Lovestruck Summer Melissa Walker (top 100 books to read .TXT) 📖

is a good guy,”I say. “I think he was just uncomfortable here.”“Hmph,”says Penny. “Well, he’s my type,”I say, trying to defend Sebastian a little. “I mean, I like it when people are like me. And when they understand the music that I like, it feels like they understand a big part of who I am.”“Who you are or who you want the world to think you are?”asks Penny. “What’s that supposed to mean?”I ask. “You’ve got your rock-short haircut, your indie internship, your DJ boyfriend,”she says. “Does it all feel right?”“Yeah,”I say slowly. “It does.”But as I hear myself talking, I realize that music taste is

183 a fl imsy reason to date someone. “Are you so smitten with the DJ that you haven’t noticed anyone else?”asks Penny. “Who?”I ask. “A certain lonesome cowboy next door,”says Penny, possibly creating a new clichéd personal descriptor as she takes a sip from her drink. “Russ?”I ask. “He’s not into me. He just wants to prove that I’m wrong about things. He’s like a stubborn ten-year-old.”Penny laughs and an ice cube fl ies out of her mouth. “He described you practically the same way,”she says, wiping her face. “Right before he told me he was completely falling for you.”“He did not say that,”I gasp. “Well, not in so many words, but . . .”Penny starts. “I haven’t seen him this gone for someone since—”“Penny!”shouts Chrissy from across the room. “You’ve got to hear Jade’s story about her boss. Get in here!”Penny turns to me. “Coming?”she asks. “I’ve heard that one already,”I say. “I’ll be in in a minute.”She leaves me outside on the deck, where I

184 catch my breath. I tilt my head to the sky and take in the stars, making a wish on one particu- larly sparkly one before I go inside to work up the nerve to pull Russ away from the keg. I find Jade, Penny, and Chrissy talking to two other girls by the kitchen island. “Quinn!”Jade shouts, looping an arm around my shoulder. “Meet my new friends Jessica and Ashley.”“Hi,”I say to the two smiling girls across from me. “These girls have amazing tips on how to spot a player,”says Jade. “I am learning all the warning signs that Rick put out. I had no idea!”“Rick sounds like a d-bag,”says Penny. “Total d-bag,”echoes Chrissy. “I’d like to meet him in the roller rink.”“I might just fi nd me an Alpha-Alpha boy tonight,”Jade shouts, and a few interested heads turn our way. The Tri-Pi girls laugh. I love that Jade is just fi tting in and embracing this scene. I wonder why I haven’t been able to do that. Even in my mind right now, I’m judging Ashley and Jessica

185 for looking Barbie-ish and having Simpson sister names. I might be an asshole, I realize. Just like Sebastian. I take a deep breath and look over at Russ. The beer line is thinning. I walk over to the sink and empty out my cup so I have an excuse to approach the keg. “Hey,”Russ says when I get close to him, smiling at me in this really endearing way that makes my heart loop around a little. “Where’s Mr. DJ?”“He left,”I say. “I’m sorry,”says Russ, not looking sorry at all. “I told him to go,”I say. “Did you now?”asks Russ, looking impressed. “Yeah,”I say, trying to sound nonchalant. “So, do you get a break?”Russ lifts both fi ngers to his mouth for the double whistle. “Nate!”he shouts. A hugely tall guy in an actual cowboy hat hurries across the room toward us. “Take over for a few,”says Russ, handing him the hose.

186 Nate nods, and Russ puts his hand on my back, leading me toward the front door. My heart is pounding, because it seems like Russ has been waiting for me to do this—to say something. To start something. And I wonder if I’ll be able to. But I shouldn’t have worried. The second we get outside, he pulls the door closed behind him and folds me in his arms. I feel his kiss before I can say anything. But this is exactly what I wanted to say, in a much more articulate way than I could have put it. His chest presses against me as I reach up and put my hands in his curly hair. I’m gasping a little, but I can’t come up for air. This makeout session rates about 1000 on the hot meter, and I don’t want to stop. Finally, Russ does it for me. “Are you drunk?”he asks. “No,”I say honestly. My eyes feel heavy and hooded. I want him to keep kissing me. “Did you lose a bet?”he asks. “No.”I laugh, looking up and into his eyes. “I like you.”“I like you too,”says Russ, leaning in for more kisses. I meet him halfway to save time.

187 Then I hear a voice. “Hey, Russ,”says a soft twang. His head jerks up. When he sees her, I notice, he instantly lets go of me. I feel my body temperature drop rapidly. “Katie,”he whispers. “Yup,”she says. “That’s my name.”She sticks out her hand at me, like I’m sup- posed to shake it. But unless she’s Russ’s sister, I don’t think I want to touch this girl. “This is Quinn,”says Russ. And I’m disap- pointed that he didn’t call me Priscilla. “Well . . . hi,”says Katie, dropping her hand since I’ve made no move to take it. “Listen, Russ, can we go somewhere and talk for a few minutes?”I look over at him, watching him react to her question, the same question I asked him about half an hour ago by the keg. He lowers his eyes and looks at the ground when he says, “Sure.”Then he opens up the front door to Penny’s condo, for me. “See you later, Quinn,”he says. And I don’t know why I don’t fi ght, why I don’t demand to know who this “Katie”is, why

188 I don’t make them both explain what the heck just happened to interrupt