Read The Wright Brother for Free Online Page B

insisted on planting in every corner of the house. She no longer saw Christian or Roman, Lori, or her mother.
    She only saw Julian.
    His pale skin. His dark hair. And his sea-green eyes.
    Elisa drowned in their depths, lost to his scrutiny. She didn’t fight the current of it, either; she simply let herself be swept away in his heated gaze.
    His hands were balled into fists at his side. His gaze roamed up and down her body slowly. So, so slowly that it felt like a physical caress against her anywhere it touched.
    Her scalp tingled, her neck flushed, her breasts ached, her stomach tickled, her thighs shook, and it was suddenly too hard to swallow.
    She blinked when the glare of the flash blinded her. What had felt like an eternity had barely lasted all of five seconds. Now it was no longer just she and he in the room, no longer a stolen moment in time where she could have sworn that she’d seen beneath Julian’s skin into his soul and he into hers.
    Everyone was still talking and laughing, and posing, and no one else seemed to notice that for a split-second her world had turned completely on its axis.
    The doorbell rang again.
    She jerked her gaze away from Julian’s.
    What was wrong with her tonight? Digging her nails into her palms until she left crescent moon imprints behind, she reminded herself that she was Joey’s date, not Julian’s.
    And that Julian was almost two and a half years younger than her.
    A kid.
    That reminder helped a little. But only a little.
    Her mother opened the door and this time Joey was the one to walk inside. His smile turned into a frown the moment his gaze landed on her posse.
    She took a tiny step back away from the boys, pressing her spine into the stand of one of the potted ferns, needing just a little separation from all of them. Even if it was only a few inches’ worth.
    Joey looked nice tonight in black slacks with his dark red shirt he’d bought to try and match her dress. Determined to make this night the best she’d ever had, she walked up to him and placed a quick kiss on his cheek, and if he didn’t smell like clean soap and mint, it was okay, it didn’t matter that those were her two favorite smells in the world. And maybe his hair wasn’t quite as long as she liked, or feathered out the way she liked, but that didn’t matter either.
    “Hey, you look nice,” she whispered, taking the red rose from his lax hand.
    His brown eyes looked stormy when he turned to her. “You never told me the Three Stooges would be tagging along.”
    She frowned. “I didn’t know until just a little while ago, and they’re fine. We’re all riding together, but I’m sure they’ll be doing their own thing when we get there.”
    His lips thinned.
    And of course her mother chose that moment to come up and cheerily ask them to pose for a picture. But by that point Elisa’s heart was definitely not in it. That picture would definitely not be going into her scrapbook.
    Thankfully Joey had a truck with a huge cab. The Wright boys—including Julian—climbed into the back, while she got into the passenger seat. It was a squeeze, but they all fit.
    Neither she nor Joey talked much on the drive up to the school. He was pissed and she knew it, and where she’d cared earlier, now she didn’t.
    The boys were laughing low and between themselves, but as if they sensed that things weren’t going smoothly with her and her date, they didn’t try to include them in their conversation.
    The Wrights were her friends, and if Joey wanted to date her, he needed to understand they was a package deal. All or nothing.
    Only once he’d parked in the gymnasium parking lot, did he finally turn to her, after the boys had climbed out. “I was surprised. Sorry about that.”
    Frowning, she sighed. “Don’t be a jerk and maybe we can have fun tonight, Joey. They’re my friends.”
    “Fine.” He held up his hands. “But you’re my girl.”
    Not really, but if it helped him to feel better, she wouldn’t