"Remember the night of the senior dinner?" Jenna said open-mouthed as she chewed and my heart stopped beating, fell out of my chest, and rolled onto the floor until it crashed into a balloon.
"What about it?" Kristy eyed me as she tried to act nonchalant. She was the only other person on earth who knew how much that night changed everything for me.
"This food reminds me of it, that"s all," Jenna said before forking another bite of pasta into her mouth as my mind raced backward to that night . . .
a a a Senior dinner had been a tradition at our school for as long as anyone could remember. Each year on this night, the seniors were served a three-course dinner by parents who volunteered. Really, how was this different from any other night-our own mothers feeding us dinner? How original.
After dinner, the lights were dimmed and a slideshow clicked on, flipping through pictures of the seniors as it moved through each captured moment in perfectly timed precision. There were photos of pep rallies, cla.s.s games on the quad, groups of friends smiling, senior night, Football for Seniors, etc.
I"d been staring up at the photos as Kristy"s voice broke through. "The eagle has landed," she"d whispered to me.
I turned to look at her. "The eagle has . . . what?"
"The eagle has landed. I"m going to say that every time Dalton looks at you," she said seriously in a low voice.
"He"s looking at me?" I sat up straighter and fought the urge to search him out.
"He"s been looking at you all night."
I nudged her shoulder. "Well, that"s weird, right?"
She nodded. "Kinda."
"Why do you think he"s looking at me?" I whispered, feeling that familiar tingling in my spine.
""Cause he wants to have hot monkey s.e.x with you, duh." She smiled before elbowing me. "I don"t know. Maybe he actually likes you."
"You think?" The possibility made my heart do somersaults in my chest, even if I didn"t truly believe her.
"I don"t know. The eagle has landed."
One of the parents volunteering at the event walked up to my side, leaned down, and asked, "Cammie, do you think you could take some of these decorations to the storage room in the gym for me?"
I glanced up to see Rachel Jenkins smiling down at me. Mrs. Jenkins and my mom had been friends since junior high, which was probably why she felt comfortable asking me to help instead of asking her own daughter. Her daughter was sort of a b.i.t.c.h, and Mrs. Jenkins knew I"d say yes.
"Sure," I said as she filled my arms with banners and streamers. "Be right back," I told Kristy in a hushed tone before awkwardly standing up from the table with filled arms as she shushed me.
Walking toward the gymnasium, I realized I wasn"t sure exactly where the storage room was and I almost turned around. Instead of going back in, I continued walking straight ahead, looking for any other student in the dark when Dalton appeared at my side.
"Hey, Cammie."
"Hey, Dalton."
I tried to stay calm as Kristy"s words echoed in my mind. I searched his face, wishing I could see his eyes clearer in the dark. I loved Dalton"s eyes. It wasn"t so much about the green color they were, but more about the brown flecks in them. They stood out in stark contrast against the green, three flecks of brown in his right eye and four in his left. I"d heard him say before how much he hated the brown in his eyes, but to me, it was my favorite part.
"Here. Let me help," he said, before reaching for the majority of the decorations I was holding and taking them from me.
I followed behind him as we headed toward the gym, neither of us speaking. My gaze roamed over his lean body, the way his jeans hung low across his hips and his T-shirt framed his shoulders and back. He wasn"t overly muscular, but then again, Dalton didn"t play any sports. He told me once that he couldn"t play because his family needed him to work. As far as I knew, he worked at one of the grocery stores unloading crates of produce.
Once we reached the gym, Dalton continued toward the back of the building, entering through an unlocked door before following a long curved hallway with a single door at the end.
"I would have never found this," I said, shaking my head.
"Yeah. That"s why I waited for you," he said with a smile as the fluorescent lighting cast a tinted glow over us.
Pulling out a key from his pocket, he fumbled with it before unlocking the door and gesturing me inside with a nod of his head.
"Why do you have a key?"
"Cla.s.s president, remember?"
When he smiled at me, I wanted to tell him of course I not only remembered, but I voted for him. I would have voted for him for anything he wanted to be-astronaut, vampire slayer, Ninja a.s.sa.s.sin of the Year.
"So you get a key to the school? I highly doubt that," I said, attempting to flirt, but I was pretty certain I"d lost that ability lately. I could barely remember how to smile, let alone do something like flirt with a boy.
"Princ.i.p.al Graham gave it to me for the dinner. I have to make sure everything gets cleaned up and put away."
Setting the decorations on the floor for a minute, I asked, "So, where are we putting all this stuff?"
"In those boxes." He pointed at a group of plastic storage containers stacked up against a wall.
I started toward them, but stopped as Dalton"s hand grabbed my arm. He pulled and I slid across the floor so effortlessly that I almost crashed into him.
"Dalton, what are you-"
His mouth covered mine, and I completely lost my train of thought. One of his hands reached for my lower back as the other slipped behind my neck. I fell into his kiss as my mouth opened and allowed him inside, his tongue moving in a slow and delicious rhythm. I was certain at any moment I"d melt completely into a puddle on the concrete floor. I had wanted this for so long that I couldn"t believe it was actually happening.
Was Dalton Thomas really kissing me right now?
Even more surprising was the fact I was feeling again for the first time in ages; Dalton was actually making me feel something. For the last fourteen months I"d been living in a fog, lost in a numbness where color refused to live.
I silenced my thoughts as he deepened the kiss, making sure nothing but color consumed me. His fingers splayed across my back as my chest pressed against his, our breathing falling in rhythm. The heat from him moved through the fabric of my shirt and warmed me completely.
The sound of voices outside caused him to pull his lips from mine and release me. As Dalton moved toward the door, I stood there and stared at him, wondering what the h.e.l.l had just happened.
"You coming?" he asked.
I followed him without saying a word, leaving the decorations on the floor where I"d dropped them. The two seniors carrying more decorations into the room giggled when they saw Dalton and flirted shamelessly with him.
I walked ahead of him, unsure of how to act or what exactly that kiss had meant. I didn"t want to ruin the moment, so I refused to ask him when he caught up to me moments after I"d gotten outside. We walked the rest of the way in silence, as my mind and heart both raced.
"I"ve wanted to do that for years, by the way," he whispered to me before disappearing inside the cafeteria.
Glancing around the room for Kristy, I noticed her heading right for me, looking thoroughly p.i.s.sed off.
"Where the h.e.l.l did you go?"
"I was putting away the decorations. I told you that. You shushed me."
She grabbed my shoulders and looked me square in the eyes. "Oh my G.o.d. What happened? What did I miss? Your face is all . . . The eagle has landed. The eagle has-"
I couldn"t stop myself from giggling as I cut her off. "Enough with the eagle stuff," I started to say before backtracking. "No, just kidding. Don"t stop. I want to know."
"I might just have to start saying eagle instead of the whole sentence, because the number of times he keeps looking at you is getting ridiculous. Now tell me, what the h.e.l.l just happened between you two? I saw you walk in together and you"re all flushed. Eagle."
Looking around the room, I"d realized that there were way too many of our cla.s.smates and their parents around to have any privacy. "I"ll tell you in the car on the way home."
"Yeah, you will. Eagle. Eagle. Eagle."
Of Course I"m Late.
Dalton.
My computer crashed every time I tried to upload the pictures from the stakeout the other day. I couldn"t in good conscience head to the reunion before making sure everything I needed to add to the case file had gone through and been accepted. When the e-mails to the district attorney and the federal agency finally sent, I jumped into my car and peeled out, only to get stuck in a s.h.i.tload of Sat.u.r.day night traffic.
I was extremely late, which p.i.s.sed me off. After checking the time on my car clock display, I pounded the steering wheel and resisted the urge to lay on the horn because no one ever honked in LA. It was the oddest thing, and I only realized it after I"d been living in New York. New Yorkers honked at everything. I think they honked at the air if they didn"t like the way it felt through their vents.
I pulled at the tie fastened around my neck and loosened it. If I missed Cammie tonight, I"d have to come up with a whole new plan. I wouldn"t be able to sit by and wait any longer. I"d have to take Tucker"s advice and actually call the radio station, or arrest her or something.
But the thought of calling the station to talk to her bothered me. Talking to Cammie for the first time after ten freaking years, well, I wanted to be able to see her face, her expression, her eyes. I didn"t want our first conversation after so many years to be over the phone.
"Move, d.a.m.n it!" I yelled as the car in front of me slowed down to forty miles per hour for no apparent reason. The hotel where the reunion was being held was only ten minutes away, but I couldn"t get there fast enough. There was so much I needed to tell her. Cammie changed my life and she didn"t even know it. h.e.l.l, there was so much she didn"t know that I wanted to share with her.
My cell phone blared out through my car speakers, and I glanced over to see Tucker"s name flashing on my dashboard screen. I pressed Accept and blurted, "Why are you calling me?"
"Hey, buddy. Just wanted to see if you got there yet."
I clenched my teeth. "Tucker, are you f.u.c.king kidding me with this? You think I"m at my reunion, seeing all these people for the first time in ten years, and so you call me to check in? Come on, man!"
"I"m just trying to live vicariously through you. You could have brought me as your guest and then I wouldn"t be calling right now."
He actually sounded sort of sad. Tucker had suggested that I bring him with me, but I thought that was a little weird. He wouldn"t know anyone, and what kind of loser brings a coworker with them to their high school reunion?
"Well, I"m not there yet," I said, then groaned with frustration. "I"m stuck in traffic on the 101."
"You"re not there yet? You"re late as s.h.i.t."
I glanced at my car"s clock again and silently fumed. "I know I"m late, okay? You think I don"t know how freaking late I am?" I shouted, then glanced around, hoping no one saw that. If anyone else in traffic happened to look over at me, I probably looked like a crazy person, screaming by myself in an empty car.
"Whoa, whoa. Calm down, Caveman. I"m sure your cavegirl will still be there waiting for you." Tucker roared with laughter, and I wished he was next to me so I could hit him like I usually did when he p.i.s.sed me off.
"She better be," I said, secretly praying to everyone holy to not let Cammie leave the reunion before I got there.
"Make sure you take pictures."
"Of what?" I stared at the brake lights lining my upcoming freeway exit as I changed lanes.
"Of Cammie. Of any hot single girl you think I should bang, I don"t know. Just text me. I"m bored," he admitted before crunching into something that sounded like potato chips.
"You"re worse than a girl. You know that, right?" I put on my turn signal and maneuvered my car toward the exit.
"I don"t even care right now. That"s how bored I am."
"Tucker, it"s Sat.u.r.day night. Go out. Make some friends," I suggested, knowing that he wouldn"t do it. He hated going out alone, and since we worked most of the time on our case, he hadn"t had a chance to meet new people since we moved. "Ask one of the other guys to go grab a beer or something with you."
"I hate most of those a.s.sholes. Twenty-year-old punks who think they"re invincible. They don"t know nothing. They"d s.h.i.t themselves if they had to walk a beat in one of the boroughs," he said, referring to New York.
I cleared my throat, but couldn"t disagree. Most of the officers a.s.signed to our station were really young guys straight out of junior college. They were filled with p.i.s.s and vinegar, and their egos rivaled that of a reality TV star. Basically, they thought they were far more impressive than they truly were. I only hoped I hadn"t been such a d.i.c.khead when I first got out of the academy, but I probably was.
"All right," I said, throwing him a bone. "I"ll send you pics. Maybe. If I remember. I"m hoping I"ll be too busy."
He huffed out a quick ha! before saying, "I"m hoping you"ll be too busy too. That way I won"t have to hear about this girl anymore." His voice went up an octave as he mimicked a girly voice. "All your stupid-a.s.s questions about if she remembers you, or if she still thinks about you, or if she might like you, all that whiny bulls.h.i.t."
"You"re the one who wants to live through me, remember? So you must not hate it too much." I pulled my car off the freeway and made a left turn. His groan filled my speakers as I spotted the hotel up ahead in the distance. "All right, buddy, I"m about to pull into the hotel, so I gotta go."
"Okay. Go get your girl, Caveman."
"That"s the plan," I said before ending the call and pulling up to the parking attendant.
He"s Here.
Cammie.
"He"s obviously not coming. I think I"m gonna head up to our room." I faked a yawn and looked at Kristy, who pulled out her cell phone so she could check the time.
The thought of staying here another minute no longer appealed to me. My disappointment level had hit an all-time high. Dalton wasn"t here, he most likely wasn"t coming, and I was clearly a crazy person for believing that he would. Or more so, for believing he might actually come here to see me the same way I had come to see him. I felt like a fool, and I hated feeling foolish.
"Uh-uh. It"s only nine twenty. You"re not going to bed yet. He could still show up. This thing goes until midnight. Come on, Cinderella, don"t give up on your prince just yet."
"No one shows up this late. We"ve already eaten dinner and dessert. You don"t really think he"s coming, do you?" I asked Kristy seriously, pleading for an honest response.
She tugged at her bottom lip before admitting, "Probably not."
I wanted to cry. I hadn"t realized just how badly I truly wanted to see Dalton until him not showing up was an unavoidable truth. Disappointment and I had become one. Look up the word in the dictionary, and you"d see my face right next to it.
"Oh G.o.d, look who"s here!" Jenna squealed as she pointed toward the open double doors. "Look." She nudged Kristy. "You were asking about him earlier, and now he"s here!"