Page 47 of The One

She was as fucked up as me.

“Do you want to go?” Trista asked. “Or do you want to wait until she turns the light off and then head out?”

I didn’t look at Trista. There was only one place my eyes needed to be, and that was on Lainey. “We’re not going anywhere. Light on or off—we’ll be here for a while.”

“I had a feeling you were going to say that.”

TWELVE

Rhett

Sixteen Years Ago

“You’re shivering.” My hand left Lainey’s thigh to turn on the heat in my car. “Don’t worry, it’ll be warm in here in a minute.”

She rubbed her bare arms. “I don’t know why I’m so cold.”

I held the back of her neck, hoping the feel of my skin would speed up the process even more, and I turned at the light. “Probably because it’s freezing outside.”

“But you’re not cold.”

I laughed. “I’m never cold.”

“You grew up in LA. How is that even possible? The minute it dips below seventy, most people don’t even know what to do with themselves. And then there’s you, a sauna twenty-four hours a day, twelve months a year.”

“What can I say, baby? I’m just hot.” I winked at her.

“Yes, you are.” She giggled.

I gave her a sly smile and focused back on the road. “Which comes in handy, considering you’re always chilly.”

She lifted her phone from where it had been resting on her lap. “Pen won’t stop texting. She’s at the party already.” She took a deep, loud breath. “She wants to know when we’re coming.”

“After dinner”—I quickly looked at her again—“as long as you’re good with that.”

I heard her nails typing a reply.

“Let’s see how long it takes her to tell me that’s too late and we need to get there now—yep, I was right, that text just came in.”

“Damn, she’s fast.”

“You have no idea.” She groaned. “She said we can eat at the party.”

The party was at Travis’s house, a guy on the soccer team who had a New Year’s rager every year, and since this was our last year of high school, it was bound to be the biggest one he’d ever held. All of my football dudes were going to be there. And because I knew how Penelope rolled, the lacrosse team would be there as well.

Besides the fun we were going to have, it was bound to be an interesting night.

When Lainey and I had been deciding what we wanted to do for New Year’s Eve, I’d wanted to make sure that if we ended up at a party, we’d at least have some alone time together. Because once we got there—if we decided to go to Travis’s—I knew that would be impossible. So, I’d ended up making us a reservation for dinner.

But my girl was consumed with guilt whenever Penelope gave her shit, like she was doing now. Lainey would become so torn, and I didn’t want her to feel that way or put her in that position.

“I can turn around and drive us to the party. I swear I don’t mind.”

Her hand went to my forearm, the one that was still behind her head, and she squeezed. “That’s not what I want. I just don’t know what to say to her. She’s not taking no for—” Her phone was ringing. “It’s her. Of course.”

“Are you going to answer it?”

“I don’t have a choice.” She held the phone to her ear. “Hi, Pen.”