Easton planting his lips on mine in a surprise kiss.
17
JAKE
I staredout into the night, my gaze stuck on the back of Easton’s head as he made his way toward the lodge where his family was staying. The sun had set, and once he made it past the glow of Shelby’s porch light, I could barely make out his body moving in the distance.
I scratched my head.
Apparently Shelby was kissing on first dates now.
That’s good.
Good, good, good.
Although, technically, she shouldn’t have been on the date in the first place because we had a deal, but who was I to stop something good from happening to her? Good things happening to her was the end goal. The objective.
Maybe my work was done. Obviously, something was working.
I could tell she was caught off guard. She jerked backward too much for a girl who knew it was coming. It didn’t seem to slow her date down much.
Which was probably fine. If she was into it.
Just fine.
My butt grew numb on the porch chair, so I went inside, the screen door slamming too loudly behind me, and searched through all three cupboards to find something to eat. I found nothing.
Shelby’s hair hadn’t been in a ponytail tonight. I wasn’t sure why that thought even registered. I slammed the cupboard door shut for the tenth time with still nothing to eat and sat on my couch.
The crack of my knuckles reverberated in the room.
I reached for the remote, about to turn the TV on, when I changed my mind and tossed it to the side again before getting up to check on Sophie. It had been over a week since she last screamed out in the middle of the night, and I was anticipating another one any night now.
I sat down on the couch again.
I scratched my leg before cracking my knuckles again, which made me think about all those times Shelby had warned me that I’d get arthritis if I kept popping my knuckles.
I did it one more time before shoving them into the pockets of my sweats.
Easton lived in Boise. If things worked out, she could date him. It was perfect.
It was just because nobody vetted this guy before she went out with him. I doubt Shelby looked past his face before she said yes. And who said she was done with her lessons? She asked me to be her coach, didn’t she? I should have the final say in when she was ready to go out with somebody. And especially if she was ready to kiss them.
My leg bounced.
I’d always been theconcernedtype. As a friend. Her oldest friend in the world, I might add. I wondered if I should go and see if she was okay. She hadn’t been kissed before tonight. Not counting that one time.
There are justsomany different types of kisses in the world. Even a person used to kissing would have a hard time keeping up. A surprise door kiss was one that a person needed to be ready for. Just in case. And didn’t she specifically mention she wanted a lesson about what to do at the front door on a date? Obviously, as her concerned teacher, I should have already prepared her for something like this. I had imagined her casually dating Briggs all summer, and if he had tried kissing Shelby, he knows I would have?—
Been fine with that.
What she needed right now was her coach. Not her friend. She needed a coach.
Which was me.
This time, I didn’t bother with my shoes. Or my hat.
It was all going to be fine.