The Romeo Club (13 page)

“The shed can be yours, mine will be the gate for the pool,” Trey said as he caught up to me.

But I easily burned around him and tapped the ball into the side of the shed. “Score one for Delyla Denson. The crowd goes wild.”

“I let you get that one, had to warm up you know.” He gave me a crooked grin.

“Then let’s see what you got.” I backed up giving him some room.

He attempted to dribble the ball, but I bumped into him and stole it. Hefting my dress up, I flipped the ball into the air with my feet, and juggled it on my knees.

“Show off.” He lunged for me, but was too late as I dribbled down the yard again.

I sent another ball into the shed. “Woot-woot, that’s right. Another score. Hey, Trey,” I called over my shoulder.

“Yeah?”

“You’re not a very good keeper.”

“Oh, is that so?” He rushed at me and caught me around the waist, knocking me to the ground. We rolled around in a flurry of limbs, bodies, and grass. “Not too quick now are you?”

I laughed as he pinned me down and tickled my side. “You’re a cheater.”

He held my wrists above my head, his eyes sparkled as he stared at me. My belly did a somersault. He was so close. His grip loosened, but still he hovered over me. Neither of us moved. In that moment, my heart sped up, racing as if it was a car on a track.

“Trey,” I whispered.

“Yeah?”

“I … ”

All of a sudden we heard several hisses, before cold water rained down on us. “Oh crap, the sprinklers are on.” He leapt up, dragging me after him.

Giggling, I let him lead me across the yard. We slipped in the wet grass. Wet dirt, sprayed my legs and dress. My hair dripped into my face. We raced toward the deck door, only to find that it was now locked.

“Great, we’re stuck out here,” I said, wringing my hair out.

His white dress shirt clung to his chest, while droplets ran down his face and head. “We can’t go back inside like this.”

“What are we supposed to do?” My teeth chattered as I reached down to grab my shoes I’d kicked off.

“Look for a different way out.” Trey grinned. “What’s wrong, I thought you liked playing in sprinklers?”

My face burned. “Oh. My. Gosh. I can’t believe you brought that up.” I covered my face. “We were like two years old when that happened.”

He laughed. “My mom still has pictures of me, you and Drake running through the sprinkler naked.”

“Remind me to take the photos and burn them when we get out of here.” I peered around the yard for another exit or entrance. My gaze landed on the fence. “We could try to jump the fence. Then we can call Rex or Portia to let them know what happened.”

“Okay, I’m game.” We ran through the sprinklers again, until we got to the gate. “How about, I give you a leg up, then I’ll jump over after you?”

“All right, are you sure I won’t weigh too much?”

“You’re fine.” He put his hands on my waist. “Step on my knee, then hike your leg over the fence.”

Heat coursed through me where his fingers splayed across me. “Don’t you dare look up my dress or I’ll so kick your ass.”

He chuckled. “Why? Are you wearing the Jimbo torn thong?”

I blushed, turned to face him, and slugged him in the arm. “Funny—that thong ain’t going anywhere near my lady parts. Besides, how come you’re so interested in my underpants?”

He stared at me. “I’m not, just wanted to make sure you weren’t going to moon me on the way over.” This time, he hefted me up and I grabbed hold of the gate.

Rip.
Oh god, the slit in my dress tore. As soon as I landed on the ground on the other side, I investigated the damage. Holy crap. The slit now went to my bikini line, revealing a pair of black lacy panties.

A second later, Trey jumped down beside me.

“Um—do you think I could borrow your jacket?”

Trey noticed the tear. “Yeah, here.” He threw his suit coat around my waist, tying the arms so it looked like a skirt. He rested a hand at the small of my back. The warmth of his touch sent electric shocks from my toes to the tips of my hair.

What was happening to us? The more time I spent with him, the crazier about him I felt. Not that I was about to admit that to anyone. But I felt the connection, just below the surface.

“Do you have your phone on you?” I said as we came around the front of the house.

“No, it’s in my car.” He caught my hand in his. “C’mon, we’re parked over here.” When we got to his vehicle, he opened the door and fumbled for his cell. First he attempted to text Portia. When she didn’t answer, I gave him Rex’s number. After several tries, we couldn’t reach either of them.

“I guess we can just leave and explain things to them later,” I said. “I doubt they want to have us rush back into the fundraiser, wet and covered in mud.”

“Then your chariot awaits, my lady.” Trey opened the truck door and helped me into the passenger side seat.

Once we had our seatbelts on, we drove down toward the security gate. When we got down there, a guard gestured for us to stop.

“I’m sorry, I’ll have to ask you two to step out of the vehicle,” the guard said.

“Wait, what’s going on?” I said.

“We caught you on our surveillance cameras jumping a fence. Trespassers aren’t tolerated in this neighborhood. We’ve already got a call into the cops.”

Cops? Holy balls. My parents would flip. “Wait, we were at the Phellston Fundraiser. We got locked in the yard and the sprinklers came on … If-if you call the house and ask for either Rex Tallac or Portia Rickard they can confirm we were their dates tonight.”

“Stay here, let me ring the house,” the guard said.

“Do you get in trouble on all your dates?” Trey’s lip turned up at the corner.

“Only when I’m with you,” I said.

The guard returned a moment later. “Mr. Tallac and Ms. Rickard confirmed you were guests. Please accept my apology. They asked that you wait here for them.”

A few minutes later, Rex’s jeep came into view and him and Portia hopped out. Rex took one look at me and Trey and frowned. “Ready to go home?”

“Yeah, I think I’ve had enough fun for tonight.”

When I got to his vehicle, he asked what happened and I explained Trey and me deciding to explore the grounds after him and Portia disappeared. Then I had to tell him how we got locked out.

He chuckled. “I’m sorry, but that’s pretty funny. And I have to admit, I’m thankful it happened, otherwise, I’d be stuck at the damn party all night.”

When we pulled into my driveway, Rex leaned over and planted his mouth on mine. His tongue grazed my teeth. He tasted like a mixture of punch and mint. Not a good combo at the moment.

“You know, I could probably come in if you want? Or better yet, maybe you can get changed and come back to my house. At least there we could be alone.”

“Actually, I think I’m gonna take a shower. I’m wearing half the Phellston’s yard on my legs.”

“Are you sure? We could watch a movie or something. Maybe go in the hot tub or pool. Clothing optional.” He grinned.

My hands clenched hold of the door handle. “Sorry. I really just want to get cleaned up. I’ll see you later.” I gave him a quick hug and another peck on the lips then hopped out of the vehicle.

I stood on the porch and watched him pull out. Right as he left, I noticed Trey drive up in his truck next door.

Trey saw me and sauntered over. “Well, that was an eventful night.”

“I’m sure we made great impressions on Rex and Portia’s families.” I plopped down on the top stair.

“If you count almost having the cops show up as impressive, then yeah.” He sat beside me. “So what are we gonna do next weekend? Maybe break into a prison? Rob a bank?”

I rammed my shoulder into his. “Admit it, before me your life was boring.”

“Boring isn’t always bad you know.”

My gaze met his. “I know. Believe it or not, I don’t mind staying in and playing video games.”

“Speaking of which, we still need to beat that level on Dwarves of Iconia. Maybe we can do that tomorrow.”

“Sure, but don’t you dare knock on my door before eleven. I need my beauty sleep.”

“See you, Del.” He climbed to his feet and swaggered back to his house. My eyes followed him until he went inside.

I realized something huge. Tonight had been a blast. Not because of Rex. But because Trey made it that way. I also discovered something problematic. I. Delyla Denson. Had a huge, massive crush on Trey Garrett.

Chapter 19

My cell buzzed in my pocket. I took it out and answered. “Hello?”

“Delyla, it’s Kevin. I wondered if you might have a second?”

“What’s going on?”

“I finally asked Melanie out on a date.”

“That’s awesome.”

He sighed. “Well, it would be if I could figure out where to take her, which I’m hoping is where you come in with some advice.”

“What kinds of things does she like?”

“Rock music. Art. And she loves horror movies, especially the classic ones.”

“There’s this freaky wax museum, about two hours from here. A lot of the figures are based off of old horror movies and stuff. I can send you a link to their website if you want to check it out.”

“That’s perfect. You know, I wouldn’t have gotten the courage to say anything to her if it wasn’t for you. So, thank you.”

“You’re welcome. Hope you have fun.” When I hung up, I scrolled through the internet, copied the link for the wax museum, and then sent it to Kevin.

Once I finished, I decided to go down and grab some lunch with my parents. Mom had a salad and soup sitting on the table.

“Hey sweetie. Didn’t think you’d be home today,” she said.

I smiled. “I just finished up some homework. C.C. is supposed to stop by in a little bit for some help on something.”

“We haven’t seen Rex around much lately.” Dad peeked over the top of his newspaper. “Are you two still together?”

“Yeah. I’ve just been busy with school stuff.”

“You’ve been hanging out with Drake’s friends a lot more,” Mom said. “Which, I think is good. They’re a bunch of nice boys. Sometimes I worry about Rex. His parents are gone an awful lot.” She scooped some salad into a bowl for me, then slid it across the table. She glanced at me and frowned. “You didn’t stop hanging out with Rex because he tried pressuring you into something, right?”

“No. We’ve both been busy with sports and homework.”

“Are you sure? Because we can talk if you need to.” Mom sat across from me.

“I’m sure. I promise.” Besides for anything to happen between me and Rex that would entail actually seeing him. And since TRC started, we hadn’t spent much time together. Other than the group-date flag football game, and of course, the fundraiser party where we hung out for like two minutes.

Mom let it drop and ladled soup into a bowl for Dad. She walked to the cupboard and took out his favorite oyster type crackers. When she gave him his lunch, he caught her hand and kissed it then drew her into a hug.

“Thanks, honey.”

Normally watching them together made me want to spew. But for some reason, today it didn’t bother me. My chest tightened when I realized how in love they were, even after all these years. My parents talked all the time, went on dates, cooked for one another, and went out of their way to do small things for each other. Sometimes, Mom would even leave love notes in Dad’s lunch box. I hoped it was like this for me someday.

With a smile, I woofed down my salad. Right when I finished, the doorbell rang. My two o’clock dance lesson with C.C. was about to begin.
This ought to be fun.

“I’ll get it,” I said. When I opened the door, I found C.C. standing on the porch, holding a boom-box, CDs and wearing a ridiculous looking dance outfit. Spandex running pants, a bulky T-shirt, and a headband. “Uh—come on in.”

“Thanks for letting me set an appointment on such short notice. I didn’t realize when I got this part I’d have to dance.”

“It’s fine. Let’s go down into the family room.” We tromped down the stairs, and I flipped on the overhead light. “Why don’t we move the couch and end tables out of the way so we have more room?”

C.C. set his stuff down and grabbed one end of the sofa while I got the other. “Ah, this is heavy. I know I look built, but it’s deceiving, I have no upper body strength.”

I snorted. “Trust me, the only muscle in your body that might be big is your mouth.”

“I’ll have you know, I’ve got biceps.” He held up his arm and flexed.

“Are they invisible?” I squinted.

“Funny.”

Once we got everything moved aside, C.C. set his ginormous radio on one of the tables, then took out a CD. “Okay, this is the disc the drama teacher gave me with the music on it.”

“Did she say what kind of dancing you needed to know?”

“Here, she wrote down the steps. I think it’s a waltz or something.” He sat on the floor and started to stretch his legs out. “Gotta make sure I don’t pull my groin, I might need that pretty soon.” He winked.

“And if you keep talking about your groin, I might kick you in it then you won’t need to worry about using it.”

“Touché. You must be on your period today. My mom said women get moody when their monthly cycle comes up.”

“I am not on my period. I just don’t want to talk about your groin. For shit sake. Do you want to learn to waltz or not?”

He grinned. “One more stretch.”

I rubbed my forehead. Why in the hell did I agree to help him? With a groan, I grabbed his CD from the table and slid it into the player. Classical music came on, with his teacher’s voice in the background, counting out steps. One, two, three—one, two, three. Yeah, this was gonna get annoying real quick.

At last, he stood and I started the disk over. “First thing you need to do, is put your left hand on my waist.”

He set it on my hip and it slid down. “Right here?”

My eyes narrowed. “Move that hand any further down and I’m gonna tear it off and shove it in your mouth.”

His fingers slid back up to my waist. “Geez, you’re no fun.”

“Do you want to learn how to do this or not?”

“I do. Sorry.”

“Now, put your right hand in my hand. That’s it. We’re going to start by simply moving in box formation. You step forward with your right foot, I’ll step back. Then we’ll move to the left, then you’ll step back, then right. Does that make sense?”