Page 4

Swallowing the knot in my throat, I nervously play with the hem of my red dress. It stops mid-thigh, and has thin spaghetti straps, which means I’m not wearing a bra. My long blonde hair hangs in waves down my back just l

ike he always liked it, and my panties are tucked safely in my purse. Surprise…

This has to work.

His familiar voice carries across the space, and my body stills. He says he hates this song. I know he does. My brother ignores him as usual.

I round the corner, and there he is.

“You’ve lost that loving feeling…” Danny’s muscled arm is thrown around Gray’s neck, and my face gets hot.

Love like muscle memory squeezes my chest. My fingers curl wanting to touch him, my lips heat wanting to kiss him. The space between my thighs hums with need. Last summer feels so long ago, but I remember everything.

As predicted, Danny takes Leslie’s hand, attempting to woo her. Leslie’s a year older than me, and she’s wearing a tight green dress that accentuates her Marilyn Monroe figure. Her eyes fix on Gray, who’s laughing and pointing at someone in the crowd.

Straight, white teeth. A deep dimple pierces his cheek. He nods, his lips close, and the muscle in his square jaw moves. He reaches out to take a fresh beer, and his bicep flexes briefly. My brother grabs him again, and his shirt rises slightly, revealing the line of a V heading into his low-slung, faded jeans.

God, he’s so fucking hot.

“Cut his mic!” Ruby yells. “Have some pride, man!”

Her voice draws Gray’s attention to where we’re standing. Our eyes lock, and emotion like electricity shoots through me, starting at my lower stomach and filtering through my limbs. His stormy eyes darken, and in that one look, I know he remembers.

Leslie watches us like a hawk.

A really pissed-off, green-eyed hawk.

My bestie is at my ear, breaking the moment. “How are you planning to get him alone with your brother hanging on his neck and that female vulture circling?”

Ruby and I are inseparable. She knows as well as I do Danny would shit twice and die if he knew how far Gray and I went before the guys returned to college last fall… and how many times.

I’ve held onto those memories like life.

Even after Gray told me I should date other guys.

“Your daddy’s right.” He looked at me with tortured blue eyes that contradicted every word he said. “You’re so young. You don’t know what you want.”

I only kissed him again, crawled onto his lap again, put his hands on me and made us forget my disapproving father, my overprotective brother. Neither of them had been there for me the way Grayson always had.

“I know what I want…”

“Andrea Harris?” A nasal voice kills my memory, and Ruby spins to block me.

“Incoming!” she cries.

It’s too late.

A skinny guy our age wearing plaid shorts and a mustard yellow shirt, steps around her to me. “I’ve been looking for you everywhere.”

“I’m sure you have…” Ruby gives way.

“Ralph.” I force a smile. Ralph Stern has been hounding me to go out with him all senior year. Too bad he’s a mashup of Sheldon Cooper and Dwight Schrute…

Not to mention my heart’s been gone a long time.

“I didn’t see you today when I stopped by the shelter.” Ralph smiles, revealing heavy silver braces on his teeth, bless his heart. “Did you catch a ride with Daniel and Grayson?”

Ralph’s the only one of our friends who calls us by our regular names like he’s part of the parent group.