AllFreeNovel
Share Us
My middle finger joined the first one. “And therein lies the second issue.” I lifted my arms out at my sides. “I’m the manager of the same bar I’ve worked at since I was eighteen, living in the same town. I’m happy with my life, sure, but I don’t think those assholes we went to school with will consider that something to brag about.”
Her face turned fierce. “Screw the haters,” she declared with ferocity.
“I love you like crazy. But no. Just no,” I told her for the millionth time. “I’d rather lick the floor of the men’s bathroom than set foot in that reunion.”
She gave me her big puppy dog eyes, clasping her hands in front of her chest. “Please, Presley? Pretty please? For me?”
I let out a snort. “Not a chance in hell. And stop using that face on me. It won’t work.”
Chapter Three
PRESLEY
Damn Colbieand that stupid pouty face. It had totally worked.
I blamed her for why I was currently wearing a dress that I never would have thought to buy for myself and ridiculous heels that pinched the living shit out of my toes as I made my way toward the Whitecap High School gymnasium.
“This is my nightmare. How the hell did I let you talk me into this?” I grumbled as I tugged at the inappropriately short hem of my dress, trying to cover more skin.
Colbie smacked my hands away. “Will you stop fidgeting?”
I had to admit, the dress somehow managed to make me feel classy and sexy at the same time, a combo I hadn’t even known existed until Colbie snatched it off the rack last weekend and insisted I try it on. The sweetheart neckline of the corseted bodice and ultra-thin spaghetti straps exposed everything from my neck down to the subtle hint of cleavage. The bubble skirt might have been nice and flowy, but it barely reached mid-thigh.
Colbie had squirted some kind of bronzing crap on my chest, shoulders, and legs that gave me a sun-kissed look and createda pretty shimmer, like my skin was covered in crushed pearls or something, as I rubbed it in.
I had to fist my hands to keep from tugging at the hem again. “I feel like I’m seconds away from flashing my cooch to everyone. I’m not used to showing this much skin.”
“Well, you look like a freaking sex kitten. And I told you, that red totally works on you.”
I felt like I stood out like a sore thumb, especially in such a bold color. But I appreciated her attempts at making me feel better. “You look amazing too,” I told her, speaking the god’s honest truth. Her dress was equally as short as mine, but completely strapless, fitted, and in a pale lavender that looked great against her pale skin. “Absolutely stunning, sweetie.”
She fluffed her thick hair, preening theatrically, feeling a hell of a lot more comfortable all dolled up than I did. “Well, thank you, darling,” she said in a dramatically accented voice, replacing the “L” in darling with a “W”. “I do try.” We closed in on the gym entrance, and I felt Colbie’s entire demeanor change as her body went from loose and breezy to stiff as a board.
Her throat worked on a swallow, her eyes pinned to the door. “Hey,” I said quietly. “You okay?”
I didn’t understand the lightning-quick change until I heard a deep voice speak. “Ladies.” I whipped my head back around and spotted none other than ruggedly sexy Sheriff Kincade Michaels.
Well, that explained that. I curled my lips between my teeth to keep from smiling like a lunatic, because the only thing that would fluster my best friend beyond compare was her ultimate crush. The man she’d been pining after since she’d been a teenager and he’d been a freshly minted deputy who could wear the hell out of a uniform.
“Sheriff Michaels,” I greeted, taking the reins since I knew my girl wouldn’t be able to form a coherent sentence. He stoodat the entrance to the high school gym dressed in that khaki uniform shirt, jeans, and his gun belt. “Since when does the big man have to do such menial tasks as security detail?”
He grinned and chuckled, and I swore I heard a muffled choking sound coming from Colbie’s direction. She was either having a heart attack or an orgasm. Honestly, I wasn’t sure which one I’d have preferred.
“Since the deputy scheduled to do it got a nice little case of food poisoning and there was no time to find anyone else.”
“Ah, so you pulled the short straw,” I teased. “Pulling babysitting duty on a bunch of grownups to make sure they don’t get too rowdy.”
He shrugged, his smirk probably threatening to give my bestie heart palpitations—if the organ in her chest was even still working. “Someone’s gotta do it. You ladies have yourselves a good time in there. And be safe, yeah?”
I threw him a jaunty salute. “Sir, yes sir.”
He shook his head good-naturedly as I looped my arm through Colbie’s stiff one and guided her into the gym with me. She moved woodenly until we cleared the door, then her whole body slumped.
“Oh god.” She sucked in a ragged breath. “How bad was that just now? Did I totally embarrass myself?”
“In order to embarrass yourself you would have actually had to speak. You just stood there like you were a marble statue of a woman in shock.”
She slapped her hands over her face and made a noise that sounded an awful lot like a dying animal. “What the hell is wrong with me? Why do I always go stupid around that man?”
