The Heartbreakers

11.

Under The Stars

Lenley

“OH MY GOD.” I BOUNCEexcited, as Channing parks his truck and switches off the engine. “When you said ‘movie,’ I didn’t think you’d take me to a drive-in! I didn’t even know this place had reopened. The last time I came here, it was with my papà.”

Channing looks pleased by my enthusiasm. “It reopened last summer. I took my sis here for her birthday.”

His sea green eyes light up when he mentions his younger sister.

“You seem very close to her,” I observe, since it isn’t the first time he has mentioned her since we’ve met.

“Man.” He chuckles. “She’s going to be sixteen in a couple of weeks and she’s a little hellion. But she’s also smart, sweet and I know she’ll do great things. The guys are like brothers to me, but Amanda is my best friend.”

Pride and protectiveness are shining in the depths of Channing’s green eyes, the same kind of protective glint I saw earlier at the water park when he took care of Kiara.

“I really like this side of you, Channing.” I smile. “I wish I had a sibling.” I fall suddenly quiet when I think that the closest thing to a big brother I’ve ever had is Darrius. But my feelings for my papà’s best friend’s son have never been brotherly, at least not for me.

Channing shrugs. “Of course I wouldn’t change having a little sister for the world, but believe me, she can be a real pain in the ass if she wants to. But like I said, I have a very similar relationship with Peyton and Jameson. Family isn’t just the people that share your same DNA, you know? I think you choose your own family as you go through life and it’s awesome when your blood relations fit in that category, but sometimes your friends end up being closer than that.”

I consider his words and I think he might be right. Sarah is definitely like a sister to me, I thought Kiara was too, but I was obviously wrong.

“Ok.” Channing smiles, opening the door on the driver’s side. “You have the popcorn, let’s go.”

“Where?” I ask, confused.

“Why sit inside the truck when it’s a beautiful night and we could be way more comfortable on the truck bed?”

I notice that he actually backed up into our spot, so we’d be facing in the wrong direction anyway to watch the movie from inside the truck.

He takes two blankets and a pillow from the backseat and then helps me up on the truck bed before jumping on easily.

He covers the metal bed with a fluffy, quilted blanket to provide some padding and props the pillow at a comfortable angle.

“Come on, the first movie is about to start.” He invites me to sit by his side, covering us both with the second blanket.

“I’m surprised you decided to come here,” I muse, nibbling on a handful of popcorn, as the movie is about to start.

Being tucked in by his side is more comfortable than I expected and Channing smells so good, fresh and clean with a hint of citrus.

“Why is that?” he asks, with his eyes on me rather than at the screen.

“I don’t know, I just didn’t peg you for someone who would choose a double feature of Molly Ringwald’s movies.”

The corner of his lips quirks up with amusement. “The Breakfast Club and Sixteen Candles are classic, Len.”

“Hmm,” I consider. “I suppose The Breakfast Club isn’t too girly.”

He laughs, throwing his head back. “You’re right. But I don’t really mind some girly movies. If I had a cent for every time Amanda made me watch Pretty In Pink, I wouldn’t need to work for a living.”

I smile, liking how easy to talk to he is. “Your little sister has great taste. I mean, not every teenager likes old 80s movies. I used to watch them with my parents, they loved all this stuff because it’s what they grew up with.”

Channing nods. “Yeah, same for us. Pretty In Pink though is Amanda’s favorite because she wants to be a fashion designer when she grows up.”

His love for his sister is obvious in his tone.

“That’s awesome,” I agree.

He chuckles again. “Yeah, just promise me one thing. Don’t ever tell Amanda that we came to see Molly Ringwald’s movies without her, or there’s going to be hell to pay.”

I set the tub of popcorn down, reaching for my cup of soda. “Why didn’t you bring her? I wouldn’t have minded.”

His smile turns suddenly devilish, as he lowers his head to whisper into my ear. “Because I don’t want my little sister around when I take a girl to the movies with the intention to make out the entire time.”

His warm breath tickles my ear and as Channing shifts a little bit, wrapping one arm around my shoulders, our lips become extremely close.

“Is this why you asked me to the movies?” I ask, probably more surprised than I should be since we decided to be fuck buddies just yesterday.

“Uh-huh,” he confirms. “Since we kissed yesterday, I haven’t been able to think about anything else.”

The way he’s looking at me, with desire in his green eyes, makes me excited and a little sad at the same time.

I really like Channing and I’d be lying if I said that I haven’t been thinking about getting started on our deal; but at the same time, I can’t help but thinking about the reason why we made that deal to begin with.

I know my feelings for Darrius won’t be gone overnight, it would be weird if they did; after all I’ve known that I was in love with him for the best part of a decade.

But regardless of getting my revenge for the way my supposed best friend treated me, I feel really attracted to each of the Devils. “I’ve been thinking about it too, Chan,” I tell him, and I really mean it.

“Well then,” he whispers, closing the negligible distance between us. “We have two entire movies to ‘not watch.’”

I’m about to tease him about the fact that maybe he doesn’t like girly movies after all. Not if he brought me here with the intention to do anything but watching the movies, but the words slip out of my mind the second his soft, warm lips touch mine.