Stirring Up Trouble (Stirring Up Trouble Trilogy 1)

With a last look of disdain, she stalked away toward a couple in the shadows at the end of the bleachers.

“We should dance?” Jake suggested. “Nesbitt-zilla isn’t monitoring the dance floor. Looks like Mr. Henderson has that job.”

“Great idea.” I followed him onto the floor, hoping for more slow songs than fast.

We danced for two hours in my own real-life fairy tale, until the band announced it was their last song.

“Already?” Jake asked.

I grinned. “I’m dying of thirst.”

He motioned to the refreshment table. “You want some really old punch with Cheetos floating in it?”

“Sadly, no.” I saw that most people had left, only a dozen couples remained on the dance floor.

“Maybe we should go,” he said as Mrs. Nesbitt approached with a giant broom.

We had to meet Kent at the shopping center down from the school. I wasn’t ready for the night to end. “Okay. Let’s get out of here.”

We walked through the gym, treading on broken streamers, and made our way to the hall.

The hall was dimly lit, with the Dasani machine glowing like a beacon. “Water,” I croaked and not just for effect.

Jake fed two dollars into the machine and got two bottles of water. He handed me mine, and then he unscrewed the cap on his own and took a long drink. I opened my bottle and gulped the cool liquid until it was gone. Jake laughed, and chugged the rest of his.

“Much better.” I tossed the empty bottle in the trash.

“I could drink four more,” Jake said.

“Just four.” I raised a brow. “Lightweight.”

Jake looked at his watch. “It’s only ten. We’re supposed to meet Kent and Camille at Stefano’s for pizza.”

“Pizza sounds good. A pitcher of Coke sounds even better.” My stomach rumbled. I guess I’d burned off some calories while we were dancing. Whole wheat crust smothered with cheese and sauce sounded good. Spending more time with Jake sounded great.

We spent an hour at the pizza place. Camille and Kent were already absorbed in each other, so we got our own table. After we drained two pitchers of Coke, we each had a slice and then sat holding hands and talking.

“What’s the status of our plan for our parents?” Jake took my hand in both of his. “I don’t think we should do it.”

“Why not?” Any opportunity for making out was fine with me.

“Because they’ll watch us closer and stop leaving us alone if they think something’s going on with us.”

“Good point.” That should have occurred to me, but my head was too fuzzy from the hand holding and dancing and touching. Dad would never leave us alone together again if he caught us making out. It might teach him a lesson in PDA, but I’d be the one to suffer. I didn’t have nearly enough practice in sneaking around. So much for being a good girl. “So far, they don’t think we’re really dating.” Because we weren’t until a few hours ago, but whatever. “We should probably play it really casual.”

“I don’t mind messing with your dad for a good cause, but enraging him now doesn’t seem wise.” His eyes gleamed with humor.

This was the most romantic night of my life. “So, no goodnight kiss?”

“Oh, we’ll have our goodnight kiss,” he said leaning across the table. His husky tone sent a shiver through me.

“We will?” I asked with what I hoped was total flirtiness. “Here?”

He nodded toward the door. “We have fifteen minutes before our ride gets here. We could go outside for some air.”

“I wish we could drive.” Making out in a car was a cliché I was totally willing to participate in. Sneaking a kiss around the side of a building, not so much.

We paid our check and went outside. We looked around and then ducked into the doorway of the resale shop on the corner. We had some privacy as long as no one parked right in front of the store.

I giggled, suddenly very amused by the whole situation.

Then, I looked into Jake’s eyes. And I stopped. There was nothing funny in his expression. His eyes were all dark heat and smoky promises.

“Hey.” His husky whisper reverberated through me like a shiver.

“Hey.” I barely got the word, if you can call it a word, out before his mouth was on mine. He wrapped his arms around me and I snaked mine around him. We fit like two wiggly hormone-raging puzzle pieces. Not the puzzle pieces that can get you pregnant, but the arms, hands, and mouths that can provide a remarkable amount of pleasure.

I had no sooner plummeted into the depths of passion, every nerve alive with Jake’s touch, when we heard catcalls from the sidewalk. Jake and I sprang apart (really, we were getting good at it) to see Camille and Kent and three other teenagers.

Teenagers we knew.

A couple of Jake’s friends started pointing and laughing, making kissing noises, and otherwise harassing us. And the ever-clever finger into the hole gesture. So mature.

“Get a room,” Camille yelled, but she winked as she said it.

Instead of being mortified, I was just plain annoyed.

Luckily, Kent’s mother pulled up and saved us from the teasing. I was two seconds from pulling out my vomit card.

“So much for that goodnight kiss,” I grumbled as we walked to the car.

Jake frowned. “At least we’ll get home on time.”

I didn’t say maybe my dad would be too busy fooling around with his mom to notice. No good could come of sharing that thought.

We squished into the back seat with Camille. I really didn’t want this whole romantic evening to end. Who knew when and if he’d flake out again on me. Or for that matter, when I’d flake out on him.

The tires crunched the leaves as we pulled up to the curb in front of his house. We hopped out, and Kent’s mother pulled away. I was hoping he’d dare one last kiss but I couldn’t handle being busted again. And I really didn’t want to go from kissing Jake to seeing my dad’s angry face in a matter of seconds. No. We definitely should just go in.

Jake must have come to the same conclusion, because he took my hand and walked straight to the door. When we reached the porch, he gave me a quick peck on the cheek. I doubted anyone from the house could even tell unless they could replay it in slow motion.

As we approached the door, I said, “Remember to make some noise.”

“Right.” He jiggled the knob a little. Then, he muttered something like, “Oh, the hell with it,” and next thing I knew he was kissing me again.

And I kissed him back. I really hadn’t wanted the night to end without a real kiss.

Then, the inevitable happened. The door flew inward to reveal my dad. Jake’s lips left mine. I looked up quickly to see the smile on Dad’s face fading into mottled anger.

Chapter Fourteen

Jake bravely, or perhaps foolishly, kept an arm around me.

“Hi, Dad.” I probably should have called him Daddy for the brownie points, but I didn’t manage. My second instinct was to give him a sneezing fit and run for home, but it would just make him angrier.

Dad grunted.

Jake dropped his arm.

Sheree walked in from the other room. “Hey, kids. How was it?”

“Uhh,” Jake said.

Dad grunted again.

“John?” Sheree asked wrinkling her brow. “What’s going on?”

“I just caught your son pawing my daughter.”

Huh? I wish.

“They were” —Sheree paused— “kissing?”

“I guess you might call it that,” Dad grumbled.

My cheeks were flaming.

“Well, John,” Sheree chided, “let them in the house.”

Dad stepped back suddenly like he hadn’t realized he was blocking the door. “I thought you two were just friends,” he said.

“We were,” I told him.

Dad glared at Jake and then at me. “Friends don’t do…that.”

“It was just a kiss,” Jake said. “We’ve seen

you two kissing.”

Dad looked as though he’d like to strangle Jake. He turned to me. “You two are dating now?”

“Umm.” I didn’t know what to say. Running all the way to my house was starting to seem like a good idea.

“We are,” Jake answered.

His mother raised a brow. “Aren’t you full of surprises.”

She obviously hadn’t expected this anymore than my dad had.

A hundred irritated quips raced through my mind and I clenched my jaw to keep any of them from spilling out. Being a smart ass was not going to help the situation.

“Let’s go in,” I suggested, and plowed past our parents.

Jake followed me toward the family room where the movie Dad and Sheree were watching still blared on the television.

Dad walked in and threw his hands in the air with melodrama I’d never witnessed in him before. “How can the two of you be dating?”

Hadn’t I heard that somewhere before? Like in my own head when he started dating Sheree.

“Well,” Sheree said, motioning for me and Jake to sit on the couch. “I guess they just are.”

Exactly, we just were.

“I don’t think I can handle this,” Dad said in a soft voice looking at none of us in particular.

“Don’t be silly. It’s just puppy love.”

I glanced at Jake. He rolled his eyes. She was being a little demeaning. I mean, we were old enough to have real feelings. Of course, we weren’t really in love yet. Just deep in like.

My dad said, “I guess we’d better get going,” in his deepest doom and gloom voice.

That did not bode well for me.

I stood. “Bye, Jake. Bye, Sheree.”