Final Surrender (4 page)

Clay watched the action and dug his fingers into her side, making her shiver.

As they exited the theater with the crowd, Clay said, “You’d better go. Your friends are waiting.”

Angela looked around to see Becca talking to Nick and Jacob. Just as she found them, Becca smiled hugely and waved her over.

Angela turned back to Clay. “To hell with…” was all she got out before she realized he was already gone.

The warmth of his hands lingered on her waist and his breath whispered across her bare skin. She could still feel their heat and she was certain her skin was flushed from having had him so close.

Angela made her way over to her friends. She scanned the lobby but Clay was nowhere in sight. She batted her eyelashes to clear her vision and when she refocused, Nick was standing there smiling at her.

Becca was nearly jumping out of her skin for her to hurry up. She saw her rosy cheeks and figured she was just as excited the evening was getting better and better.

“What took you so long, Ang? Thought you got lost.”

“No, not lost,” Angela said but added,
Not yet at least
, in her own head.

“Well, you know Jacob from English class but this…is Nick Masters.” Becca gestured to the lovely blond guy standing to her right.

Angela smiled brightly, focusing on his brown eyes. She extended her slender hand towards him.

“I’m Angela, but everybody calls me Angie, or just Ang if you’re really in a hurry.”

She smiled again as he flashed her a wide grin. “I’ve heard a lot about you, Angie.”

“Likewise,” Angela stated as she eyed him up and down.

He was dressed in khaki shorts and a screen-printed T-shirt that just said
Bite Me
. He looked like he stepped straight out of a magazine.

“So how did I stack up?” Nick asked, as if he’d read her thoughts.

Angela, feeling frisky from her earlier encounter with Clay, continued her once-over as she made a full circle around him, dragging her fingertips across his chest and back then finally answered, “Not too bad. Not too bad at all!”

Becca hugged her and laughed out loud. She leaned closer and whispered in her ear, “You have balls of steel tonight. What has gotten into you?”

Angela watched Jacob smack Nick on the arm, which apparently signaled a wrestling match as they all made their way to the parking lot.

“Just feeling a bit frisky and I must say I like it.” Becca didn’t know of her feelings towards Clay, no one did, and she intended it to stay that way.

Becca squeezed her shoulders again and finally released her. As they walked toward Becca’s car she’d gotten on her sixteenth birthday, she said, “Well, we’re going to meet everybody at the ice cream place down the street. Ready?”

Angela’s gaze was still a bit foggy but she managed, “As I’ll ever be.”

Fifteen minutes later, they snagged a close parking spot and exited the vehicle. As Angela stepped from the car, she caught Nick eyeing her legs when her skirt rode just a few inches higher than normal.

He came over to shut her car door behind her and then walked beside her from the parking lot to the entrance door. His hand rested on the small of her back, gentlemanly, but possessive nonetheless.

“So, what did you think of the movie?” he asked as he held the door open for her, Becca and Jacob were holding hands already and lolly gagging behind them, so they went ahead without them.

“It was all right, but I have to admit I didn’t watch much of it. I enjoyed watching everybody in the theater though. Now that was entertaining. What about you? Did you have fun?”

They walked up, joining the end of the line to wait for their turn to order. “I am now,” Nick replied as he sidled up next to her.

Angela looked up at him with her lips curving into a grin as Becca and Jacob finally made their entrance.

Becca made a beeline for Angela, and Jacob pulled Nick to the side.

“It didn’t take you two long to get cozy,” Angela announced to Becca with a knowing glance in Jacob’s direction.

“He’s so hot, isn’t he?”

Angela fought a laugh, but stifled it as she prompted Becca, “So, are you ditching me?” She already knew the answer as soon as Becca blushed and wouldn’t look her in the face.

When Becca finally spoke she said, “You know my parents are so strict about dating but I really want to spend some time with Jacob, and then I’ll take him home. Is that okay? I really feel bad,” she added at the end, and Angela could tell her best friend was torn.

Angela smiled and patted her arm, reassuring her that she would be fine.

Becca finally calmed down as Angela said, “Have fun and don’t worry about me. I’ll find another way home.”

“You are so self-sufficient. I wish I was as independent as you are,” Becca admitted.

“Thanks. Now go have fun, but not too much, Becca.”

She hugged her laughing friend goodbye. Becca kissed her on the cheek, and then dashed out the door with Jacob, who was winking at Nick over his shoulder.

“Your friend will be missing body parts if he takes advantage of her,” Angela declared all sugary sweet to Nick as he walked back up to her.

He rubbed the back of his neck, trying to hide his grin. “I have a feeling Becca can hold her own in that department.”

He was more right than she wanted him to know, so since their turn was coming up next to order, she turned her attention back to the ice cream case.

Nick stayed very close to her while they ordered and watched the employees make their ice cream concoctions on a freezing slab of marble.

They sat at a table in the brightly lit restaurant and talked about school and football games, grades, friends and family.

By the time they were through and throwing out their trash, Angela decided Nick was a nice guy. Both charming and gorgeous to boot. He was quick to smile, had a good laugh and was a bit more than just a ball of testosterone ready to jump her.

That prospect should have sent her head spinning but it was only a minor blip on her radar.

As they walked outside, Nick took Angela’s hand and stayed close to the building as they made their way back to his car, which was parked quite a few spaces down. She felt nice and comfortable with him.

Quite unexpectedly, Nick slowed and turned around to face her while they were in shadows, tugging her to a stop in front of him.

She was taken by surprise, steadying herself on his chest. “Are you okay, Nick? Is something wrong?”

He surprised her again by asking, “Can I kiss you?” in a rather husky voice.

She chewed on her lower lip and hoped he couldn’t fully see her face in the darkness. She didn’t want her hesitation to affect him. But all she could see was Clay’s face. It was horrible to use Nick, but since opportunities like that rarely presented themselves, she decided to take advantage of it while she could.

She took a step closer, relishing the feel of his hairy legs against her smooth shins.

He was a bit closer to her height than most guys were and she ran her fingers across his lips, whispering, “Yes, you can kiss me.”

Nick kissed her fingertips first and then angled his head down to hers.

He was soft and gentle to her mouth, not ever pushing his luck with her on this first, non-date kiss. He was the absolute gentleman he was supposed to be and it did nothing but leave her wanting.

Angela put her hands up behind his neck to grab a handful of his hair and deepen the kiss, but they were both blinded by headlights from the car sitting in the parking space directly in front of them.

They broke the kiss, shielding their eyes from the concentrated light.

Nick reached down to take Angela’s hand and lead her to his vehicle, when an angry voice came from the open door of the car that had just illuminated them.

“Angela, Mom and Dad would like you home now. They weren’t very pleased when I called and told them Becca went home without you and left you in the hands of some guy they’d never met before.”

Angela absolutely froze when she heard Clay utter that line of bull.

Nick was still trying to see past the blinding headlights as he asked, “Is that your brother? I thought Mark was off at college…”

Angela was livid, that Clay of all people would show up and ruin her fun.

She turned to Nick and replied, “Mark
is
away at school. That’s Clay, his best friend, who it seems is determined to ruin my night before he leaves for boot camp. I’ve got to go or my parents are going to completely freak out. Can I talk to you on Monday?”

She could tell by his facial expression, Nick knew he didn’t have a choice and looked at her with a reassuring smile. “Sure I’ll be there and we can talk more. Maybe we can even do the whole movie and ice cream thing again next week with everybody? This time, a few less people between us might be cool?”

“Angela, they’re waiting,” was all Clay said as he got back in the car and slammed the door.

Angela was totally on edge knowing Clay watched her so intently. She knew his hands would be strangling the steering wheel and the side of his forehead would be throbbing.

Well, screw him
, Angela thought as she pulled Nick back down to her mouth and planted a huge kiss on his lips. “I’ll see you at school and we’ll plan something for next weekend, okay?”

Angela stomped over to Clay’s passenger side as Nick called after her, “Cool. Night, Angie!”

Angela wretched the door open as she tried to yell, “Good night!” over the rev of the engine.

She slammed the door shut as she watched Nick walk in the direction of his vehicle with a confused smile and a little wave.

By the time Nick was out of view Angela couldn’t be any more ready for a fight. She’d never been so embarrassed, and that was saying something with an older brother.

“What the hell is wrong with you?” she yelled.

When she opened her mouth to speak again Clay growled, “Put your seat belt on,” through gritted teeth.

She snapped it into place as he whipped out of the parking space and out on the main road like a maniac.

She chanced a glance over at his silhouette next to her, and knew she should have kept her eyes focused on the scenery flying by.

He looked good. Muscular, intense. His head shaved for boot camp and camo shorts just short enough to see his lower thigh muscles clench as he furiously worked the clutch.

He looked dangerous and she hated herself for liking it. All she wanted was to stay mad at him for being such an ass, but she couldn’t get past turned on. The realization that he had the ability to push her buttons so easily made her temper flare.

“What’s gotten into you?” Angela bit out as they got on the freeway.

When he didn’t answer, she turned to face him and continued, “I wasn’t doing anything wrong. Nick could have taken me home just as quickly as you could. I can’t believe you told my parents about tonight and…”

“I didn’t tell your parents jack,” Clay admitted, his voice like ice, as he continued to stare straight ahead through the windshield.

“Excuse me, what do you mean you didn’t tell my parents anything? You said—”

“No matter how mad I am at you, I would never rat you out to your parents. I don’t want them to worry about you.”

“There isn’t anything to worry about, Clay,” she admitted, edging on exasperation again. “But I still don’t understand what you mean. You didn’t tell them about Becca leaving?”

“I followed you here, I watched Becca leave and then I watched you inside with
him
.” He uttered the last word like it was a curse.

Angela’s brain spun in several directions at once and finally settled on, “Then why are you mad? You knew he would take me home and I could handle myself, didn’t you?”

“I know exactly what he wants from you,” he spat back at her. He glared at her. Once her heart was ready to beat out of her chest he turned his gaze back to the road and then continued, “I made up the story so you’d have to leave with me instead of him. I took my own advice finally,” he snorted in disgust. With him or with her, she didn’t know.

Angela heard the confession in his voice and needed him to understand what was in her head. He’d never been receptive to hearing her feelings for him, so she stated two things very simply before he could argue.

“All you have to do is ask if you want me to go anywhere with you, and when I was kissing him tonight it wasn’t his face I saw in my head.”

Angela faced her window in silence because she couldn’t bear to see rejection in his eyes tonight. She’d always been able to take his rebuffs and think about
tomorrow
, but tonight she was afraid it would alter something inside her.

They rode in abject silence for the next few minutes as Clay exited the freeway and Angela recognized the familiar street they were on as the one right before the turn onto her street. Her heart sank because she didn’t want to go home and she didn’t want him leaving to go into the Marines on an argument. Not that they had much of anything but arguments after that night on the porch swing. Her mind swam for something to fix the rift that had formed between them in the past year.

She wasn’t sure of what to do or say to fix it since she didn’t think he would hear her out anyway, so she remained completely silent as her heart broke.

Her eyes threatened to tear up as Clay slowed the vehicle to a crawl and put it into park on the side of the street they were on, switching off the lights.

She didn’t understand what was going on since they weren’t in front of her house, but she stared out her window anyway, trying to find a way to at least remain friends when she wanted so much more.

Clay gripped the steering wheel until his knuckles threatened to break it and he took a deep breath.

She heard him shift in his seat to face her, but she stared out her window seeing nothing. Her hands shook so badly she clasped them tightly in her lap, trying to calm herself, but it wasn’t working at all.

Her breath caught in her throat when Clay ordered, “Angela, look at me,” in the sexiest voice, giving her that tingling feeling again.

She wanted to ignore him. She knew she needed to get out of the vehicle right then and just walk the rest of the way home, so she didn’t have to hear the same speech about her not being right for him.