”
It took me a minute to register the girl’s voice as Mia’s.
Georgia came into view, her big green eyes wide as she squatted down. “That schmuck hit you. Are you alright?”
I winced, blowing out a breath as my elbow burned and throbbed. “Schmuck as in Grady?” I vowed to kill the star QB of Blue Oaks High if it were him, even if I was at fault for not looking where I was going.
“I can’t see who it is. The perv drives a gray truck. So no, not asswipe Grady.” Georgia helped me up, her small hands gentle as she brushed off the pebbles from my bleeding elbow.
I glanced around, trying to look at who’d hit me, but the crowd was in the way.
Georgia waved off the people. “Give her some breathing room.”
The kids scattered like rats.
“You’re an ass,” Mia shouted in her deep and scary voice. Anytime she got mad, her temper came out in Oscar-worthy form. According to Mia, it was the Italian in her.
I righted my backpack and collected my skateboard. Then I homed in on Mia, who was wagging her finger at a boy.
Suddenly, my knees went weak, my heart sped up, and sweat beaded on my neck.
Georgia nudged me. “Is that who I think it is?”
Mia shook her dark head of hair as she stomped toward us in her wedge sandals. “The dude is gorgeous, but he’s a jerk.”
He was definitely drool-worthy and hotter than I remembered.
Mia snapped her fingers, zapping Georgia and me out of our trances. “Ladies, focus. Do you know him?” She stuck her hands on her hips, her white jersey top lifting above her black shorts to expose her belly ring.
I bobbed my head. “Yep.”
“Well,” she said. “Who is he?”
He’s the boy next door who makes my palms clammy, my belly tingle, and my brain a pile of mush.
Colton Caldwell stood with his brown eyes wide, frozen in place as though someone had stopped time. He looked like a Greek god, taller, brawnier, and dreamier than I remembered. His wavy brown hair was longer than before and skirted his shoulders. His thighs were thicker, his arms more muscular. Instantly, the butterflies in my stomach took flight, flapping their wings, wild and crazy.
Holy cow!
Georgia was telling Mia all about Colton as he strutted up to me, his swagger screaming hot.
“Skye?” My name rolling off his tongue was pure heaven, and he smelled like sandalwood as he towered over me.
I considered myself tall for a female at five foot seven, but Colton was well over six feet.
I was going to faint.
With his long fingers, he took my right hand. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t see you. Can I take a look?”
He could do whatever the hell he wanted to me.
My chest rose and fell as I struggled for air. At any moment, I was afraid I might throw myself at him or run my hands through his thick, damp hair.
Breathe, a quiet voice in my head urged.
Mia and Georgia’s voices were muted even though they were tittering and chatting about the statue state I was in.
“You should get this cleaned up,” Colton said in his smooth, delectable Southern accent. “I think I have a first-aid kit in the truck.”
I sighed. I would need more than a first-aid kit to break the magical spell he had on me.
“Are you back for your senior year?” Georgia asked Colton.
“Something like that,” Colton replied, not looking at Georgia but at me.
I was hypnotized by the one guy who could tell me the Earth wasn’t round, and I would believe him.
Locks of his hair fell forward, creating a curtain around his strong, angular jaw, shielding us from everyone near us. Suddenly, I felt as though he and I had been transported to a secluded place, where it was just the two of us.
My heart pitter-pattered at a rapid rate.
“Come with me,” he said.
Georgia grabbed my skateboard, her pink painted lips splitting into a brilliant smile, her eyes alight with mischief. If anyone knew how I felt about Colton, it
