Page 69

I have no idea how the guys talked Xander and me into it, but we stopped at the next convenience store we passed and bought a four-pack of toilet paper.

The longest debate took place over whose house we should hit.

It definitely had to be another person in the seven.

Damien was ruled out first since he actually lived with three members in the Jeep.

Hudson and Faith stayed above a shop located along a strip mall and had no trees around them to decorate.

Neither did Foster and Raina, who rented a room in an apartment complex.

Thane had trees in his small front yard, but he had a shit ton of neighbors who might call the cops on us.

Parker, however, lived in a more secluded neighborhood with plenty of trees and tons of distance between him and the next house over. So he was chosen by default.

A code was needed to gain entrance into his gated community, but both Alec and Keene knew what it was. The problem was Parker also had cameras set up all over his property.

So we were caught about four minutes into throwing our allotted roll.

“What the fuck do you idiots think you’re doing?” Parker’s irritated and dry drawl cut through the dark about ten feet from me, making me squeak out a quick scream of surprise and drop my toilet paper in the dark after only getting in a single throw.

A light came on, aiming directly at me, and Keene appeared at my side immediately.

Lifting his hand to shade our eyes from the blaring brightness, he said, “Come on, man. Waverly’s never toilet papered a house before.”

“So you picked mine ?” Parker growled, not amused.

“Well…yeah.” Keene made it sound as if there could be no other alternative.

“Jesus, Dugger.” I could make out the outline of his head shaking sadly in the dark. “Real nice Valentine’s treat you’re giving your lady, there.”

“What?” Keene cried in self-defense. “She’s having fun. Just look at her.”

The light veered back to me, and I squinted, waving at it and unable to stop grinning. “Best night of my life,” I announced before hiccupping and leaning heavily into Keene.

“Fuck,” Parker muttered. “You got her drunk too ? That’s just great. I’m sure her strict-as-hell parents are just going to eat that shit up.”

When Keene mumbled, “She’d never drank before either.” Parker only scoffed.

“That is not a damn reason for doing something, Duggie. Jesus. Her mother’s going to kill you. You know that, right?”

“Well…” Keene shuffled his feet indecisively while, behind us, Xander made a sound of surprise.

“Oh! Ouch,” she added. “I think I ran into something. Alec! My shirt’s snagged on a bush. Help…”

“Wait. Who the fuck is that ?” Parker demanded, veering his light away from Keene and me. “How the hell many drunk people are wandering around my yard right now?

“Only Waverly’s drunk. And that’s just Xander,” Keene said with a harassed sigh. “She and Alec are with us.”

“Oh, so Foster’s going to kill you, too , for corrupting his cousin? You boys aren’t going to survive the week if you keep this up, you know.”

“I’m sorry for toilet-papering your yard,” I finally said, feeling sober enough to realize this hadn’t been the brightest idea.

Parker had literally saved my life. He’d personally gotten my rapist put behind bars.

And this was how I repaid him? What was wrong with me?

“They said this was how they showed their love.”

He snorted at that but answered, “Darlin’, if it makes you smile like this, you can TP my damn yard every night of the year. It’s no skin off my nose, since Curly and Moe here are going to be the morons who come back tomorrow and clean it up. Right, boys?”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” Keene spoke up, lifting his hands. “Don’t you have a groundskeeper you pay to take care of shit like that?”

Parker snorted. “I’m not making Bill deal with this. You and Younger are coming back tomorrow and picking up every last square yourselves. You hear me?”

“Yeah, yeah,” Keene mumbled. “We hear you.”

“Loud and clear,” Alec added, appearing from the dark with Xander in tow. “Hey, say hi to Hope for me.”

“Will do,” Parker answered with a smirk. “Now, you four better get on. Doesn’t Waverly have some kind of curfew?”

“Yeah, but it’s not until…” Keene checked his watch. “Shit. We gotta go.” Snagging my hand, he started jogging off, even as he called to Xander and Alec, “Hurry.” Then he waved over his shoulder. “Later, Ohrley. Thanks for letting us borrow your trees.”

Parker’s chuckle was amused. “Good night, guys.”

* * *

If only my mother had been so amused when we reached my house.

I told Keene I could make it to the front door by myself when he pulled into the driveway, but he ignored my wishes and opened his door when I opened mine.

We met in front of the still-running Jeep, leaving Xander and Alec in the back seat together, staying warm and toasty with the heater running full blast.

Taking my hand, Keene started me toward the porch and squeezed supportively. I was still feeling good and buzzed so every time I started to walk off course, he laughed and steered me back the right way.

“Thanks for tonight,” he said, pausing at the porch steps and not daring to go any further up. “I had a good time.”

I turned to smile up at him and said, “Yeah. Me too.”

“Best night ever,” he echoed with a smile in his voice. He touched my chin softly and murmured, “Call you tomorrow, okay?”

“Okay.” I stared at him in anticipation, needing his mouth on mine, and he grinned knowingly before dipping his face to kiss me.

But the front door clicked open, interrupting us.

Keene growled softly in irritation but quickly masked it as he turned to my mom who stepped into the dark with us.

“Hey, Ms. B,” he greeted with a cheerful voice as he waved. “We’re back with eight whole minutes left to spare. Aren’t you proud?”

But she completely ignored him, glaring at me as she stormed forward. “Are you drunk ?”

“Me?” Keene broke in. “No, ma’am. I’m as sober as a church mouse. I never drink and drive. Not ever. You can field sobriety test me, if you want.”

Searing him with a glare, she growled, “How dare you get my daughter drunk!”

“Oh, come on,” he chided. “She’d never tried alcohol before.”

“Because it’s not legal for her to drink yet!”

“It was just a light, bubbly wine,” he argued. “She was safe the entire time. I wouldn’t let her?—”

“You know what? You can go home now. In fact, please do. Before I call the police.”

“Will you stop threatening him with the police?” I growled, stepping toward her with a glare. “You can’t have someone arrested just because you don’t like that they’re dating your daughter.”

Whirling to me, she pinched her lips thin. “You’re rebelling like this just because of what I said earlier, aren’t you? This is my payback.”

“Wait. What’d you say earlier?” Keene asked, darting a concerned glance between me and my mother.

Not answering him because I refused to bother him with her poisoned words, I glared my mother down.

“This is not payback. This is me resisting your constraints because what you’re doing is wrong.

I want to live my life for once, Mother.

Do you hear that? I want to live . I don’t want to die anymore.

Why aren’t you even remotely happy about that? ”

“ I’m definitely happy about that,” Keene said.

“Keene, go home!” Mom snapped.

“I’ll leave when Waverly says she wants me to leave,” he snapped back.

“It’s fine,” I told him shortly, even as I let out a miserable sigh. But I calmed myself when I turned to look into his worried eyes. Taking his hands, I squeezed his fingers gratefully and softened my voice. “It’s fine. At least one of us should get to escape this place.”

That didn’t seem to reassure him at all, and I could tell he was going to argue. But I didn’t want him to fight with my mother. Not after the magical night we’d just had. I lifted my hand to his cheek and barely fluttered the backs of my fingers over his facial hair.

Lips parting, he gazed at me with aching torment, letting me know with his eyes that he absolutely hated how we were leaving things.

But I just smiled at him. “Thank you for the best night ever,” I murmured and rose onto my toes to kiss him. Right in front of my pissed-off mother.

He kissed me back desperately, gripping my face and pulling me close, his lips clinging possessively.

When I pulled back again, he murmured a sound of resistance and gripped my arm so he could keep me close as he pressed his brow to mine and squeezed his eyes shut before whispering, “Thank you for the best night ever.”

“Talk to you tomorrow,” I said, then stepped back, making him shudder out a stuttered breath as he watched me with worried eyes. He shoved his hands into his pockets and nodded mutely, letting me know he was accepting this as goodbye.

My mom was standing there when I turned around, not at all looking impressed by our heartfelt farewell. Her arms were folded over her chest, her eyes were narrowed, and her mouth was pinched.

Huffing out my disgust with her, I clomped up the stairs and roughly shoved by her to go inside.

I made it all the way to my room and shut the door behind me before collapsing onto my bed and curling into a ball as I hugged my stuffed cow that my dead babysitter had given me and tried to breathe through the tightness in my chest.

If Keene didn’t leave me over my personal baggage, he definitely would over my awful, intrusive mother. He was the only thing I’d ever wanted, and she was going to drive him away. Because I wasn’t worth this much headache. He?—

A small tap on my door had me glancing up as my mom quietly opened it and peered at me through the doorway.

I blinked at her once, wanting to rage and scream and throw things at her, but all I asked was, “Why are you doing this to me?”

Her shoulders collapsed, and her face fell.

I swear I saw her bottom lip tremble before she pulled herself back together.

“I know it feels cruel to you right now,” she murmured, her eyes pleading with me to try to understand her point of view.

“But everything I’m doing is for you. For your own good. For your protection.”

I shook my head, disagreeing, but she kept talking.

“I heard you when you said you finally feel like you want to live. And I love hearing that, but please believe me, baby, when I say, you can’t trust it.

It’s a false high. Like a drug addiction.

It feels good when you’re with him, I’m sure, but it’s only going to be a harder fall and hurt more when he finally flits off to some other poor, unsuspecting girl. ”

“You’re wrong,” I said, even though my heart was pounding, already worried he was going to do exactly what she said. Flit away and leave me broken.

“No, I’m not,” my mother claimed softly, her eyes full of pity as she stared at me. “I know this boy, Waverly. I know him.”

But she didn’t know him the way I did. She hadn’t studied him for over a decade, watched his every move. She hadn’t learned his ins and outs or his strengths and weaknesses. She’d sat in a counseling room with him a handful of times and made a couple of rash judgment calls. She didn’t know shit.

And yet, her words still caused me to shudder with a certain doom. I was going to lose him, and she was going to tell me how wrong I’d been, and then I wasn’t sure what I’d do with myself.

As if reading all the worries in my head, Mom sighed. “If I prove to you that he can’t be trusted with your heart, that he isn’t reliable, and he doesn’t deserve all this loyalty from you, will you finally see reason and give this boy up?”

I wanted to snort and tell her no fucking way. I wasn’t giving up Keene, not ever. Not for anything.

But instead, I countered, “If I prove to you that he can be trusted, he is reliable, and he does deserve my loyalty, will you finally step back and let me live my own life and give him half a chance?”

She frowned briefly but gave a slight nod of the head, so I said, “Then we have a deal.”

Except I didn’t feel so great after making that deal. I knew Keene was a good person. But I didn’t know if I was good enough for him.