Taking The Reins (The Rosewoods Book 1) (18 page)

“Sorry,” I said, my eyes on the floor as we walked down the quiet hallway. “I didn’t mean to...”

“No, it’s okay. You’re right anyway. It does work.” But his voice had an edge to it and I knew it wasn’t okay.

We stopped in the hallway and I realized we were outside our destination, the Student Council Boardroom. Before we went in, I looked up at him, right into his eyes. “Listen, I’m really sorry. That was stupid. I’d like a do-over. You got one, so I think it’s only fair.”

He clenched his jaw and then nodded, crossing his arms over his chest. “Make it good.”

“Please.
‘It was nice to see you and I enjoyed dancing with you’
is your definition of good?”

He didn’t say anything but gave me a challenging nod.

“Fine,” I said, looking up at the ceiling as I thought about something that would
really
ease the tension. Then it came to me and before I could reconsider, I pasted a pouty, doe-eyed look on my face and said. “How’s this: ‘I had a great time with you last night, too, Jared. Except that when I got back to my dorm, I realized my favorite panties were gone. So today, I just couldn’t bring myself to wear any at all.”

His eyes didn’t move from mine, but he swallowed audibly.

I didn’t even care that my face had to be the color of a tomato, nor that it was an outright lie. None of that mattered.

His eyes slowly left mine and moved down my body toward my skirt. He swallowed again.

“Yeah,” he said, clearing his throat as he reached for the doorknob. “That works.”

~♥~

W
e only had about ten minutes, so Jared gave me what he called the ten cent tour before leading me back to the administrative offices at the front of the building. The tour was secondary to spending time with my guide; he really was fun to be with and I absolutely got why he’d been such a star. He was charming and witty and I bet even off-screen he’d been a really funny and precocious kid.

We made no further mention of the underwear, but it was sort of an unspoken thing between us since there was supposed to be some sort of reunion later that night. Of course, he didn’t know the half of it.

Emmie and Dave showed up a few minutes later and then without much more said, the boys left and we went into the office to see if the dean was ready to head back.

“You didn’t say anything, did you?” Emmie asked as we watched them walk away.

“No. I mean, he knows that I know he stole my underwear, obviously. But why we’re here? No.”

“Good. Dave doesn’t have a clue, either. This is going to be awesome.”

I knew she was talking mostly about her plot, but if she was also referring to seeing the boys again later that night, I had to agree.

W
hen we returned from Westwood, it was already almost seven-thirty, so we headed straight to the third floor lounge. Emmie had texted Chelly to get the girls assembled there so we could quickly organize the second part of her plan.

We expected the girls to be excited. What we didn’t expect was the cheering.

Emmie laughed and held up her hands. “Yes, okay, thanks everyone. Before you congratulate us, we have a lot of work to do.”

And like the born leader she is, Emmie delivered the rest of her instructions to her ranks.

~♥~

“H
ow are we supposed to attach it?” Kaylee whispered.

We were in the bushes behind the aquatics center, trying to set up a webcam with my phone, because Emmie was adamant that we should have video. I agreed, but it was proving to be a challenge. We needed to set it up so it was out of sight, but would still capture the whole thing on tape. It would have been a lot easier if it wasn’t autumn and we could hide it behind some leaves instead of bare stems. “I don’t know,” I said, looking around for a better spot.

“What if we fix it to that tree, there,” she said. “We could angle it so the camera has a clear shot, but have the phone behind a branch.”

It was a good idea, but we didn’t have anything to secure it with. “Wait,” I said, remembering. “There’s some duct tape in the stables. Why don’t you run and grab it and I’ll stay here and find the perfect angle. It’s in the tack room on a peg just inside the door.”

“Or,
you
could go and grab the tape, since you know where it is.”

Yes, that makes more sense, but I really don’t want to run into Brady
, I didn’t say. “Do you mind going?” I practically begged.

“Yes, Brooklyn, I do mind. Come on, we don’t have a lot of time to get this set up. Just go.”

I had no good argument, so I crouched and picked my way out of the bush, Kaylee right behind me. “And anyway,” she said. “I saw Brady leave earlier. You probably won’t run into him.”

I gave her a look over my shoulder.

“Sorry,” she said with a shrug. I’d told her on our way to the center what the dean had said and that she’d told Brady the same thing, so of course she’d know why I didn't want to go to the stables. “For what it’s worth, I still think he’s into you.”

“Yeah, well, maybe he was, but not anymore.” I wasn’t so sure though. I’d probably imagined him ever being into me even a little.

I left Kaylee and walked quickly over to the stables. The door was closed but not locked, so I pushed it open, calling out
,
“Hello?”

Jerry, the stable hand popped his head around the corner. “Hi there, I’m getting ready to lock up for the night, did you forget something?”

“Oh hi,” I said, thankful he wasn’t Brady. “I was just hoping to borrow the duct tape—I saw some earlier.”

Jerry jutted his chin toward the tack room. “Help yourself.”

I jogged around the corner and grabbed the tape, yelling out a thank you as I slipped the roll over my wrist and headed back toward the door. But as I grabbed the handle and pulled, it moved toward me too quickly; someone was coming in. And they were in a hurry.  The movement of the door knocked me off balance and before I could steady myself, I ended up on my butt on the concrete floor.

The pain took a second but then kicked in, radiating from my tail bone all the way to my toes.

“Brooklyn?”

I looked up. Of course it was Brady.

Perfect.

“I’m so sorry. Are you okay?” he reached for my hands and gently lifted me to my feet.

“Yeah,” I breathed. “I just...it...ow.” I hunched over a little, waiting out the pain. It seemed to lessen a bit as I did some yoga breathing.

“I’m so sorry. I got home and realized I forgot my phone and I...it doesn’t matter...” he shook his head. “Are you okay?”

I nodded. And then realized he was still holding my hands. His were warm and big; strong riding hands. I quickly let them go.

“What’s going on...?” Jerry poked his head around the corner again. “Oh, hey, Brady. You back for your phone?” before waiting for an answer, he dug in his shirt pocket and pulled out the phone in question, handing it over.

Brady took it. “Thanks. We’ll get out of your hair so you can lock up.” He turned to me. “C’mon,” he said, grabbing my elbow and leading me slowly outside. The door closed and latched behind us.

“I’m okay,” I said, suddenly eager to get away from him. “Thanks.”

“What are you thanking me for? I just knocked you on your ass.”

“I don’t know,” I said, looking at the ground.

“Brooklyn?”

“Yeah?”

“Look at me.”

I’d really rather not
, I thought. But I looked up at him anyway, noticing the shadows defining his cheekbones in the waning autumn dusk.

“What’s wrong?”

Ugh. We are so not going there.
“Nothing.” I said.

“Why won’t you look at me?”

I did then. “It’s awkward.”

He pushed a stray lock of my hair behind my ear, making me shiver. “Tell me,” he said.

“The dean...”

He exhaled and looked away, combing his fingers through his hair. “She got to you, too?”

I nodded. “Listen, Brady, I don’t know why she even thought...” I stopped talking because suddenly his hand was on my face, his thumb tracing my cheek.

“She thought it because it’s true.”

I stopped breathing.

“I like you, Brooklyn. But...” he sighed again and looked at the sky before returning his gaze to mine. “I can’t. I can’t jeopardize this job. I can’t get involved. Not now. This is so not about you. Do you understand?”

“You’re going to the Olympics. Of course I understand. ” And I did. I totally got that he needed to not get tangled up with me and lose his job or his chance at a medal.

But a deep, secret part of me wanted him to chuck it all to be with me. Which, of course, was ridiculous. And if he said he was going to, I wouldn’t have let him anyway.

“I should go,” I managed to say.

He nodded. “If things were different,” he said, looking down at my mouth while gliding his thumb across my bottom lip.

“Don’t,” I said, my voice no more than a whisper. “You’re making it worse.”

He took his hand away and squared his shoulders, exhaling loudly. “I’m sorry. I’ll see you at practice tomorrow.”

Glad he’d put his coach hat back on, I nodded and stepped past him toward the aquatics center.

I only got two steps away before he said, “But Brooklyn?”

Not turning back, I stopped and waited.

“I
was
going to kiss you this morning. I just want you to know that.”

Which just made it a thousand times worse.

I
returned to Kaylee with the duct tape.

“What’s wrong?” she asked right away.

Sure I was going to cry if I opened my mouth, I just shook my head.

“Are you okay?”

All I could do was nod. And anyway, it only sort of felt like a lie if I didn’t say it out loud.

“Let’s get this done and then you can tell me,” she said. I didn’t argue, but held the phone while she coiled the tape around it and the tree branch. “This had better work,” she muttered. “And I swear, if I get poison oak or something, I’m going to kill Emmie.”

I snickered.

She glanced over at me. “That’s better. You ready to talk?”

“Not yet. Tell me about Declan. How was dancing with him?”

She ripped the tape with her teeth and secured the end around the phone. “It was good. He’s super-cute, right?”

“Way super-cute,” I agreed, taking the roll of tape from her, slipping it over my wrist. “And that accent. What is it about guys with accents?”

She turned the camera on and tested the angle, adjusting it slightly.  “I don’t know. It’s so sexy, though. And he's nice, too.”

“Unlike Phillip.”

She glanced at me and then back to the phone. “Exactly. I’m not sure what I even saw in him.”

Well, he is pretty hot
, I didn’t say, not wanting to remind her. Declan was obviously a way better choice.

She took out her phone to text Celia. After a minute she got a confirmation that mine was streaming to the laptop. “Perfect. Let’s go.”

We left the phone and went into the aquatics center to meet up with the rest of the girls who were inside. There were ten of us in all after Emmie had outlined the whole plan and we’d spread the word: eight of the original fourteen who’d had their panties stolen and two other girls who’d bought in.

It was almost 10:00 and the boys said to meet them at 10:45, so we had some time. We just had to sit tight and wait, which was maybe the hardest part of this plan.

“So are you excited to see him tonight?” I asked her. It was only us as we walked down the quiet hallway to the locker rooms.

“Yes. And nervous.” She gave me a pained look. “He has my underwear.”

I smirked at her. “You have his. It’s fate.”

She rolled her eyes. “Whatever. It’s still embarrassing.”

“Not as embarrassing as his tightie whities.”

“Ha! I think they’re cute. I bet he has a nice bum in them.”

I laughed. We were about halfway to the locker room when I said, “So. I ran into Brady.”

She stopped walking and looked down the hall toward the locker rooms, but we were alone. “What happened?”

I leaned against the wall. “He said he’s into me, but he can’t jeopardize his job.” I couldn’t bring myself to give her the particulars, especially about the almost kiss, which I’d been right about in the first place. It felt too private to share: just between him and me.

“That sucks, Brooklyn. I’m sorry.”

I shrugged. “It’s okay. I knew it wasn’t going to work, I guess. I wasn’t even sure I really liked him that much.” Which felt like a lie, but it was best if she believed it. Even better if I convinced myself, too.

“What about Abe? You seemed to have a good time with him last night.”

And then again today
, I didn’t say. But she was right. He was funny and we seemed to get along really well. Not that I was sure he was even interested
that way
, but he was definitely fun to hang out with.

“Yeah,” I said. “He’s pretty nice.”

“Are you going to go for it?”

I started walking again. “Let’s get through this evening first. Come on, we’d better get down the hall or Emmie’s going to freak out.”

~♥~

T
he boys were early, though none of us were surprised. We figured they’d come in advance to set up or get in position or whatever it was they needed to do.

So we sat in the locker room of the aquatics center, huddled around Celia’s laptop, watching as they muddled around under the outside security lights.

“What are they doing?” Naomi asked.

“Who knows,” Chelly said. “Being boys.”

And then they disappeared into the bushes. Maybe they thought they would jump out and scare us or something. The camera was aimed at the building, so once they moved into the woods, we couldn’t see anything. Celia looked out one of the small windows but said she couldn’t see anything other than a few flashes of light. Maybe they were using their phones as flashlights, she said.

At 10:50 (Emmie said we needed to make them sweat a bit and think maybe we weren’t coming) we left the locker room and made our way quietly down the hallway to the back door. We were all excited and nervous and I bet every one of our hearts was racing like crazy. I know mine was. We held hands, all ten of us, and walked single file in our Rosewood kilts and blazers.