Chapter 1
The Beginning of the Past
Over a year earlier
“Mav?” A soft voice came from behind my open locker door.
Slamming it shut, a sly smile dancing across Leilani’s pink lips came into view, making my heart start thumping in my ears.
“Hey, what’s up?” My throat started to go dry, and my hands were clammy. That girl turned me into a gushing, love-struck mess, and she had no freaking clue.
She’s your best friend’s sister.
She’s fucking off limits.
Get it together, man.
She’s your sister’s best friend.
You can’t have feelings for her.
“Are you going to Ryan’s party on Friday?” She twirled her long light brown hair as we started walking toward the back hallway. I couldn’t help but notice the cute freckles that dusted over her cheeks and adorable button nose.
Damn, dude! Grow a pair.
She stopped in front of her fourth period algebra classroom, waiting for my reply, which I barely choked out before my knees started to shake. “Probably with the guys after practice.”
Get a fucking grip, man.
“Cool. I guess I will see you there.” She smiled, softly biting her bottom lip as she pulled her bag higher up on her shoulder. A soft giggle escaped as blush softly danced over her cheeks. Without another word, she bounced through the open door while I stood frozen in the hallway, my eyes glued to her perfect ass in her tight Levi’s.
Julie, my sister, gave me a sweet wave from her seat next to Leilani’s. I was caught staring again. I had never admitted my crush to anyone, scared saying it out loud would make it more real, but Jules was not naïve. My sister could see right through me.
After shooting her a quick wink, I let myself fall into a hasty daydream as I watched Leilani pull her spiral notebook out of her lime green backpack. I felt my shoulder get punched hard, breaking me out of my fantasy of throwing my best friend’s little sister up against the wall and finally tasting her perfect, plump, cherry lip gloss-covered cupid’s bow.
“What the hell?” I spun on my heels to see Rodney and Dane laughing.
Rodney pointed at me. “You all right man? You seem a bit out of it.”
I readjusted the stack of books in my hands. “Fine. I’m fine. Just checking out the new teacher’s awesome rack.” I nodded toward Leilani’s teacher. She stood next to the chalkboard in her tight white blouse and navy too-short-to-be-appropriate-for-school pencil skirt.
“I’d go back to sophomore math just to watch those tits bounce all day.” Rodney rubbed the back of his neck while he ogled Miss Clayton up and down.
“We’re going to be late for history.” Dane put a hand on my shoulder.
“Yeah, okay.”
I followed my best friend to our classroom and sat down in the back row behind him. Dane Pearson and I had been like brothers for as long as I could remember. There was a crazy amount of guilt that wouldn’t go away every time I thought about his kid sister, but I just couldn’t fucking help it. I was drawn to her.
* * *
Pullingup to Dane’s house to pick him up for practice made me tenser than ever even though it was just like every other Friday. I shouldn’t have been a freaking prick full of emotions and nerves, but I was, and it definitely didn’t help when Leilani was the one that answered the door.
She was absolutely perfect in short white shorts, a teal top, and her long hair up in curlers. The flare of crimson that spread across her face and over the tops of her ears when her eyes locked with mine wasn’t lost on me. I soaked that shit up.
“Oh, hi, Mav. I thought it was Jules. Sorry.”
“She was still applying about a pound of makeup when I left. I think my mom is bringing her over in a bit.”