Page 66 of Off Limits
‘Not really. I met this one guy in my history class. He got in a car accident last year. He’s in a wheelchair. Missed ninety per cent of his senior year, so he’s repeating it. He was nice to me. Shame his brother’s such an asshole.’
‘Who’s his brother?’
‘That guy, Scottie Lincoln. The one who was at the wedding? People say he’s only mean because of his brother’s accident.’
‘That’s no excuse. What about other girls?’
‘Too many cliques, you know? So far, I don’t seem to fit in with any of them. And with the winter formal coming up…’
Her voice trails off. ‘What about the winter formal?’ I ask.
River mumbles something in return but Mom is talking over her.
‘Jake, sweetie, did you know that Mary Ellen here graduated from UCLA?’
I force another smile. Across from me, the pastor’s daughter turns a shade of bright red. Seems Mom forgot about Lemon Conway real quick.
I’m not the first to arrive at the cabin. Serenity sits on the front porch steps, a silver dish in her lap.
When I pull into the driveway in my pickup, she gets to her feet, the tightest pair of bootcut jeans hugging her hips and thighs, and the sight of her gets my heart pounding. I take in the curve of both her breasts, just peeking out over the scooped neck of her tight, white tee. She’s wearing a black-and-white chequered shirt over the top, knotted at the waist, her hair hanging loose.
As I have continually reminded myself since church this morning… I am not here to have sex with Serenity Harper. No, sir. No matter how much I want to. I respect her too much. I just wanna get to know her.
Except, when I get out the pickup, she beams at me. I swear, this girl is gonna melt my heart.
‘Are you hungry?’ she asks, holding up the dish. ‘I made cherry pie.’
I put one hand on my swollen stomach. ‘I just came straight from lunch. But, hey, if you made it, I’m eating it.’
I climb the steps. She’s on the porch.
‘Hey,’ I say.
‘Hey, back,’ she says with a smile.
‘Thanks for coming out here.’
She gives a tight shrug. ‘Figured I’d try not to run away this time. Should give you my car keys or somethin’.’
I laugh. ‘We should get inside.’
She’s left a small bag by the door. There’s a canister of whipped cream at the top. I pick the bag up for her and she follows me. Inside, there’s an odd aroma of Chinese food left over from Friday night, and I realize I failed to take out the trash.
‘Sorry about the stink,’ I say.
She walks into the kitchen, puts down the cherry pie and pulls herself up onto the countertop, allowing her legs to swing below her. She looks back at me in a way that makes me wanna march right over, push myself between those thighs and make her forget every single one of those eight guys she’s been with.
I quickly load the leftovers into a trash bag and put it in the garbage can at the back of the house.
When I get back, Serenity has a knife and is cutting two slices of the pie onto plates.
‘You want cream?’ she asks, and I nod in confirmation.
‘You really made this?’ I ask as she squirts a big circle of cream onto my plate, then holds it out to me.
‘Practice finished a little early and I had a couple of hours to kill. I made two, one for my dad too. He likes it.’
‘He’s lucky to have you. How’s he doing?’
