The Stanworth familyis loud but in a fun, buzzed-with-energy kind of way that’s more contagious than off-putting.
“Justin, would you like a tour of the house while they get the turkey ready?” Summer’s eyes tell me this private meeting away from listening ears is non-negotiable.
I hop to my feet. “Yep, I’d love a tour.”
“We’ll be back in a minute.” She reaches for my hand and then stops abruptly.
“What’s wrong?” Juliet looks at Summer.
“Uh…I was just trying to remember if I had washed my hands before I give Justin a tour.”
“Oh, come on.” Anna smirks. “We all know your ‘tour’ of the house is just a way for you two to go make out.”
Summer’s face pales. “We’renotmaking out. We would never. Why would we?”
“Yeah, right,” Hailey scoffs from the other end of the kitchen. “You don’t have to pretend for us. Mom and Dad don’t care.”
“I don’t care if you wash your hands before you make out. Just wash your hands before you stuff the turkey,” her dad says as he dries a pizza pan.
Summer looks like a deer in headlights—eyes wide and frozen. She was fine for the last thirty minutes while I chatted with her family, but the mention of kissing me again has immobilized her.
I grab her hand, winking at her sisters. “We’re not ruling anything out just yet.” I tug her forward, calling over my shoulder, “And don’t worry, Marty. We’ll wash our hands before we stuff anything.”
Once we’re in the hallway, she pulls her hand back. “What was that?”
“That was me saving your butt from blowing everything.”
She immediately folds her arms as if she doesn’t trust me not to randomly hold her hand again. “When it comes to touching, just follow my lead.”
“That’s what Justin said to do.”
“You and Justin talked about this?”
“Yeah, if I’m pretending to be your boyfriend, I wanted to know what level of touching I was signing up for.” I smirk. “I want to be prepared in case you start kissing my back and neck again.”
Her arms fold. “You seem to remember a lot more about the other night than you’re letting on.” There’s a directness to her glare that’s fun to draw out from her.
“Not really. Just a fleeting moment. A flash of a memory here and there.”
“Tag! You’re it!” Miles runs past us, followed by Jack.
“Maybe we should”—she points to an open room—“go somewhere we can talk privately.”
I gesture for her to lead the way and follow behind. My eyes drop down her body, quickly glancing over her tan wide-leg pants and then back up to the white sweater with flowy see-through long sleeves. I’m not checking Summer out. I’m just getting to know her.
She spins around abruptly, and my eyes jerk away from her body faster than a shopaholic blows through her Christmas budget. I focus on the crown molding on the ceiling. Very nice stuff.
“So, Caleb…” She pulls back her shoulders like she means to intimidate me. “Can you explain why you showed up on my doorstep tonight?”
“Isn’t it obvious why I’m here?”
“Not really. I don’t remember agreeing to you standing in for Justin.”
“You didn’t, but Justin thought it was a good idea, so here I am. In fairness, he was supposed to text you and tell you I was coming so it wouldn’t be a surprise. I don’t know why he didn’t.”
“He probably knew I’d say no.”
“I can leave if you want.” I take a step like I’m on my way out the door.
