Page 2 of The Way Home
“Claim me?” I’d read some books with claiming in it, and the idea of that while I sat next to this beautiful boy had heat crawling up my neck.Get a grip, Riley, this is not one of those romance books you borrowed from the library.
Jeremy shoved a game controller in my hands. “Yeah, I need a partner, and everyone here sucks. I bet you play, right?”
My rocketing heart sank. Of course, he wasn'tactuallyinterested in me, that would have been too easy. He took one look at me and decided I was a big enough nerd to be a gamer.I mean, he wasn't wrong. I spent a lot of time alone in my room when my parents were fighting.
“Yeah, I play.”
Jeremy grinned, looking even more beautiful. “Perfect! Maybe you can help me get past the level I've been stuck on.”
“Sure. I can give it a try.”
Jeremy started the game, and once I got into it, I stopped thinking aboutnotwanting to be here. Hell, I got so caught up, I forgot we were even in a church. With Jeremy's leg pressing against mine, it was distracting enough to make me forget what year it was. I sat with my knees clenched together, trying not to take up too much space. At first I thought it wasn't intentional, but when I shifted away slightly, Jeremy's leg followed, his warmth bleeding through.
When I chanced a look at him, I caught him watching me with a hungry look on his face.Fuck!I was almost certain it wasn’t in my imagination. With all the books I’d read, I wondered if someone would ever look at me that way. Now that it was actually happening, I didn't know what to do about it. I was having a hard time thinking clearly with the heat from Jeremy’s nearness spreading through me.
I hit pause and stood abruptly. “I think I need a drink.”
Jeremy got up as well and patted my shoulder. “Good idea. Come on, I'll show you where everything is.”
Wherever he was going, I was happy to follow. Not just because he was hot and possibly giving me vibes, but also because sticking by his side seemed safer than testing the waters with the other people here. At least Ithoughthe was giving me vibes, unless I had somehow misread everything, which was entirely possible given my lack of experience.
He led me to an adjoining room where they had a few tables and chairs set up. Along one wall was a table covered withpackaged snacks and slow cookers, and there were two big ice chests full of waters and sodas.
“What do you like?” Jeremy asked, as he grabbed a root beer for himself.
“I'll take an orange soda, thanks.”
When he handed the can to me, he held onto it for a moment, and I stared at where our fingers touched like it was some earth-shattering event, because for me it was. Jeremy cleared his throat, making me whip my head back up to catch another smirk on his lips. He let go of the can, and I desperately popped it open and chugged it, trying to cover my embarrassment. Of course, my attempt to hide my reaction only made things worse as I choked on the carbonation, and orange came spewing back out of my mouth.
Jeremy quickly grabbed a few napkins and handed them to me as I gasped for air. He calmly cleaned up the soda-saliva mix that flew out of me and landed on the table. My cheeks flamed with mortification. Why did I have to be such a fool in front of this hot guy?
“Fuck, I'm sorry.” I wiped my face and hands with the rest of the napkins he handed me.Was it too soon to call my mom and tell her to free me from the lock-in?
To my surprise, Jeremy simply laughed. “No big deal. Orange soda has a mean streak. It's picking us off one by one.”
The way he played it off calmed my panic and practically had me swooning. Plus his laugh… he had a great laugh. Mine was awkward, however, as I tried to play it off. “Yeah, no kidding. Fuckin’ orange.”
“Fuckin’ orange.” Jeremy winked and tapped his can to mine, as if I hadn't just been a spluttering, coughing mess in front of him. “So you're new around here, huh?”
“Yeah, how'd you know?”
“Well, first time I've seen you here.”
I shrugged. “Mmm… churches aren't really my thing.”
“Mine neither, but you may have noticed…” Jeremy leaned closer to whisper loudly. “It's not a very big town.”
I chuckled. “No shit! Nothing like it was back home.”
His brow arched with interest. “Yeah? And where's that?”
“Southern California. I think more people lived in my apartment building than I've seen in the entire town here.”
“Really?” The word was drawn out before he took a slow drink, and the sight of his Addam's apple bobbing had me swallowing hard. “What brought you to Minnesota, of all places?”
My lips pressed into a flat line as I thought of what to say. It wasn’t that I didn’t want him to know, but trauma-dumping on him right after meeting wasn’t ideal. To my great relief, Jeremy noticed my hesitation and waved his hand in the air. “Never mind. Anyway, the church thing… it’s not so bad. They’re pretty chill and not preachy, I swear. Outside of school, there's really only the arcade but nowhere to just hang, so it’s something to do, and it beats being alone at home.”
I had to admit, it was a nice break from the hotel room. It had been a couple of weeks since we made the move, but my mom's job started before she was able to find a place to rent. It was temporary, but rooming with my mother meant no privacy and certainly no cute boys. I nodded in response.
