Page 89 of Secondhand Smoke
She looked away from her father and faced her mother.
“Yeah, Mom. It’s getting better.”
36 - Barrett
Barrett’s fingers tripped over his guitar chords when Nell stepped into the garage on Monday evening.
“Dammit, dude. What was—” Dennis paused as he noticed Barrett’s attention elsewhere, and his annoyance audibly shifted. “Oh, hello, Duncan. Nice to see you.”
Thankfully, Barrett was close enough to nudge him oh-so-softly in the gut with his elbow when he heard the teasing in his voice. He’d warned the guys not to be awkward if she came around.
He should have known better than to trust them.
“Hi, Dennis,” Nell said. If she noticed his tone, she was very good at hiding her embarrassment. “Sorry to interrupt.” She made eye contact with Barrett, and his heart did its little dance reserved for her.
He knew he was grinning sideways like a dope before Paulie said anything.
“Fucking hell,” Paulie said. “Is anyone else getting chills watching this?”
Nell’s cheeks grew red, and Barrett glared at him before pinching his nose in annoyance.
“Discretion, Paul. We agreed,” Toni said and threw one of his drumsticks at the back of his head. Barrett was just about to thank him when he added, “Not mentioning the fact thatBarrett and Duncan desecrated the side of my house without permission.”
Nell’s eyes widened, and Barrett stilled in horror, watching her entire face glow before she hid it in her hands.
Barrett was so going to kill them. “Jesus Christ, dude, that’s not—” He nearly dropped Sandra as he took her off so he could rush over to Nell. He was blabbering the whole way over. “I didn’t say that. I promise I didn’t say that. They’re just messing with you. Oh, god, please don’t kill me.”
“Oh my god.” She moaned into her hands.
Barrett panicked, running his hands through his hair and looking at his friends for some sort of support.
“Sorry, Duncan. I couldn’t help myself,” Toni said, snickering. He dodged as Paulie threw the drumstick back at his face. He was lucky Paulie had shitty aim. “Barrett’s a good boy.”
“I’ll also vouch for him,” Dennis said, though he looked to be enjoying this just as much. “Scout’s honor.” He held up three fingers.
“He loves you too much,” Paulie, so graciously, felt the need to add.
“Oh my god.” Now Barrett was the one with his face in his hands. “Fuck you guys.”
After a few mortifying seconds, a soft giggle rang out. He raised his head and found Nell watching him, laughing into her hand. Her face was still red, but at least she hadn’t run.
Barrett couldn’t help himself when he saw that smile. Gloriously brilliant, everything about it. His lips tilted up in one corner, mesmerized, even if it were at his expense.
“Love, huh?” she teased.
He groaned, but he wasn’t gonna get mad at her. “Not you too.”
She looked better than she had in a while, he thought. Her skin had a good amount of color, her eyes more blue than gray.
Selfishly, he hoped it had something to do with him.
“I think I’m done practicing for tonight,” he said, directed to the guys even though he didn’t stop looking at her.
“What? We just started,” Paulie said.
“We should all take a break,” Dennis said. “Let’s go celebrate.”
“Celebrate what?” Nell asked, breaking Barrett’s gaze to look at the others.
