Page 54 of Every Hidden Truth

“That’s what she said.”

And then we melted into laughter.

15

Rocket in Your Pocket

My doorbell rang fiveminutes before six, and I checked my reflection in the mirror one last time as I snatched my coat from the rack. Deciding I was as prepared as I could be, I slipped my coat on before opening the front door.

Ben stood on my porch, dressed to the nines in a charcoal suit, ocean-blue shirt that matched his eyes exactly, and a black tie knotted at his throat. His borderline-shaggy locks curled around his ears and neck in tamed waves. His Adam’s apple bobbed as he scanned me from head to toe.

“Holy shit, you clean up nice.” I cringed at my less than romantic compliment, but Ben beamed.

“Right back at you.” He narrowed his eyes and dragged a finger down one of my suspenders. “I like these.”

I shimmied. “I thought they were dashing.”

He snapped the strap against my chest playfully. “Always one to make a statement.”

I shut the door and locked it before nudging his shoulder with mine. “Says the boy who kissed me in the middle of the cafeteria in front of everyone.”

With pink cheeks, he slid his arm around my waist to anchor me against him. “You look amazing.”

“You’re just saying that because I didn’t wear my pajamas,” I whispered as he leaned in and brushed the tips of our noses together.

“No, I’m saying it because you’re the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.”

We both flushed red at his admission, but he didn’t give me a chance to deny the compliment. His lips smothered mine, and I melted into him as his tongue slipped into my mouth. He gripped the back of my neck to angle my head where he wanted and proceeded to kiss the shit out of me. I wrapped my arms around his neck and crushed us together as I took everything he offered, giving it back tenfold.

When we finally parted, our breath fogged the cold air between our mouths, and something hard pressed against my hip.

“Is that a rocket in your pocket, or are you just happy to see me?” I asked, more than a little breathless.

He grinned wickedly. “Nope, that’s my penis.”

Barking a laugh, I raked a hand through his hair as he nuzzled my cheek, his lips teasing my tragus surface piercing. “Keep this up, and I’m dragging you inside to show you my underwear right now.”

Laughing, he pulled away and twined our fingers, leading me down the porch steps to his car. He opened my door for me, waiting until I was settled before shutting it again with a softclick.

As he drove us to the restaurant, I took his phone and controlled the music. We sang boisterously along withEye ofthe Tiger, and I teased him mercilessly for finally being bad at something.

“I’m bad a lot of things,” he said as we idled at a red light. “Singing is only one of them.”

“Psh, you’re good at practically everything. I’m glad the universe finally decided to offer some balance in your talent.”

The music hiccupped as a text came through Ben’s phone. My thumb hovered over the message as I paused in swiping it to the side.

Patrick: Well, if you want, you can call me after the…

It read before the rest of the message was cut off from view.

A terrible part of me instructed my thumb to open the text completely to read it, but I refused. I didn’t want to invade his privacy that way, even if he was texting a guy I’d never heard of. If Patrick was important, I had to believe Ben would tell me. It was probably just a friend from the swim team.

Forcing myself to be good, I slid the message alert away and refocused on what Ben was saying—something about a swim meet against Central, our rival school. I nodded, agreeing to something I hadn’t heard, and he smiled widely, pleased with my answer.

Shit, what had he said?

We pulled into the restaurant parking lot, some hoity-toity joint my hick-self didn’t belong in. I gripped Ben’s hand and angled my body behind his as we entered. A hostess with perfect makeup was all teeth and giggles as she led us into the dining area to a table where Kim, Harris, Caroline, and her date already sat.

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