Welcome To Hickville High (Hickville High Series Book 1) (17 page)

And speaking of cute outfits, she had no idea what she was going to wear. This was her big debut into Hickville-world and she didn’t want to blow it. She looked at Mackenzie sitting across from her, staring out the window. She could ask her sister, but noting that she’d worn long sleeves to school again, decided Mackenzie was not the best fashion advisor.

By the time they pulled into the long drive leading to the house, Kelsey decided on a pale blue T-shirt dress and sandals. As they climbed out of Hannah’s RAV 4, she was sure khaki shorts and a printed blouse would be better. As she opened the door to the house and led the girls into the den, she settled on ankle jeans and a tank. Remembering the heat, she amended the decision to shorts and a tank.

Mackenzie headed for the kitchen as soon as they entered the house. “Do you guys want a soda? I’m grabbing a Coke.”

“Sure.” Hannah followed Mackenzie.

“None for me.” Shelby stood in the den and looked around.

Kelsey knew what Shelby was thinking: Expensive leather furniture in this dump? She thought the same thing often enough. “Hey, do you guys want to help me pick something to wear?”

“Of course,” Shelby answered.

Hannah walked back into the room sipping on a Coke. Shelby grabbed the can from her and took a drink.

Hannah reached for the can. “Hey, get your own.”

Shelby ignored Hannah’s comment and took another sip. “Come on, we’re going to help Kelsey.”

Hannah took her drink back from Shelby. “Can I have this upstairs?”

Kelsey raised her brows. “Seriously?”

Hannah followed Kelsey upstairs. “Seriously. My mom is OCD about our house.”

“Well, nothing could hurt this dump.” Kelsey turned right at the top of the stairs and led the girls to her room.

Shelby said, “Dump? If this place is a dump, I’d love to see where you lived in Chicago. Our house is half this size and I have four brothers.”

Open mouth, insert foot. Must think fast. Kelsey dropped her purse on her bed. “Ah, but do you have coffee pot wallpaper in your den?”

Hannah plopped on Kelsey’s mattress like she’d been there a thousand times. “She’s right, Shelby, that wallpaper is worse than that flowery crap your mom has all over the walls.”

Shelby watched Kelsey flip through hangers in her closet. “And that’s saying a lot. Damn girl, you got some clothes. Who are you?”

Kelsey turned her back on her closet and faced her new friends. Awkward. “Things were different in Chicago.”

Shelby pulled a red silk sleeveless ruffle-neck blouse out of the closet and held it out for Hannah to see. “Yeah. Your furniture is like out of a catalogue and your clothes are to die for—are you like in wit-pro or something?”

Kelsey pulled a gauzy v-neck shirt from her closet. “What’s wit-pro?”

Shelby shook her head and grabbed a navy sleeveless button down.

Hannah said, “Witness protection. Shelby has an overactive imagination. What’s that bright orange thing?”

Kelsey pulled a T-shirt dress from her closet. “This? It’s a racer-back.”

“Love it.” Shelby inspected the dress. “It’s almost as bright as my hair, but it’ll look awesome with yours.”

Kelsey decided on the racer-back and sandals. She wasn’t usually shy in front of her friends, but she’d just met these girls. So, she grabbed the dress and padded across the hall to change and refresh her makeup.

She checked herself out in the bathroom mirror. Shelby was right, the color of the dress looked great with her dark brown hair. But not so much with the funky tan she’d acquired. Her arms were dark brown from weeks of farm chores, but her shoulders and back were a light shade of pink from yesterday’s pool time.

She crossed back to her room. “I can’t wear this.”

Hannah sat up. “Why?”

Kelsey turned to show her back. “I have a major farmer’s tan.”

Shelby shook her red curls. “Grab a sweater or jacket or something. They’ll have the air cranked up anyway. Let’s go.”

Hannah stood. “Shelby’s right. Besides, nobody’s gonna be looking at your tan line.”

Kelsey pulled a grey zip hoodie from her closet. “What do you think?”

Shelby said. “Perfect, let’s go.”

The girls waved goodbye to Mackenzie floating in the pool and piled back into Hannah’s car. Hannah had just pulled onto the farm-to-market road when Kelsey’s phone rang.

“Hey, can y’all pick me up?”

“Hang on, let me ask.” Kelsey leaned forward. “Austin wants us to pick him up.”

Hannah nodded. “Okay, but tell him to meet me at the end of his drive. Hey, ask him if Travis is meeting us there.”

Kelsey spoke into her cell. “Meet us at the end of your drive and Hannah wants to know if Travis is coming.”

Hannah smacked the seat back. “You didn’t have to tell him I wanted to know.”

Austin said, “Travis said he’d try, but he had stuff he had to do for his dad. Tell Hannah I’m standing on the side of the road. All she has to do is slow down.”

Kelsey laughed. “Okay, be ready to jump in.”

“I’m always ready—just waiting for the right moment.”

Kelsey felt heat prickle her face. “I don’t know what that means, but I’ll open the door for you.”

“That’s all I need. I’ll see you in a few.”

“Okay.”

Kelsey ended the call and flopped back on the seat. Had he meant to tease her with double entendres? She was probably reading too much into it. But she had a feeling his words had nothing to do with getting into the car.

In Leffors, Texas, it is illegal to take more than three swallows of beer at any time while standing.

Shelby peeked around the headrest at Kelsey. “Did I hear some flirting going on?”

Was it that obvious? “We’re just friends. You know he works for my dad.”

Hannah made the turn by the water tower and down Austin’s road. “Well, he basically dropped off the face of the Earth after y’all moved here. He didn’t even come to the trestle parties.”

“Trestle parties?” As they neared his house, Austin stepped to the middle of the road and heat prickled through Kelsey. He was dead sexy wearing those aviators. And the way his maroon Texas Aggies T-Shirt stretched across his chest reminded her of the water fight they’d had. Her mouth went slightly dry.
Stop thinking like that, Kelsey. He’s just a friend.
She closed her eyes for just a second and tried to picture Drew, but couldn’t make it stick.

“Yeah. Trestle parties are a summer tradition.” Hannah slowed and Austin reached for the handle on the side opposite Kelsey. Just as he clicked the latch, Hannah gunned the engine, shooting the car forward out of his hand.

He folded his arms across his chest and yelled, “Ha, ha. Very funny.”

Hannah backed up until she was even with him. Again he reached for the door handle, and again she gunned it, backing the car out of his reach. The girls giggled as Austin backed away. Hannah pulled next to him, but this time he didn’t touch the door.

Hannah lowered the passenger window and yelled, “Come on, Austin. I won’t do it again.”

He shook his head. “Kelsey has to open the door.”

Kelsey scooted across the seat and pushed the door open. He grabbed the car frame and jumped in. Hannah accelerated and his body slammed against Kelsey’s splaying her across the back seat and sending his sunglasses flying. If they hadn’t been laughing so hard, Kelsey might not have been able to resist the urge to wrap her arms around his waist and hold him against her. As it was, they were all arms and legs flailing like a bug on its back.

Hannah stopped the car and Austin lifted himself off of Kelsey. But for a brief second he pushed up on his forearms and hesitated. His gaze locked on hers and she felt it all the way to her core. Now she had to figure out how to pretend that her brain could still function and normal words could still come out of her mouth.

Shelby turned to Austin. “Glad you could join us. And why didn’t you bring Kelsey to the trestle this summer?”

*

Austin hadn’t thought much about the trestle since the Quinns arrived in Hillside. Introducing Kelsey to farm life was a whole lot more fun than swimming with an occasional water moccasin.

“What’s the trestle?” Kelsey fished his aviators off the floor and handed them to him. Her face was flushed and she was still a little out of breath from laughing. He tried not to focus on the way her chest moved as she caught her breath.

Down boy. Look away.
But he didn’t. “It’s where the train used to cross the river. It’s halfway between here and Spring Creek. Everybody hangs out there in the summer.”

Shelby said, “Somebody tied a rope from the trestle. It’s a blast to swing out to the middle and drop into the river.”

“So why haven’t you taken me there, Austin?”

The way Kelsey’s hair brushed her shoulders as she turned from looking at Shelby to him, made him hold his breath for a half a second. “I dunno. I guess between snake bites and water fights we haven’t had much time.”

“Hey, that snake bite was weeks ago.” She backhanded his thigh and he wanted to grab her hands and pull her into her lap.

“I heard about that.” Shelby reached her arm across the seat. “Let me see.” Austin held his hand so she could inspect it. “It doesn’t look too bad.”

“Naw, just a few stitches. I think it might even have improved my throw.”

Kelsey grabbed his hand and ran her finger across the pink scar on his thumb. “So you should thank me.”

“Let’s see how I play Friday.” He pulled his hand away. Sitting this close to her, feeling her little touches was driving him crazy. If they’d been alone, he might not have been able to resist pulling her in his arms and begging her to touch him all over. He tried to divert his attention to the girls in the front seat. “So why Tuesday night at Latte’da?”

Hannah said, “They have back to school stuff going on all week. Besides, Kelsey hasn’t been to Spring Creek, so we figured, why not. And since we’re showing Kelsey all the cool stuff about Hillside, I think we should take her to the trestle after the game Friday.”

Austin shook his head. “Can’t. Coach already told us he’s gonna drive out there to check on us. Anybody caught drinking is off the team and he said he’ll assume anybody out there has to be drinking.”

“That sucks.” Shelby grinned at him. “But we can go, and we can take Kelsey.”

“I don’t know…” Kelsey gave him a help-me-out-of-this look.

He winked at her. “I have a better idea. Let’s just go to Pepperonis after the game. Everybody will be there anyway.”

Shelby shrugged. “Crappy pizza and an even crappier salad bar? I’m in.”

Hannah punched the air with her fist. “I’m in.”

“Kelsey?” Austin asked.

“I love crappy pizza. Of course, I’ll go.”

Hannah and Shelby spent the rest of the drive educating Kelsey about the kids in their school, which was perfect for Austin. He nestled in the corner of the seat and folded his arms across his chest, watched and listened. Well, mostly watched. With his dark sunglasses on he knew they couldn’t tell where he was looking.

Not that he was staring in an obsessive-stalker-creepy sort of way. He was noticing things. Like the way Kelsey’s whole face seemed to sparkle when she laughed, or the shape of her ankles. He never thought about ankles before, but he liked hers and the little dangly anklet she wore around one of them today.

By the time Hannah pulled her little red RAV 4 into the parking lot, he was beginning to feel a little stalker obsessive. He focused his attention on everything else, or he tried to. But darn those cute little ankles kept calling him back.

The parking lot was packed. Country music played from a small stage on the outside patio. It seemed like everybody from Spring Creek and Hillside High had the same idea. Austin walked slightly behind the girls as they headed for the door. A group of guys sitting on the patio checked out the girls as they passed. Austin resisted the urge to claim Kelsey with a hand at the small of her back.

The line to order was at least ten deep. Austin scanned for a place to sit, but every chair and sofa had a butt attached to it. Unfortunately, one of those butts belonged to a major ass, Justin Hayes. “Aw, crap.” Hayes sat on one of those squishy chairs that are somewhere between a loveseat and a big chair. Britney Boyd sat next to him with her legs stretched across his lap. Courtney Randall and Sabrina Stevens sat on either end of a sofa with Eric Perez between them.

Austin leaned forward and spoke in Kelsey’s ear. “It looks like the pricks and their chicks are here.”

Kelsey looked in the direction Austin indicated and rolled her eyes. “Seriously? They had to come here.”

Hanna and Shelby saw the group and both gave a half-wave. Hannah smiled at Kelsey. “I do not want to get on their bad side.”

Kelsey sighed. “Well being with me probably just put you there.”

Shelby pulled back a step and looked at Kelsey. “One day in school and they hate you. Damn girl, what’d you do?”

“Exist. We met at the coffee shop on the square and I didn’t make a good impression.”

“Were you with him?” Hannah pointed at Austin.

“Yeah.” Kelsey smiled. “They didn’t like that much.”

Austin fluttered his eyes. “Can I help it if I’m dead sexy?”

Kelsey laughed and said, “Maybe to the skank sisters.”

Austin captured Kelsey and pulled her tight against him pinning her arms to her sides. “Come on, you know you can’t resist me.”

She giggled against his chest. “In your dreams.”

He released her, but their gazes locked. Kelsey brushed her bangs from her eyes. Austin cleared his throat. And the air crackled between them.

Shelby clapped her hands. “Okay, getting a little sizzly here. Let’s order and cool you two down.”

Kelsey bit her bottom lip—which did nothing to cool Austin off—and turned from him.

Austin smirked. “God, Shelby, just put it out there.”

“I call ‘em like I see ‘em, Cowboy.”

*

Hannah maneuvered next to Kelsey and spoke almost in a whisper. “Don’t mind Shelby. She and Austin are like brother and sister.”

“Why do you think I’d mind?”

“I don’t know. I just thought you might think she had a thing for him.”

“Oh. No. It’s okay. Wait. Do you think I have a thing for him?”
Crap, is it that obvious?

Shelby rolled her eyes. “Ah, yeah. The chemistry between you two is—like—wow.”

Hannah smiled. “If Austin McCoy looked at me the way he looks at you…girl, I say go for it. He’s the hottest, nicest guy in the whole school.”

Kelsey started to tell Hannah about Drew, but then she felt Austin’s hand on her waist and inhaled the clean citrus scent of his aftershave and it didn’t seem urgent anymore. He leaned close to her ear like he was going to tell her a secret. “Do you want a frozen latte?”

She nodded and tried to remain cool on the outside because things on the inside were a mess. He gave her waist a little squeeze and she had to bite her lip to keep from sighing. They ordered and he offered to treat. When he moved his hand from her side to pay, the spot where it had been felt cold and empty.

After they got their drinks, Hannah and Shelby led them between the tables and away from Pricks and Chicks to the back of the coffee shop. Every spot was occupied. Hannah shouted over her shoulder, “Let’s try outside.”

They wove through the crowd in the back room and out onto the patio. They didn’t find any seats but half of the senior class seemed to be gathered around the small stage. Shelby tapped Kelsey’s arm. “Hey, we’re going go talk to some guys from Spring Creek.”

“Okay. Have fun.” Kelsey pushed through the crowd and led Austin to the rail surrounding the patio. They barely had room to stand but at least they could set their drinks on the ledge. The next song started and Kelsey turned to Austin. “Really? A Jason Mraz tune? In Hickville?”

Austin cocked his head to one side, crossed his eyes, and said, “We got radio all the way down here.”

“Okay. I deserved that. But, this really is a cool place.”

“Yeah. I can’t believe it’s so crowded on a Tuesday night.” He leaned his elbows on the rail and faced her. She smiled and let herself get a tiny bit lost in the way his eyes danced when he looked at her.

He tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “Kelsey…”

She didn’t want to know what he was about to say. She just wanted to enjoy the night. She closed her eyes briefly and swayed with the music. “I love this song. Come on, feel it with me.”

Austin laughed. “I can’t dance like that. I’m pretty country.”

She moved in front of him. “I’m not dancing. I’m swaying.” When the song ended she turned toward the stage and clapped.

The crowd seemed to swell and Kelsey got knocked into a couple of times. Austin moved behind her and rested his hands on her shoulders. It was a protective gesture and Kelsey should have kept it that way. She should have thought about Drew and resisted Austin’s touch. But she didn’t. Instead, she leaned against his chest. He slid his arms around her waist and held her against him. She laced her fingers with his, he rocked her with the music, and it felt like she stepped into a dream.

After about the third song, Hannah ran to them. “Austin, can I ask you a huge favor?”

“What is it?”

“We got invited to a party at the trestle.”

Austin winced. “Hannah, I can’t risk going…”

“No, you don’t have to. Just take my car. We have a ride.” She looked over her shoulder at Shelby standing with a group Kelsey didn’t recognize—which wasn’t saying much.

“Are you sure?”

“Yes.” She dangled her car keys from her hand.

He took the keys with one hand, but left the other wrapped around Kelsey’s waist. “But how will you get your car back?”

“I’ll pick it up at your house. Don’t worry, it’ll be fine.”

“I don’t know…”

“Look it’s done.” She cocked her head at Kelsey and said, “You’re welcome to come if ya want.”

“I think I’ll pass.”

“Well, have fun you two.” Hannah wriggled her fingers at them and took off across the patio.

He looked at the enormous pink flower key ring and held it out to Kelsey. “Can you put this in your purse? I don’t think it’ll fit in my pocket.”

She nodded and dropped the keys in her bag.

Austin checked the time on his phone. “It’s like eight o’clock. Do you want to do something else?”

“Sure.”

*

He took her hand and led her through the coffee shop and out to the parking lot.

“So where are you taking me?” She pulled away from him but didn’t let go of his hand, so he tugged her back, and she giggled.

“You’ll see.” Excitement coursed through him. She’d leaned against him, laced her fingers with his, and now they were holding hands—like they were a couple. And no one had mentioned the boyfriend. It was turning out to be a perfect evening, and if he didn’t screw it up, it was going to get better.

A warm breeze washed over him as he led her between rows of cars. He could sense a change in the air and hoped that it meant the he and Kelsey were getting closer. Footsteps sounded from behind. He turned toward the noise, but didn’t have time to brace himself. Justin Hayes hit him like he was defending the line on the field. They both hit the ground. He saw Kelsey stumble but she managed to keep from hitting the pavement.

Justin straddled Austin and pulled his fist back. But Austin was bigger and stronger, and in a blink, he pinned Justin to the blacktop. “What the hell is wrong with you?”

Justin didn’t answer but he wasn’t trying to hit Austin either. A crowd had gathered and it wouldn’t be long before someone called the cops. Austin released Justin and stood.