Long Way Home Read Free Page B

group all this
time.  I know I’d like to be.  What about you?”
    She tossed her head in such a way that
her long blonde hair slung back over her shoulder, then cringed at the obvious
flirtatious nature of the move.  It was habit, but it could be
misconstrued by those watching.
    “Tess?” he prompted.  “Do you want
to be friends now?”
    She smiled at him.  “It’s what I
wanted from the very beginning.  I just didn’t go about it the right way.”
    He chuckled.  “Yeah, I’d say that’s
the understatement of the decade.  So, my study group meets tomorrow night
at Miss Nettie’s to go over notes for the English Lit test.  Want to
come?  You’re the best in that class anyway. “
    She bit her lip.  “Will Lane be
there?”
    “Yeah, but I’ll talk to him.  He
won’t bother you.  We could all benefit from you being there.  You
know that stuff inside and out.”
    “I’ll think about it,” she hedged.
    “Don’t wimp on me.  I need to ace
that test.”
    “Oh, please.  You always do good on
your tests.”
    “Yeah, but not without a lot of
studying.  Why do you think we have the study group?”
    She snorted.  “So you guys can hit
on all the girls.”
    He acted wounded.  “Please! 
When is the last time you saw me flirt with anyone?”
    “Seriously?  You flirt with
everyone…well, except me, but we haven’t exactly been on speaking terms the
last ten years.”
    “Guess we need to make up for lost time,
then,” he said with a wink.
    Tessa shook her head and frowned at him,
missing a step in their dance.
    “What’s wrong?” he asked.
    “I just keep waiting for the punch line.”
    He stopped dancing and shocked the heck
out of her by cupping her face in his hands.  In that moment she was
acutely aware of how tall he was, how much bigger he was than her.
    “I’m not pulling a prank on you, Tess. I
promise.”
    She looked up into his eyes, her breath
catching when he lightly skimmed his thumbs over her cheeks.  Just when
she thought he might lean in to kiss her, his mother walked up, turning his
attention.
    “I need you to take your sisters home,
Shane,” Susie McCanton said, her voice breaking the mood completely.
    “Yes, ma’am, I’ll be there in just a
minute.”
    “Now, Shane Gabriel.”
    Shane sighed.  “Yeah, OK.  Do
you need a ride home, Tess?  I don’t really want to leave you here alone.”
    “Um, yeah, actually, if you don’t mind.”
    “Not at all.  Let’s go round up my
sisters before my mom has a cow.”
    “I heard that, Shane Gabriel!” Susie
called over her shoulder.
    He shook his head as he took Tessa’s hand
and led her over to where he’d spotted his youngest sister, Gracie.  After
collecting her, he skimmed his eyes over the dance floor, finding his sister
Cordy dancing with Pat Baker and felt his blood boil.  He led Tessa and
Gracie through the dancing couples and  inserted an arm between his sister
and his classmate. 
    “Hands off my sister, Baker,” he
growled.  “She’s a Freshman.”
    “Shane!  Back off,” Cordy snapped.
    “Can’t.  Mom said it’s time for us
to head home.”
    Cordy glanced at her watch then scowled
at her brother and Tessa.  “Great.  Because you had to hook up with
her, I get penalized.”
    Tessa’s
brows raised.  “What?”
“Hey, come on, McCanton, cut a guy a break,” Pat groaned.
    Shane released Tessa’s hand and took a menacing step toward Pat, growling
at him.
    “You keep your hands off my sister and eyes in their sockets and you and
I won’t have any problems.”
    “Shane!”
Cordy protested.
    “Let’s go.”
    “Fine,” Cordy huffed.  Gracie,
having spotted the scene with Shane and Cordy had already made her way to their
side.  Shane nodded to his sisters to follow him, then to Tessa’s shock,
he laced his fingers with hers as he led them to his truck.  He had a
single cab truck so they all squeezed in the bench seat, Tessa beside
him.  She wanted badly to ask Cordy what