Learning the Ropes Read Free Page A

know, sweetheart, and you will find someone. But in the meantime you can have some fun. I just feel like you’re lonely and unhappy and I don’t want you to be.”
    Rory bit her lip and tried to force her mouth to deny it. To tell her friends that she wasn’t lonely; that they were great and between them and her family she had all of the companionship she could ever need. That her last thought before falling asleep every night wasn’t to wish she had a man sleeping next to her in the big bed she had inherited. Not even necessarily in a sexual way—although that would be wonderful, too. Just someone to share body heat with when she got cold, and breathing to hear when she woke up in the middle of the night. She couldn’t make herself say the words though and had to choke down a knot of tears that unexpectedly closed her throat.
    Seeming to sense her distress, Celeste came to her rescue… sort of. “I know who you should take your walk on the wild side with. Noah Sellig.”
    Rory tried to ignore the flash of heat that coursed through her body at just the mention of his name. “I have no idea why you would mention him at all. He is the most arrogant, obnoxious, jerk of a human being—”
    “That ever made you want to jump his bones?” Brianna suggested innocently. “I think the lady doth protest too much.”
    “The lady protests exactly the right amount when you’re talking about Noah. I can’t believe you guys would actually set me up with him. He’s such a womanizer.”
    “Oh, please, Grandma Moses. I don’t think I’ve ever heard someone use the word womanizer in our age group,” Celeste scoffed.
    “Britney Spears had a song about it not too long ago.” Yes! Finally, listening to her students’ constant talk about the next big song was of some use to her!
    Celeste rolled right over her words as if she hadn’t even heard them. It figured that the one time she was up on pop culture, no one even acknowledged it. “Besides, no one is suggesting that you have a serious relationship with the man. Just a fling so that you can check off a few more right answers on the next quiz. Even you have to admit he’s perfect for that at least. And there’s no denying that you two have massive sparks whenever you’re in the same room together,” she said.
    “That’s not romantic sparks—that’s the fuse on my temper igniting,” Rory retorted.
    Celeste held up her hands in mock surrender. “I’m just saying, he’s the only man I’ve ever seen you react to strongly—in any fashion. Maybe it’s worth exploring.”
    Rory bit her lip and shook her head. If only they knew that she had already done some exploring with Noah. And that while it had been as explosive as they had imagined, just one encounter together had pulverized her when he’d walked away. So she was still tempted by him. So what? A lot of things that were bad for her were tempting and she managed to stay away from them without much trouble.
    Mac clapped her hands together and recalled her attention. “Since I can see you’re already thinking about it, maybe you should listen to us. Noah should be at The Lucky Stripe with John and some other guys. Why don’t we all go over there now and you can chat him up?”
    Celeste was nodding vigorously while Brianna starting shaking her head. “I can’t play anymore tonight, guys. I have track practice early in the morning. But you all have fun.”
    Rory jumped on that bandwagon as fast as possible. “Me neither. While I appreciate all of the ideas and moral support to do something ridiculous, I’ve got papers to grade and a Chemistry Club meeting at lunch tomorrow so there’s really no other time for me to work on them.”
    “You guys are such spoilsports!” Celeste huffed. “We’re young; you can stand one night of not going to bed by 10:30.”
    Both Rory and Brianna remained adamant, even through Celeste’s griping all the way through splitting the check and last-minute plans for next week.