Marlowe
"So, what position do you play, Puck?" Veronica all but purrs.
I glance in the rearview mirror to see her hand on his bicep, affectionately rubbing it while she leans toward him and waits for his answer.
Puck glances up to make eye contact with me in the mirror. The look on his face seems to be begging for help and I have to look back at the road before he catches me snickering at his expense.
Ronnie knows how to lay it on thick. Usually, guys love it. I had momentarily thought that Puck would too, but one fleeting moment of eye contact and I know better.
"I played center back home, but I'm guessing they'll put me on left or right wing starting off," he explains.
"Did you get a lot of goals?" Ronnie asks next.
I glance in the mirror again to see Puck slowly nod. "A decent amount, yeah. I don't think I'd be here otherwise, right?"
Ronnie laughs like he just cracked a brilliant joke. She leans into his shoulder with a hiccup and Puck smiles a little awkwardly before meeting my gaze in the mirror again.
This time, it's not only his eyes begging for help. I'm certain he just mouthed the word to me.
"You just had to step in to funnel that drink, didn't you, Ronnie?" I chide with a shake of my head. "We're dropping you off first. Don't puke in my car."
Ronnie giggles, then lifts a hand to cover her mouth.
Fingers brush against my shoulders. When I look in the mirror, Puck is leaning forward, gripping the top of my seat.
"You don't say that word when someone is drunk in a vehicle," he hisses into my ear.
I start to laugh and Peyton pipes up beside me, "You won't be laughing when she throws up all over your car and new boy, Lowe."
I open my mouth to deny that Jonah is my boy but he thumps the back of my seat with his knee as he leans back again and I remember to keep it to myself.
"Someone had to drink the funnel and Puck wasn't going to," Ronnie defends her actions while reaching up to smoosh the side of Puck's face with her palm. "Were you, Pucky?"
Puck shrugs. "I was thinking about it."
"Have you ever funnelled a beer before?" Hadley pries. Her tone suggests that it would be lame if he hadn't. "You looked nervous."
I watch in the mirror as Puck's expression turns uncomfortable. "I—"
"He could get kicked off the team, Hadley. He just got here. He's not going to do something stupid and get sent home before he even plays a game. Right, Puck?"
This time, when our eyes meet in the mirror, I give him a pointed look. The guy sure looked like he was going to drink that funnel earlier before I jumped in to save his ass.
"Right," Puck answers with a solemn nod, followed by the most dashing grin. The frickin charmer. I'll bet he's smiled his way out of all sorts of trouble from his mom, teachers, and the like.
"Dev's on the team," Hadley points out as if that's a good enough reason for Puck to also get stupidly drunk.
"Dev's an idiot."
Peyton and I speak in unison, but it's Peyton who Puck grins at while he chuckles. "He's... an interesting guy."
Peyton turns in her seat to look back at Puck. "Interesting? Well, that's a fun way to say moronic."
Puck chuckles again and Peyton gives me a smug smile.
Speaking of other skanks trying to snatch up my man...
It's not that I'm jealous. I wouldn't care one way or another if Peyton and Puck hooked up, except that I've just set up the perfect plan with Puck and I don't need Peyton mucking it up before the school year has even started. She can go find another jock to hit on. This one's mine... At least, he will be for appearance's sake.
And then there's Ronnie, who is now sleeping against Puck's shoulder, a small amount of drool dribbling onto his t-shirt sleeve.
Hadley's my new favourite. Even if she thinks funnelling beer makes you cool.
We get to Veronica's house and Puck gently nudges her awake. He gets out of the car and offers her his hand to help her out, then walks her to the front door.
Ronnie wraps her arms around him in a sloppy hug and looks to be talking in his ear before releasing him and stumbling inside.
Puck comes back to the car with a small frown. "Is she going to be okay? She's really wasted."
Hadley waves her hand with a flick of her wrist. "Ah, she's fine. Her parents are super chill and are used to her coming home like this."
Puck's frown remains in place while he gets back in the car.
"Unlike yours," Peyton says to her. "Oh, Lowe. Hadley is sleeping at my house again tonight, so you don't need to worry about dropping her off."
"I figured as much."
Hadley's parents are quite strict. She always sleeps at Peyton's house after we go to a party.
The rest of the drive consists of Hadley and Peyton reliving the funnier moments of our nights out together and the various states of drunk that Ronnie has been in when we drop her off at home.
Puck laughs at the appropriate moments, but it doesn't sound as full and free as his usual laugh.
When we drop the girls off, he waves goodbye to them and lets them each give him a big hug. He moves to the passenger seat, frowning out the front window when I pull the car back onto the road.
"Sorry, they're a lot," I apologize, feeling awkward with the silence between us.
Puck shrugs, "Nah, they're nice. It's just..." He pauses and frowns again. "Aren't you guys a little concerned about Veronica?
"She's sixteen, Puck. Half the kids from Governor get that wasted every weekend. Not everyone has a sports career before they're finished high school."
"You don't have a sports career. You're not drunk," he points out the obvious.
"No, but I have goals. And someone needs to be the DD."
He smiles at me. "You're a smart girl. I'm going to enjoy being your boyfriend."
I roll my eyes at him but still smile as I look back at the road. "And you're a flirt. I've yet to decide if I'll enjoy being your girlfriend."
"I'm not a flirt."
"Oh, please. You had each one of my friends hanging on your every word."
"Maybe I'm just interesting."
"Interesting? Well, that's a fun way to say moronic," I quote Peyton.
Jonah bursts into laughter; his full, free laughter that he hadn't let out for any of the other girls.
I'm torn between wanting to roll my eyes—I know I'm not that funny, Puck—and basking in the feeling of warm, flutters in my stomach—He's a frikkin cutie, okay? It's hard not to be charmed when he's giving me that warm smile and genuine laugh.
"So where to, Jonah?" I ask once his laughter has stopped.
"Um, Jack and Alice Reid's? I'm mind blanking on their house number, but it's in this circle of houses on this road called—"
"Viscount Place," I finish for him. I should have guessed that they were being a billet family again.
Jonah gives me a puzzled look.
"That's my aunt and uncle."
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Puck
This just got a whole lot more complicated. It's one thing to pretend to date a girl, but can I really pretend to date a girl that is Jack's niece?
I like Jack. He's been nothing but cool since I moved in with them. I was a little wary before I met him because I knew him and my dad were old buds but he's not anything like my dad. He's relaxed, easygoing and doesn't seem to have a temper.
I'd rather not do something that could end up with me finding out that he does have a temper.
Did I mention he's a cop?
Yeah... Not someone that I want to upset or disappoint.
Marlowe sighs. "You're freaking out."
"I'm not freaking out," I deny, even as I shift uncomfortably in my seat.
"You're freaking out, Puck," she says again with an unimpressed tone, "but you don't have to. Uncle Jack is cool. He knows that I date hockey players."
"But we won't actually be dating," I remind her.
"So? If anything that's better for you. You don't need to worry about hurting me down the road and ending up on his bad side."
I nod slowly. "So we tell him that we're pretending to date?"
Marlowe frowns and shakes her head. "No. Why would we tell him? Then he's really going to think that you're a weirdo."
I chuckle but I honestly can't tell if she's joking or not. "Do you think I'm a weirdo?" I keep my voice as uninterested as possible as if her answer doesn't matter to me.
She looks over at me, observing my face for a quick moment before she turns her focus back to the road. "Without a doubt."
I laugh again but something about her answer feels like a punch to the gut... until I hear her next words.
"All the best of us are, Jonah."