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Chapter 26
Attenthirtythatnight, after my friends had left and my family was all in bed, Scott and I were cleaning the mess. My parents told me to leave it for the morning, but I felt rested enough from not working that I could manage helping a little. I stood at the sink, washing the last few mugs.
Scott stood behind me and I leaned back into him. He wrapped his hands around my waist, sending shivers down my spine. I tilted my head back and gave him a slow kiss. Distracted from the dishes, I turned around, slid my hands up his chest and around his neck, and enjoyed the feel of his mouth against mine.
He reached behind me and turned off the water I had left on in my haste to kiss him. Scooping an arm under my legs, he picked me up and carried me over to the couch. Apparently, gaining a few pounds over the last week wasn’t too much for him to carry. I should’ve known better; his arms were perfection.
He carried me over to the couch, kissing my lips the whole way, then broke apart so he could gently lay me down. As he moved to lie down with me, I put a hand on his chest. “Hold up. My parents could walk in at any moment.”
He fixed me with a no-nonsense look. “I wasn’t going to try anything. I just want to kiss you.”
I wrinkled my nose. “Still a little weird.”
He climbed on the couch with me, anyway. My back was pressed up tightly against the back of the couch, our bodies flush against each other, and he seemed like he was about to fall off, but he grinned as he wrapped his arm around me and went in for the kill.
I forgot where we were and what I was worried about, as his kisses reminded me how much he loved me and cared for me. This man I had crushed on since my pre-teen years was here supporting me and reminding me I was special and important and valuable. No matter what happened after tonight, I knew I had him by my side and I could do anything. The kisses grew passionate and heated, but respectful Scott adhered to boundaries and didn’t push beyond them.
A knock at the front door interrupted us.
“What in the world?” I exclaimed.
“Is your dad at the front door? Is he messing with us?” Scott whispered.
With wide eyes, I broke from my kiss-induced daze. “That’s . . . possible, but unlikely.”
Scott stood up and ran his hands through his hair. “I’ll go check. Maybe it’s a kid playing a prank. You stay here.”
I watched him take a moment to stumble to the front door and stifled a giggle. I loved how I had that effect on him. He made it to the front door and opened it a crack.
“Oh, hi,” a voice at the front said. “Do I have the wrong house? I figured she’d still be awake now . . . I’m looking for Ivy.”
“Who’s asking?” Scott replied. Mm. I kind of loved overprotective Scott.
“I’m Lisa. I own The OC Dance Project.”
Scott whirled around to read my shocked expression. What was Lisa doing here, this late at night? I hopped off the couch and met him at the door.
“Hey, Lisa.” It was her, after all. She looked pretty disheveled, her short, red hair sticking up in a few places and her pajamas had a chocolate stain on them. “What are you doing here?”
Before I could process what was happening, she rushed into the house and wrapped me up in a huge hug. “I am so, so sorry,” she cried.
I pulled back in shock. “Thank you?”
“I saw the show tonight.”
“Ah. Yeah, pretty embarrassing.”
She shook her head. “No, that’s not why I’m apologizing. I had no idea you had taken that extra job. And here I was, overworking you and not paying you nearly enough. No wonder your teams suffered, and you snapped.”
I shrugged. “It’s not an excuse. I shouldn’t have talked to the girls that way. But yes, you did overwork me.”
She ran her hands down the sides of my arms. “I wish you’d told me what you were going through.”
I pulled away from her grasp. “Would it have made a difference? All you cared about were the moms and their obsession with Blake.”
Scott slipped his hand around my waist in support.
She paused, her eyes looking down at the floor. “I deserve that.”
