Songs for Cricket by Laine, E. (best books to read in your 20s TXT) 📗

He opened his mouth and maybe it was the look I gave him, but he seemed to change his mind on what he was about to say.

“Sure. I’ll be right back,” Billy said.

The area was tight, and he brushed by me as he left, pausing long enough to lean in for a kiss that landed on my cheek when I turned my head.

Shep held back another second or two until Billy was gone for sure. Then he stumbled into the alcove, eliminating the space between us.

His hand was gentle on my cheek. “Finley.”

My name on his lips was like a promise I didn’t understand until I did.

“He’s not good enough for you.”

The way he blinked and stuttered over his words, I wasn’t sure he understood what he was saying. But I did.

I removed his hand. “You’re drunk.”

“I am drunk,” he admitted.

“You should go sit somewhere.”

He shook his head. “Not until I tell you.”

His confession might not have seemed so theatric if he wasn’t slurring every other word.

“Shep—”

A well-placed finger silenced me.

“Let me finish.” His eyes drooped, and I almost moved forward afraid his legs would give out. “You deserve more.”

“What, you?” I snapped, feeling the beginnings of fury spur in my gut.

How dare he look at me the way he was, which played on my emotions when I didn’t have fire-colored eyes like his precious Cricket.

“Not even me, but I have to tell you . . .”

His hand was in my hair, drawing me close. I waited, unable to breathe, wondering if it would be fact or fiction that left his lips.

“I’m in love with you.”

I shoved him hard, sending him tripping over his toes and careening into the wall.

“That’s low, even for August. What? Did he decide since you guys couldn’t use fists to block any guy from talking to me, you’d use words?”

Had August figured out my crush on Shepard? Emily had, and she’d been talking to him. Did she let it slip or use it as a conversation starter?

“Finley?”

I moved to him and jabbed my finger in his chest. “No, you do not get to say things like that.”

Billy arrived and just in time. “Is everything okay?”

The grin I offered him was award worthy. “Yeah. Shep was just leaving.”

I stilled at the gaze Shepard offered me as he ran long fingers through his hair. It was devastating in its impact. It confused me to the point I couldn’t speak.

He gathered himself and offered me a last longing look that made me begin to doubt my dismissal of him.

“Guess I’m too late,” Shep said, and that wasn’t what drove the nail home on what I’d just done. “Finn was right.”

Then he was gone. Billy was saying something and shifting me so that my back was on the very wall Shepard had just vacated.

Finn . . . Finn had urged me to tell Shepard the truth. Had he had that same conversation with Shepard?

I hadn’t realized my feet were moving until Billy called after me. “Where are you going?”

There was no stopping. I had to take that chance and really listen to Shepard and explain my own feelings.

For someone so drunk who’d been shuffling on his feet like a zombie, Shepard had vanished without a trace. I pushed through the crowds and into the great room. I stopped to survey every inch of the space, and that’s when I spotted him.

He was at the door, and he wasn’t alone. His hand was on the back of a short girl as they walked out the front door. Lacey.

“I see Shepard’s been bit by the viper.”

I glanced over at Billy who’d followed me. Then, I took off. I ran for the back as the urge to puke was strong. The heat of the night only made sweat break out on my neck as I found some bushes to purge in.

My head spun. Had it all been an act like I thought? Including the drunken slur? I felt sick and duped at the same time.

“Are you okay?”

Tori’s voice preceded another squeezing of my stomach as I spewed out what felt like everything I’d consumed in the last twenty-four hours.

When I could vomit no more, I used the back of my hand to wipe off any spatter. My shirt, however, hadn’t fared well.

“I don’t feel so good,” I said.

Billy stood next to Tori with concerned eyes.

“Do you want to go home?”

That was the last thing I wanted. Shepard was most likely there with Lacey doing God knows what and had no desire to hear. I shook my head.

“I want to lie down,” I said.

“You can go to my house,” Tori offered.

“You can have my room. I can get you a clean shirt,” Billy said.

I nodded because the smell of vomit was strong on me. “Thanks, Tori,” I said as Billy took my hand. Seeing that I’d used it to wipe my mouth, I realized what a mistake I’d made.

She tried to take me to the side, but I waved her off. “I’m fine, really.”

Even to my ears I sounded clear headed; though I totally wasn’t.

Billy wasn’t the asshole my brothers thought, and that included Shepard. The sooner I accepted that Shepard would only ever be a friend to me the better. And Billy was looking more like the fantasy of a guy I’d created in my head.

His room looked very lived in but tidy. He picked up a few clothes and dumped them in a closet before rooting in a drawer to find a shirt for me.

He handed me one, and I didn’t ask him to turn around when I put it on. Instead I turned at the last minute. I whipped off my shirt and left it on the floor where it landed. I pulled the shirt that smelled faintly like laundry detergent over my head. When I faced Billy, I stopped. There was something like reverence in his gaze. I shivered all at once feeling awkward but pretty.

“Thanks,” I said, ending the silence.

“You can hang here and lock the door.