Page 16 of Little Pieces of Light

Emery

Saturday night. The sun hadn’t sunk yet, but once it did, most of the Academy students would head over to the west side, to the abandoned lighthouse.

It had once guided ships into the Narragansett a hundred years ago.

The bonfire party was an unofficial back-to-school tradition—dancing, drinking, and hooking up.

Our booth was packed with the seven of us: Tucker and me; Aria Kingston and Rhett Calloway, who’d been together since the eighth grade; Gideon Foster, a gymnast who always seemed to run solo; Orion Mercer; and Elowen.

She sat as close to Orion as she could without seeming obvious.

Not that I blamed her. Orion was probably one of the best-looking guys in school but had a rep for being a manwhore.

Elowen had told me this was the year she’d wear him down and make a boyfriend out of him.

That didn’t sound very romantic, but then again, my own boyfriend’s idea of romance was a date crammed with other people and greasy food, followed by fooling around in the cab of his truck.

Tucker sat beside me, his arm slung across the back of the booth, manspreading under the table so I was squashed between him and Gideon. The conversation meandered around the usual stuff: gossip, who was already hooking up with who, and the upcoming Halloween Festival and dance.

“Everyone got their costumes?” Elowen asked. She glanced up at Orion. “You’d make a fantastic Alfie.”

Orion frowned. “Who’s that, love?”

“From the show, Emily in Paris ?” Elowen said, and I didn’t miss how her eyes brightened at being called “love.”

“Never seen it.” Orion grinned. “I already have a costume, anyway. I’m going as Mr. Universe, and this”—he gestured to himself—“is my costume.”

Elowen gave him a playful little shove that he completely ignored.

“We got our costumes,” Tucker said. “Em and I are going as Ken and Barbie…from the movie.”

“Oh my God, perfect,” Aria said. “Emery, you’re literally Barbie.”

“Thanks.” Especially if you mean a girl in a box who doesn’t know if she can be herself or was made for someone else to play with.

I gave my head a shake. “Anyway, Tucker just wants an excuse to go shirtless.”

“Damn straight.” Tucker laughed and lifted a corner of his T-shirt to show the tight six-pack of his abs. “But also, come on. Me in that fur coat and Em wearing…basically anything? We’re a shoo-in for Best Couple.”

I suppressed the urge to roll my eyes, but no one disagreed.

“How’s the crew looking?” Gideon asked. He was blond and big like Tucker, a specialist on the bar for the men’s gymnastics team. “Tryouts earlier today, yeah?”

I sat up straighter and listened intently without looking like I was listening intently. I’d been wondering all day how it had gone for Xander.

Because he’s my friend. That’s what friends do.

“It was alright,” Tucker said. “I think Coach is going to shit-can one of our guys and replace him with a Bender. That new guy, Xander Ford.”

My pulse kicked up ten notches and a strange pride filled me, as if I could take credit for Xander. As if his very presence at the school was somehow my doing.

I was dying to hear more, but the waitress appeared. She was middle-aged and tired-looking but offered a warm smile.

“Here you go. Four coffee cabinets and three Diet Cokes.” She set the milkshakes in front of the guys, the sodas in front of us girls. “Your food will be right out.”

“Thank you so much ,” Rhett said. He was beautiful with his jet-black hair and cheery smile, but his eyes were full of malice. He reminded me of a snake or a shark. When the waitress had gone, he leaned back in his seat. “I’ll bet that’s Ford’s mom.”

I stiffened as if someone had kicked me in the stomach while Elowen and Tucker burst out laughing.

“Probably,” Tucker said. “We should make sure to tip her extra. If he makes the crew, he’ll need the cash.”

Rhett keeled into Aria who wore a sly smile while Gideon rolled his eyes with an uneasy chuckle.

“Bloody hell,” Orion said with a tight laugh. “You’re monsters, the lot of you.”

“Or maybe we shouldn’t tip her,” Tucker said, growing serious. “Maybe it’ll keep him from stealing Brent’s seat.”

“I humbly dissent,” Orion said. “As two seat, I can tell you Ford is loads better than Brent. Xander’s good. He’s stable and smart. I could feel the difference, having him at my back.”

“Traitor,” Rhett said. “I’m going to tell Brent you said that.”

“The fuck do I care?” Orion said. “Do you want to win, or do you want to defend your boyfriend?”

Under the table, Gideon’s leg jumped, but no one felt it but me. Rhett laughed and tossed a packet of salt at Orion who deflected it back with a grin.

“So he’s good?” Elowen asked, her gaze grazing me on the way up to Orion. “He’s a major nerd, from all accounts. Not a jock.”

Orion shrugged. “He can’t be both? And yes, he’s bloody good.” He waved a hand at Tucker and Rhett. “And both of these knobs know it.”

“We’ll see,” Tucker said. “The roster isn’t finalized, anyway.”

The waitress came back and set down baskets of fries, onion rings, burgers, and salads. “Can I bring you anything else?”

Tucker tilted his chin. “Yeah. Tell your son to stick to playing Dungeons showing basic decency didn’t deserve awards. It wasn’t even my money, anyway, but what my dad put into my account.

Nothing I’d earned.

But in the parking lot, Tucker held open the door of his black Ford F150, an expectant grin on his face, so maybe I’d earned it after all.

***

We parked at a lookout spot close to the lighthouse.

The sun had sunk away, leaving the truck cab dark and stifling, the windows fogged so that I couldn’t see the ocean in front of us.

Tucker’s hands were all over me—along my thighs in my skinny jeans, up my shirt, then in my hair, then at the back of my head, pushing me toward his lap.

I’d done this dozens of times, but that night, his touch made me want to scream, as if I were trapped and suffocating in my own skin.

I shoved him away and sat up. “I’m not in the mood.”

Tucker threw up his hands, then brought them down onto the steering wheel. “Oh, come on, Em. I’m on the brink.” He turned on a winning grin. “Don’t leave me hanging.”

I faced him. “Aren’t you tired of this?”

“Tired of only getting head? Yes.”

“I meant, this.” I gestured around the cab. “The same thing, every weekend. Cassidy’s with the gang. Then we park somewhere, you get off, and we call it a night.”

He frowned. “You haven’t complained before.”

“Well, I’m complaining now,” I snapped and cursed Xander Ford.