No Place Like Homecoming, Dallen, Maggie [beach read book .TXT] 📗

took another step back. “You can give it to me in school tomorrow.

Her pout turned to a frown. “Or you could meet me after your shift and I could give it to you then.”

“I don’t have time for this,” I muttered.

“Come on, Flynn.” She batted her lashes. Like, legit batted her eyelashes.

I’d heard that as a saying before, but I knew without a doubt I’d never actually seen anyone do it. And now I knew why. It looked ridiculous.

She moved forward as I took another step back, and the feel of her palm on my chest had me freezing in place.

No. Freezing wasn’t the right word for it. I was on fire at that simple touch. And judging by the flicker of triumph in her eyes? She knew it.

One corner of her lips curved into the hint of a smile, and not even the fact that she was dressed up like Dorothy could hide the fact that this girl was all crazy sex appeal as she wet her lips and moved even closer.

My heart pounded against my ribcage. My pulse was roaring in my ears.

It was attraction, plain and simple. I knew that. I didn’t mean anything. But I had to keep reminding myself of that as she kept talking. “Do you think you could give me a ride to the party on Saturday?” Her fingers moved lightly over my chest, up toward my shoulders.

I was freakin’ trapped. My lungs were filled with the smell of her, and all I could see was the curve of her lips as she talked. All I could hear was the soft low hum of her voice through the pounding of my heart.

“...and maybe after we could hang out together. Get to know each other…”

She was still talking, but the lunacy of her words finally filtered through. I took a step back until her hand fell away. I ran a hand over my eyes as if that could shake off this spell she had on me. “What’s going on here, Isla?”

Her eyes widened slightly in surprise. “I don’t know what you mean.”

I scoffed and her fake smile faded.

Good. I’d take an annoyed Isla over whatever this was any day of the week.

“Look, I’ve got to get back to work,” I said, already backpedaling. I never should have approached her in the first place. I should have ignored that look I'd seen before.

I turned and bolted before she could stop me with another touch.

Crap. What was wrong with me that a simple touch had sent me into such a freakin’ frenzy? Whatever it was, I still couldn’t figure it out by the time my shift ended. I also couldn’t shake this nagging sensation or the thoughts of Isla that wouldn’t stop. Memories of the look in her eyes, the way she’d suddenly changed, that hint of desperation, the way she’d thrown herself at me after making it abundantly clear the other day that she wanted nothing to do with me.

I still couldn’t shake this—concern? Confusion? Fear?

All of the above.

“See you at the catering gig on Saturday?” Roman said when I was leaving. He was working in the kitchen at this restaurant and taking on catering shifts was rare for him. Maybe he was just as desperate for extra cash as I was.

“I’ll be there.”

He scoffed and shook his head. “How you can stand hanging out at these kids’ parties, I’ll never understand.” He followed me out toward the front of the house, which had emptied out after the dinner rush. He stopped short at the sight of Savannah at the front booth, bent over a textbook. He shot me a wicked grin. “Forget what I just said. I almost forgot you had company at those parties.”

I opened my mouth to tell him it wasn’t like that with me and Savannah. Not even close. But he smacked me with his rolled-up dish rag and headed toward a table that needed clearing. “See you this weekend, man.”

“Yeah. See ya.”

Savannah looked up when I drew close. “Took you long enough,” she said, but her tone was mild. Sometimes I was convinced that Savannah just gave people a hard time out of habit. Underneath it all, she was more of a softie than most people ever realized.

I knew it because we’d known each other forever. We’d grown up in the same neighborhood and knew more about each other’s home lives and families than either of us would care to admit. I got why she acted the way she did, but Isla…?

And just like that, I was back to thinking about the new girl. Like Savannah, she had no problem speaking her mind. And like Savannah, she strutted through the halls like she owned the school. No whispers bothered her, like she knew without a doubt that she was God’s gift to mankind.

But unlike Savannah, I had no idea if her act was real or just that...an act.

And I definitely didn’t have a clue why she’d decided to go from snotty brat to sexy temptress in the blink of an eye.

“Need a ride, I take it?” I asked as Savannah gathered her stuff.

“Callie was giving the other girls a lift, and I didn’t want to make her go in the opposite direction.” Savannah winced. “Do you mind?”

“Of course not.” I grabbed her bookbag and headed for the door.

“Ever the chivalrous one,” she said behind me, laughter in her voice as I held the door open.

I rolled my eyes. Chivalrous wasn’t the word for it. More like, my mom beat good manners into me as a kid, as Savannah very well knew.

“Making any progress on saving up for your big trip next month?” Savannah asked as we climbed into my car.

I shrugged. “Getting there.”

“And your plans to come back?” I could feel her eyes on me in the dim light of the car as I shrugged again.

“Flynn,” she said on a sigh.

“I don’t want to talk about it, Savannah.”

I wasn’t in the mood for a lecture on the importance of school,