Entice. Part 9

I climbed out of his car, gave him a quick wave and headed for the front door. When I was almost there, a funny feeling descended on me and stopped me in my tracks. Gooseb.u.mps tickled my arms, and my hair stood on end.

Someone was behind me, watching me. I could feel it.

Chapter Fourteen.

I whipped around. He started walking briskly in the other direction, but he wasn't fast enough. I'd already seen him.

I ran after him. "Why are you following me?"

Drake spun around and looked at me as if he just noticed me for the first time. He flashed me an innocent smile. "Why h.e.l.lo Kenzie."

"Don't why h.e.l.lo me. Why do you keep following me?"

Rain drizzled down, splattering his sungla.s.ses, trench coat and slick dress shoes. My teeth chattered. I hugged myself to keep warm.

"I'm not following you." He took off his sungla.s.ses. His eyes were much darker than I remembered, and they seemed to stare into the depths of my soul. I shuddered under the scrutiny of his gaze.

"I saw you standing outside of Thatcher's"

He tucked the gla.s.ses into the pocket of his trench coat. "I was getting coffee. In fact, that's why I was returning to the car. I had forgotten to get out the one for your mom. I already drank mine." After opening his car door, he reached inside and pulled out a paper coffee cup with a lid secured on top.

"Oh, well, I didn't see you in there." I felt a little stupid.

"You were in deep conversation with a boy. Is he your boyfriend?" He c.o.c.ked an eyebrow as he closed the car door.

"No. My boyfriend lives in California. Tanner's just a friend."

"It looked like a little more than friendship if you ask me." He winked, causing me to blush. "We better get inside. I don't want to keep your mom waiting. You know how she can be."

This made me chuckle. I followed him up the walkway and then realized I never did get a straight answer from him. Sure, I might have been wrong about him following me today but how would he explain being at Haley's?

"What about the other day when I was at my friend's house?" I asked as we neared the front door.

"What other day at your friend's house?"

"I was at my friend Haley's and you were in a car across the street. I know you saw me because you looked right at me."

"Ah, yes. I'm sorry. I wasn't sure if that was you or I would've stopped."

"But what were you doing there?"

"I have a client on that street I was checking on."

I narrowed my eyes. It seemed like a reasonable explanation. Maybe I was just being oversensitive. Perhaps Mom was right. Ever since my experience with Wesley I had become so untrusting of everyone.

The door swung open. Mom stuck her head out, smelling strongly of hairspray. "What are you two doing standing out here in the rain?"

"Um..."I sputtered. The last thing I wanted to do was explain to Mom that I'd just given her boyfriend the third degree. It was precisely what she'd begged me never to do.

"We were just having a little chat, that's all." He bent down and pecked Mom on the cheek. "I was just telling Kenzie how much I care for her mother."

Mom's cheeks turned bright red. A broad smile swept over her face. Drake winked at me over his shoulder. I chuckled. Maybe the guy wasn't so bad after all.

I brushed past them to get in the house. Mom closed the door behind Drake.

Holding her coffee cup in her hand she said, "Drake, just make yourself comfortable. I'm going to run into the kitchen and bring out some snacks."

I plopped down on the couch, tucking my legs up under my body. As I reached for the remote, Drake took a seat next to me. I could hear Mom puttering around in the kitchen. After turning on the television, I flipped through the channels trying to find something on.

"I'm sure you have like a gazillion channels at your house," I said to Drake. "We still have an antennae. There's never anything on."

"There's nothing on even when you have cable," Drake replied.

"That's probably true." I turned my head to see if Mom was coming in the room. I could faintly hear her still rooting around in the kitchen. It might take her awhile to find something edible in there. Fidgeting with the bottom of my sleeve, I tried to think of something to talk to Drake about. The silence was super awkward.

"So, do you have a lot of clients on Haley's street?" I pictured all those rich ladies, their face frozen into perpetual smiles from all their botox injections.

"Whose street?" His brows knit together in a look of confusion.

"My friend that I was just talking about."

"Ah, yes, Haley." A shadow pa.s.sed over his features. His smile turned into a scowl. "I thought you weren't friends anymore." His voice had taken on an evil, scratchy quality.

I jumped back, and clutched my hand to my chest. My heart beat against my fingertips. "How did you know that?"

"Here we are." Mom swept into the room. In her hand she held a plate, containing a couple pieces of processed cheese, a handful of nuts and a sliced apple.

I glanced back at Drake. He beamed up at my mom, his face serene and light. It made me wonder if I'd imagined the whole exchange a minute ago. Was I going crazy?

While Mom sipped on her coffee and Drake nibbled on the cheese from Mom's fancy snack tray, I slipped into my room to call Isaac. Once inside, I closed the door tightly behind me and reached into my jeans pocket for my phone. Only it wasn't there. I looked in my other pocket but it was empty too. After scouring my room, panic set in. Oh no. What if I left it at Thatcher's? I may never get it back. Someone could have found it and reprogrammed it by now. Desperately, I tried to remember if I'd ever installed that tracking app. I kept meaning to, but I wasn't sure if I ever had.

There was a rapping on the front door. Mom yelled down the hallway, "Kenzie, it's that boy. The one that's just a friend."

I cringed and prayed he hadn't heard her. Quickly, I emerged from my room and raced down the hallway. I was grateful that the front door was still closed. Of course, our walls were pretty thin so he still might have heard what she said. I opened the door and greeted Tanner warmly. From the happy expression on his face, it seemed he hadn't heard Mom.

"Thought you might need this." He held up my phone.

I s.n.a.t.c.hed it from his fingers and squealed. "Thank you!" Without thinking, I threw my arms around his neck. He tensed under my touch, his expression serious. I could hear his heart pounding beneath mine. Swallowing hard, I let my arms drop and stepped away from him.

Tanner glanced inside the family room. "I'm sorry. I didn't know you had company. Just wanted to drop off your phone. I'll get going now."

"Nonsense." Mom waved him inside. "Come on in. The more the merrier."

Tanner looked at me. I shrugged.

"Alright." He stepped inside with a smile on his face. It vanished the instant he saw Drake. I watched as his face paled.

"Tanner." Drake stood up from the couch. "So good to see you again."

Tanner set his jaw, took a step back. He reminded me of a dog, ready to attack. I stayed close to his side.

"I hear you've made some changes, turned over a new leaf," Drake said.

"Yeah." Tanner's voice came out strained. He still hadn't moved.

"Even so, I'm sure I'll be seeing you around." Drake grinned mischievously.

Tanner's face reddened, he balled his fists.

"How do you two know each other?" I asked.

Tanner shook his head, but didn't speak.

"We go way back. Don't we, Tanner?"

I narrowed my eyes. "What does that mean?"

Drake opened his mouth to answer, but Tanner cut him off. "Nothing. I have to go. I'll see you later, Kenzie."

"Yeah." Confused, I watched him walk out the door. "Thanks for my phone," I called after him as he fled.

"That was rude," Mom muttered under her breath.

I glared at Drake. In the entire time I'd been hanging out with Tanner I had never seen him act like that. 'Rude' was the last word anyone would use to describe him. Clearly, Drake had done something to upset him.

I intended to find out what it was.

Chapter Fifteen.

I stood in front of the bathroom sink, holding my hands under the running water. The soap in the school restrooms smelled like throw-up. I wrinkled my nose as the suds swirled toward the drain, emitting their disgusting aroma.

"I really thought you'd gotten better taste after last year."

Scarlett's reflection appeared behind me. Her strawberry blonde hair cascaded down her thin frame. Her green eyes glared at me, her painted ruby lips hardened into a determined line.

"What do you mean?" I pulled a paper towel from the dispenser.

"Tanner. I know you two are together."

I dried my hands. "No, we're not."

"Oh, please. It's totally obvious." She came to stand beside me, and turned on the adjacent faucet. "I'm just surprised. You would think after what Caleb did to you, you'd want nothing to do with guys like them."

Heat crept up my collar bone. "How did you know about that?"

"About Caleb?" She shrugged. "You know how rumors spread."

I heard a toilet flush behind us. Embarra.s.sment burned through me. I guessed nothing was sacred.

"Well, that has nothing to do with Tanner anyway. He doesn't hang out with those guys anymore. He's changed."

Scarlet snorted, threw her paper towel into the trash. "Yeah, I'll bet."

I didn't need to listen to this anymore. She was just upset because they broke up. I would probably feel the same way if Isaac and I broke up. Picking up my backpack, I turned away from the sink.

"I'm betting he didn't tell you why we broke up," Scarlet said.

I pressed my lips together. Scarlet came to stand in front of me. She flashed me an amused smile.

"Yeah, I didn't think he had, because if he had you would've dropped him." With that she left the bathroom, cackling.

In the mirror I saw Haley emerge from one of the stalls. Oh great. She was the last person in the world I wanted to hear that. My stomach lurched. She rolled her eyes at me and made her way to the sink. I was so not in the mood for another attack, so I hurried from the bathroom without saying a word.

When I got into the hallway, students closed in all around me. I felt claustrophobic from body heat and the smell of sweat and B.O. In my pocket, my phone vibrated. I disengaged from the crowd, stood against a row of lockers and fished out my cell.

Hey Beautiful, how is your day going?

A smile jumped off my lips. The unpleasant experience in the bathroom suddenly seemed like a distant memory.

Better now.

I waited patiently for him to respond.

I have to go to cla.s.s now. I was just thinking about you.

My heart skipped a beat at the words.

I love you, Isaac.

U 2.

I shoved the phone back in my pocket and then ran to cla.s.s so I wouldn't be late.