She bit down on her dang lip. “The pleasure is all mine, Mr. Mathews.”

Oh dear God.

She had the voice of an angel. There went my stupid heart again, and now, I could hear ringing in my ears.

What in the hell is wrong with me?

I stood there, like an idiot, and just stared at her. She was beautiful with blonde hair and bluish-gray eyes that pierced my soul. I glanced down at her soft pink lips. I’d do anything to taste her lips and see if she was as sweet as she looked.

She couldn’t be more than five-three, but she had a figure on her that was to die for. The pink ribbons in her hair screamed her innocence. The moment she placed her hand in mine, I felt a jolt of electricity, and I was positive she’d felt it, too, because she sucked in a breath of air. I smiled, which was a mistake. She knew I’d seen her reaction, so she quickly pulled her hand away and sat back down. She turned her back toward me and acted like she was listening to something Wayne was telling Anna.

“What can I do you for, Garrett?” Mr. Horster asked.

“Root beer, please,” I said with a slight smile.

I looked at Margie, and she gave me a wink before sliding down a seat, leaving the seat next to Emma empty. I quickly sat down before Billy could. He shot me a dirty look, and I pretended I hadn’t noticed it. There was no way I would let Billy anywhere near my Emma.

My Emma?

“You look a little lost there, Garrett,” Margie whispered in my ear.

I snapped my head over at her and shot her my crooked smile. “I’m never lost, Margie. You should know that.”

She let out a small laugh as she gave me a look my mother would give. Margie was like a sister to me. She had wavy long brown hair and green eyes. She was pretty enough to get any guy she wanted but classy enough to keep her legs closed. She did have a thing for Billy though. I was pretty sure if they had the chance to be alone, they would end up together. They both liked each other, but neither would ever admit it. They always put me in the middle of their messed-up friendship, and I was getting tired of it.

“I know I’ve never seen that look on your face before. You seem a little…shall we say, smitten with my cousin?” Margie said as she glanced over my shoulder at Emma.

I turned around, only to see Emma’s back was still facing me as she played with the straw in her strawberry milkshake. When I looked back at Margie, she had one eyebrow raised, and a chill ran up and down my body.

“Don’t give me that look, Marg. You look evil when you do that, and it doesn’t suit your face.”

Margie tilted her head and said in a hushed voice, “Garrett Thomas Mathews, I saw the way you looked at Emma. Don’t deny it to me. I’m one of your best friends and like a sister to you. I’m probably the only girl in Mason County who can say she’s seen your penis and about threw up. Don’t bullshit me.”

I rolled my eyes and shook my head. “Are you ever going to forget that day? Ever?”

She slowly smiled. “Nope,” she said, popping the P sound. “It was your idea to go swimming in the tank on my daddy’s ranch. It wasn’t my fault you got a fish caught in your drawers, and no one but me would help with it.”

Good God. The memory of me ripping off my britches and Margie standing there, staring at my dick, still made me sick to my stomach. Then, when she’d opened her mouth and said, I’m impressed, Mr. Mathews. I’m very impressed, but put your snake away, I’d wanted to crawl under a rock for the rest of my life.

“We made a vow—a vow, Margie—that we would never talk about that day. Do you know what a vow is?” I asked as I quickly looked around.

I smiled at Mr. Horster as he set my root beer down.

Margie glanced around also before looking back at me with her evil little smile. “I know what a vow is. You’re not the only smart one in our class.”

“Hey, Garrett. What are your plans for tonight?” Anna ran her tongue across her upper teeth.

She was probably the only girl in Mason County who gave blow jobs out like she was passing out Halloween candy.

I gave her a weak smile. “I’ve been burning thorns all day, Anna. I’m probably going to go home and go to bed early.”

She pouted her lip. “That doesn’t sound like fun.”

I couldn’t help but notice that Emma was watching me. Billy was talking to her, but her eyes were on me. I tried not to look at her, but a part of me liked that she was staring at me while he was talking to her.

“So, what do you say, Emma?” Billy asked.

Emma sat up a little and cleared her throat. “I’m so sorry. What were you saying?”

Billy let out a laugh. “We’re all going to the passion pit tonight. Are you going with Margie and Anna?”

Emma crinkled up her nose and giggled. “Passion pit?”

“Drive-in theater is what he meant,” I said as I shot Billy a dirty look.

Emma glanced over at Margie and then looked at me as she tilted her head. “Are you going, Mr. Mathews?”

I didn’t know what in the hell came over me, but before I could stop myself, I said, “Yes.”

Anna’s mouth dropped open. “Hey, you just said—”

“What a great way for Emma to get to know everyone. This will be fun!” Margie said, cutting Anna off.

I tried not to look at Anna, but I quickly peeked at her. She practically had steam coming from her ears as she looked back and forth between Emma and me.

Great. Just great.

I sat there for a few more minutes, listening to Billy, Margie, Anna, and Wayne make plans to meet at the drive-in tonight. I was exhausted and not in the mood to go see a picture show, but if it meant spending time with Emma, I would do it.

Margie stood up and bumped me on the arm as she smiled. “I’m going to kick you in the wazoo if you don’t show up tonight, Garrett Mathews.”

I chuckled. “I’ll be there, I promise.”

Emma stood up and smiled. “Wayne, Billy, it was very nice to meet you both.”

When she turned to face me, I got up and held out my hand. I glanced down and saw my hand was shaking.

Oh, man. Get it together, Mathews. It wasn’t good that a girl had me so nervous that I was shaking.

She slowly let her smile move across her face. “Garrett, it was a pleasure meeting you. I’ll see you tonight?”

I smiled back and tried my best to make her melt.

Nothing.

Her face never budged. She stared me in the eyes, and I had to quickly turn away before looking back at her.