She’s conceding ground already; it’s in her eyes. I suppress a smile at the conflict I sense in her, because she’s scrutinizing every nuance of emotion on my face, looking for anything that might betray my intentions.
“Hey.” Gabriel e’s voice startles both of us—perfect timing.
I drop my hands as she jumps away. Turning to snatch my cup from where I set it on the stack of fan blades, I say,
“Later,” giving Dori a surreptitious wink and bumping fists with a confused Gabriel e on the way out the door.
*** *** ***
Dori
If I can just get through one more week, I’l never have to see him again.
The fan motor was heavy and unwieldy, and I should have waited for Gabriel e’s help to hook it up. But I could feel his eyes on me from the moment he walked into the room, and I couldn’t pretend to look at those instructions another minute.
Then my heart was slamming from nearly dropping the stupid motor, and in the next moment he was behind me, laughing at me for my choice of swearword-that-isn’t while taking the motor and holding it aloft like it weighed nothing. I would have chastised him for breaking the one-person-on-the-ladder rule, but I couldn’t speak.
His chest pressed against my back while his arm reached around, his bicep hard against my ribcage, just grazing my breast. I stretched up, my arms burning, and worked to get the wiring hooked up as quickly as possible.
Once the part was snug against the ceiling, I thought he’d step back down. Instead, he remained where he was, our bodies connected, however slightly, in several key spots.
Then he told me I smel ed good.
Trapped on that ladder, al I could do was close my eyes and concentrate. Breathe. Breathe. Breathe. Until his hands were at my waist, lifting me down like I weigh nothing.
I’ve never been so pleased to see Gabriel e.
Once Reid disappears, I tel her to take the fan boxes to her brothers’ and parents’ rooms and get them unpacked so we can instal them before lunch. That should give me enough time to attach the fan blades… and recover from what he just did to me.
Chapter 19
REID
Javier, one of the new volunteers, is a member of a frat group that’l be here for the week—Pi Kappa something. I think he’s decided we’re BFFs for the duration. We’re the same age, but for the most part, I feel like I’m talking to a kid.
During lunch break, I entertain him with celebrity anecdotes—the websites, the starlets, the parties, the fan mail—while he’s rubbernecking at al the photographers hovering in neighboring yards. “So there might be pictures of me on celebrity gossip sites? Like, tomorrow?” I can’t help laughing—celebrities go miles way out of their way to dodge being harassed by the paparazzi, but Javier is ecstatic over the prospect. “They’l probably be up by this afternoon, if not in half an hour,” I tel him.
He pul s his phone from his pocket, starts typing a text.
“Seriously? Awesome.” Ten to one he’s texting a friend to check websites to see if he’s made it into any shots yet.
Ultimate photobombing. “So, like, what do you do with al those pictures girls send you? Do you ever, you know, cal up one of the hot ones and hook up?”
I shake my head. “No way. The more, er, stimulating photos don’t make it to me—my mail and email is prescreened. I get the ful y-clothed shots. And the you’re a god and I think you should have won an Oscar mail, not the You suck and I wish you’d curl up and die shit. My manager shreds or deletes anything inappropriate.” We each take a paper plate and head for the food.
“Even hot naked girls? Why? ” Javier is aghast.
“Because photos of naked fifteen-year-olds are not something you want to keep, even if they say they’re eighteen.”
“Yeah, I guess not.” He grimaces, but doesn’t look convinced.
“Hi, Reid.” Speak of the underage devil.
“Hey, Gabriel e. This is Javier.”
Javier’s eyes widen slightly, taking her in. She smiles and chirps, “Hi.” While he checks her out, she turns back to me. “So, Dori’s boyfriend showed up again. God, he’s so boring.”
Boyfriend? “What?”
She blinks innocently. “Her boyfriend, Nick—he was here like a week or so ago? I’m going to kil myself if I have to work with the two of them all freaking afternoon.” She glances towards the back door. “God, there they are.” I’m staring when Dori locks eyes with me. Nick is the guy Dori sat next to at lunch during the first week. The one with the poor conversation skil s. She breaks eye contact with me and turns to direct him to the line, her hand on his arm as he drones on about something. This guy is her boyfriend? You’ve got to be shitting me. He looks like he just stepped out of a nerd sitcom, where he plays the character who constantly manages to destroy his chances to hook up with anyone.
And then I wonder if nerds are what floats Dori’s boat, because I’ve heard that some girls are like that.
Javier invites another frat guy to join us. We al sit on the edge of the patio to eat, and Gabriel e is flushed and talkative, relishing the male-to-female ratio. Javier and his friend Kyle are more than happy to accommodate her, and while I appear to do the same, I’m watching Dori and Nick.
Her smiles seem real and her body language is relaxed; when their knees brush or he leans forward to say something, she doesn’t pul back or shy away. He’s not hot, but not repulsive. But there’s no observable chemistry between them, not even guarded touches… and she’s sneaking looks in my direction every few minutes while I appear to be engrossed in whatever Gabriel e is babbling about.