Flirting With Maybe Read Online Free PDF

fighting.”
    “About you?”
    She nodded. “I was going to do my hair myself, but my mom was all excited, so she took me to have it done. So now Ron’s mad that she spent more money than what he’d budgeted for prom.”
    What a jerk.
    “I’m sorry,” Ryan said. “Don’t worry about it. Let’s just go and have a good time, okay?”
    “Okay,” she whispered.
    When they got on the highway, Brooke pulled a miniature plastic bottle of rum out of her purse. Ryan looked from the road back to Brooke as she tilted her head and drank.
    “What are you doing?!” He grabbed for the bottle, but she snatched it away.
    “Uh-uh! You can’t have any, mister, ’cause you’re driving.” She giggled.
    Holy crap, she’d had more than he thought. Ryan managed to grab the bottle on his second try. Then he rolled down his window and threw it out. Brooke gasped and broke into a fit of laughter.
    “Litterbug!”
    He couldn’t bring himself to smile or laugh with her. “You don’t need that shit.”
    Her demeanor changed, and the smile fell from her face.
    “Don’t be mad at me, Ry. I hate when you’re mad at me.”
    Her eyes stared at his face, imploring.
    “I’m not mad.”
    Brooke grabbed his hand and twined their fingers together, then pulled it to her lap and held it there.
    They were silent the rest of the ride. At the prom they sat quietly at their table while waiting for her friends to arrive. Her eyes were somewhere far away. Ryan didn’t know if Brooke was sad that she was there with him instead of Steve, or if she was still thinking about her parents. Maybe she was sleepy from the alcohol.
    Ryan saw two girls, juniors, staring at them and whispering, obviously gossiping about Brooke. Ryan stared back until they looked away. Worry about your own damned business, he thought.
    When Jackie got there, she and Brooke disappeared into the bathroom for a while. Ryan nodded at a few of the senior ballplayers, who all seemed amped up in their tuxes. Steve wasn’t there.
    Someone hooked an arm around Ryan’s neck from behind and scrubbed a knuckle on top of his head. He struggled out of the grip and turned to see J.J. looking sharp, laughing. Ryan ran a hand over his head and grinned. He sort of had a love-hate thing when it came to J.J. The guy could be a total dick, but then he could be so cool.
    “Whatcha doin’ here, Kid?” he asked, pulling out a chair and straddling it.
    “Nothing, man. Just . . . brought Brooke.”
    J.J.’s eyebrows went up, but for once he had the good sense not to say anything. Ryan wondered if he felt bad about what had gone down with Brooke and Steve.
    “Aren’t you just a sweetheart?” J.J. gave Ryan a punch in the arm and then pulled a can of snuff from his pocket. He peered around before offering the tobacco to Ryan.
    “Nah,” Ryan said. “Thanks.”
    J.J. shrugged and stuffed his lip full of the black stuff before leaving Ryan without a word and heading for the dance floor.
    When Brooke and Jackie emerged from the bathroom with two of their friends, Ryan breathed a sigh of relief. She looked happy.
    Brooke went straight to him, taking his hands.
    “Come on!” she said. “Let’s dance.”
    The relief Ryan felt faltered into worry at the smell of alcohol on her breath again. She tugged his hands, but he shook his head. A fast song was playing.
    “I don’t dance. You guys go ahead.”
    Brooke studied his face until he gave her a small smile. It must have appeased her because she turned for the dance floor. Ryan grabbed Jackie’s arm.
    “Don’t let her drink any more,” he whispered.
    Jackie gave him the kind of look girls normally reserved for puppies and kittens.
    “She’s okay,” Jackie said. “She just needed to relax.”
    He watched as she joined the girls inside the cluster of moving bodies.
    The rest of the night went by without too much drama. The prom court was announced, Brooke being one of the princesses. She was ready to leave soon after they fit the tiny