Page 71 of Fifty First Times (Sharing You 0.40)
“Yikes.”
“Yeah. And despite all this, I didn’t see the grand finale coming.”
This can’t be good.
He takes a deep breath, like he really needs to get it off his chest. So I let him.
“Melissa’s older brother sometimes hooked her up with weed,” he says quietly. “I didn’t partake—not because I’m a saint, but I was on the varsity basketball team and didn’t want to risk it, you know?”
I nod.
“But . . . she’d left a baggie in my car one day. Just left it there on the front seat after I dropped her off at her friend’s house. Throw in the fact that I was late for practice, and was speeding. Enter the cop, and . . .”
My heart sinks. “No.”
“Yup. Let’s just say my high school friends still call me MIP because they think it’s funny. As you can imagine, my parents didn’t find the whole minor-in-possession bit quite so humorous.”
“Zach.” I put my hand on his arm. “I’m sorry.”
He shrugs and stares over my head. “It’s probably good that it happened. Forced me to start making better decisions. In friends.” His gaze drops to me. “And girls.”
My mouth goes dry.
He takes both of our cups and puts them on a window ledge above our heads, before settling his hands on my waist. My heart is hammering. This is it. Zach Harrison is finally going to kiss me.
“I like you, Annie,” he says, his forehead coming down to rest on mine. “I like that you’re smart, and that you can make me laugh, and have the biggest, most gorgeous blue eyes I’ve ever seen. I like that I could introduce you to my mom someday without sweating like a pig, and I like that you make me want to be better—”
“Yo. Harrison.”
Zach and I both freeze at the sound of his name, and he slowly lifts his face away from mine with a meaningful this-isn’t-over look.
God, I hope not.
“What’s up?” he asks, turning toward the interloper.
I groan when I see who’s standing behind him. I knew I recognized that voice.
Garrett Reed looks stunned to see me, and his eyes move from me, to Zach, to the minuscule space between us, then back to Zach again.
For a second I could have sworn I saw something dark cross his face, but now he’s just the usual smirking Garrett. “You brought that Corrie girl, right?” he asks Zach, ignoring me altogether. Typical.
Zach nods.
“She’s wasted, man. Someone needs to get her out of here. Her sister’s even worse.”
“Already?” I ask, incredulous. “We’ve been here, what, ten, fifteen minutes?”
Garrett shrugs, not really looking at me.
I sigh and move away from Zach reluctantly. “I’ll get her,” I say. “She’s my roommate.”
“I guess I should probably get Haley,” he says reluctantly. “Think you can keep Corrie away from the keg while I take Haley home? Then I’ll come back, and—”
“I can help,” Garrett says.
I glance at him in surprise. “Help?”
“It’s my party. I’m not letting a drunk girl in a tiny dress and a goody-two-shoes walk home alone in the dark.”
