Senior Week Kiss Read online

  Senior Week Kiss

  Summer Love Series

  Maggie Dallen

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Epilogue

  Out of His League

  About the Author

  Chapter One

  When I mentioned the Virgin Mary was also the same moment I realized that my frustrating conversation with the British hottie behind the hotel counter had gone completely off the rails.

  The annoying clerk blinked at me slowly. His expression never altered from that supremely bored look he’d been giving me from the moment I’d first stumbled into the lobby, dripping wet from the rain. That was hours ago. Since then I’d been to eight other hotels and motels and every bed & breakfast in the area, and now I was back.

  And this guy was just as unhelpful now as he was the first time around.

  “Are you telling me you’re a virgin?” he asked.

  I could feel a blush explode across my face. “No, of course not,” I stammered, even though I knew very well that was exactly the reaction he was trying to get out of me, the jerk. Whatever happened to hospitality and good manners?

  Neither were to be found in Wildwood, New Jersey, apparently.

  I took a deep breath and tried again, clasping my hands neatly in front of me on the counter as though we were having a pleasant conversation and not the most irritating interaction of my life. “I said the Virgin Mary. As in, I’m stranded without a place to stay and—”

  “Are you pregnant?”

  I frowned at this guy with his bland expression that I just knew was hiding amusement at my expense. He’d been purposefully obtuse and ridiculously unhelpful ever since he’d first informed me that the Sunrise Inn didn’t have a room for me, even though I’d reserved one.

  “No, of course I’m not pregnant,” I said. “But—”

  “I know for a fact that we’re not in Bethlehem,” he said in that condescending accent of his. “So really, this isn’t at all like a biblical tale.” I couldn’t be certain but I thought I saw a flash of amusement in those dark brown eyes.

  I hated him, I decided. I didn’t hate many people but I hated this guy with a fiery passion because he was so clearly enjoying this. I was having the worst day of my life and this wannabe Sid Vicious was getting a kick out of it. What was he even doing here anyway? The Sunrise Inn was a nice hotel. A respectable hotel. It was the best in the area…I should know as I’d been the one to do the research on rates and availability in this beach town before proposing this place as our Senior Week destination to the rest of the committee.

  Out of all the available hotels, I’d chosen this one for me and my friends because it was the nicest. Why on earth had they hired a delinquent? With his wild black hair and the tattoos running up his arm and under the short sleeves of the white uniformed button down, he looked more like the lead singer of some punk band than the face of a five-star hotel.

  I was so frustrated I was ready to scream. Why had I even brought up the Virgin Mary in the first place? I didn’t know. It had been a stretch, to say the least, and a clear indicator of how insane this guy was making me. “I was just trying to say that I need help and—” I cut myself off with a wave of my arms that nearly sent the candy dish filled with peppermints flying. “You know what, never mind.” I leaned forward to better read his nametag. “Jax, is it?”

  He stared at me, unimpressed by my ingratiating tone.

  “Jax, what I’ve been trying to tell you is that there’s been a misunderstanding.”

  “I see.”

  “I know for a fact that I have a reservation,” I said, for quite possibly the tenth time.

  He consulted the computer screen. “Under the name Catherine Vaughn, yes?”

  “Yes.” I let out a loud exhale. We’d been over this so many times, I didn’t know why I bothered to try again.

  That’s not true, I did know. I was desperate, plain and simple. It was late, it was raining, and I was alone in a strange town. All my own fault, of course, but knowing that didn’t make it any better. If anything, it made everything way worse.

  This idiocy was all my fault. This is what I got for acting on impulse for once. If I’d stuck to the plan, none of this would be happening. I would be safe and warm under my down comforter at home.

  I should have just followed the plan. I always had a plan, and for this exact reason. I was supposed to drive down for Senior Week with my two best friends two days from now. But then I’d gotten impatient. I’d finished my final exams before them and as the organizer for the week, there were so many loose ends to finalize. Why not get a head start while my friends took their last exams?

  In a fit of crazy, I’d followed that thought all the way here. To my doom.

  I stared at the profile of the hotel concierge from hell and groaned softly.

  I was an idiot.

  He tapped a key on the keyboard, which I was fairly certain did nothing except keep the screen saver from popping up and ruining his ruse that he was actually trying to help me. “Yes,” he said slowly. “I see your name here.”

  I knew what was coming and it took everything in me not to scream when he turned to face me with that bored look and said, “For Wednesday.”

  Wednesday. Which was two days from now. Which was when we were originally supposed to arrive.

  “Yes, I know.” I took a deep breath and allowed myself a moment to marvel at the fact that I had not strangled him yet. “But what I’ve been trying to tell you is that I called earlier today and I spoke to someone—”

  “Any idea who?”

  I swallowed down an irritated curse. If I knew the helpful guy’s name I would have told him by now. But I’d called the hotel early this morning before I’d realized that my day would go straight to hell in a handbasket so it hadn’t occurred to me to take note of the guy’s name. “No,” I said simply. “I’m not sure who I spoke to. But he was very helpful—”

  “I’m sure he was,” my bored British guy said. He didn’t look much older than me, and certainly not old enough to be wearing that condescending, world-weary, jaded expression.

  “He assured me that I could extend our reservation to today,” I finished.

  He stared at me for a moment, those dark eyes making me squirm. “Yes, well. According to the computer, your reservation starts Wednesday.”

  He continued before I could scream. “And all of our rooms are booked for tonight.”

  Tears were starting to prick at the back of my eyes. It was the same response I’d gotten at every other hotel, bed & breakfast, and run-down motel in a twenty-mile radius.

  Even front desk clerks at the seediest of the seediest had given me an apologetic grimace as they’d broken the news that they had no rooms to spare. Every other hotel clerk in this godforsaken town had shown at least a modicum of pity, if not empathy for my plight.

  But this guy? The guy whose hotel I had a legitimate reservation for?

  Nothing. Nada. Not even an “I’m sorry for the misunderstanding.”

  But of course, that would mean acknowledging that there was a misunderstanding—which there was not. I made the call myself. I spoke to that helpful clerk personally.

  I had a freakin’ reservation. I wasn’t making it up.

  Frustration had me gripping the edge of the shoulder-height counter and swallowing down the tears that threatened to choke me. The first time I’d had this same conversation with my personal concierge from hell, I’d accepted my bad luck with a disappointed sigh and an “all right, thanks for checking” and had left to find an alternative solution.

  B
ut now I was back and I was desperate.

  And this guy couldn’t care less.

  Still, I found myself trying anyway because…well, because apparently desperation made me a glutton for punishment. “But the nice man on the phone this morning said—”

  “You probably spoke to Bob,” he said suddenly.

  I blinked. This was new. He hadn’t mentioned Bob before. I gripped the edge of the counter tighter as a flicker of hope threatened to come to life. “Okay,” I said eagerly.

  “Bob quit at lunchtime,” he finished.

  Hope died hard and fast. “What?”

  Sid Vicious didn’t seem to notice that he’d crushed my soul. “Yeah, guess he’d had enough of the uppity snobs who were always coming in here making demands and causing a scene.”

  His gaze never wavered from mine and I just knew he was referring to me. I stiffened, my tears taking a hiatus as outrage shot through me like a knife. He thought I was an uppity snob? Why? Just because I had a reservation here and wanted what was rightfully mine?

  “Look,” I said, leaning over the counter as much as I could. Stupid high counters made for stupid tall people. “It’s not my fault Bob quit, okay? He promised me a room and—”

  “And we don’t have one available,” he finished in a flat tone. “I realize I look like a god, but I cannot, in fact, summon an available room into existence merely because you wish it.”

  I didn’t know which was more annoying, his cocky tone as he called himself a god—ugh, I hated this guy—or the fact that he was right.

  “As I suggested before,” he continued, in that same bored tone. “Perhaps you should try elsewhere.”

  I stared at him. Did he really think I’d be back here dealing with him if there were any available rooms in this town? “I did try elsewhere. No one has a room.”

  “Well, it is a holiday weekend,” he reminded me politely. Too politely. Man, I really hated him.

  “Yes,” I said through clenched teeth. “I know that.” Now. I knew that now. Somehow it had completely slipped my mind that this was the Monday of Memorial Day weekend until I’d arrived and this lovely gentleman had pointed it out.

  Multiple times.

  Defeat had me slumping over the desk. Or maybe that was exhaustion. It must have been past eleven and I’d been attempting to get a room for hours. I’d spent an entire evening wasting my time.

  Jax, a.k.a. the British punk automaton, was still staring at me, his expression utterly devoid of emotion. My guess was he was just waiting for me to start arguing again.

  But what was the point? He was right, no amount of talking was going make a room available and I couldn’t handle much more of Jax’s charming personality without bursting into tears. There was no way in hell I’d give him the satisfaction.

  So instead I walked back out the front door, ignoring his “have a great night,” which dripped with sarcasm.

  I held my head up high as I walked back out into the rain. I didn’t even try to pull up the hood of my windbreaker. What did it matter? I was already soaked anyways.

  As I headed to my car I told myself how fine I was.

  I was fine. I was totally fine.

  I was smart, resourceful, young, resilient. I could handle one night on my own. My car might be a tiny two-seater, but it would at least be cozy and warm as I stayed out of the rain. I could probably curl up and take a little nap.

  Once I got a little sleep I’d feel better. Once I was rested I’d head home and come back with Ashley and Beth on Wednesday. I’d forget this whole night ever happened in the first place.

  Yeah, this was helping. A good pep talk always did the trick. One thought cheered me above all others as I reached my car. I’d get Jax in trouble. I grinned down at my wet rat reflection in my car window as I thought about how I’d tell the manager just how obnoxious his nighttime front desk clerk had been.

  That’ll show him.

  I was almost in a good mood by the time I opened my car door. See? Nice and dry. Once I turned on the heat…

  I turned the key in the ignition and nothing happened. That’s when my newfound happiness evaporated like rain on a hot pavement.

  What the…?

  I tried it again. Nothing. Not even a half-hearted rev that said it was working on it.

  Nothing. Nada. The more I turned the key the more my desperation levels rose to panicky proportions. This could not be happening.

  But it was and I even had a sneaking suspicion why. Had I remembered to turn off my headlights or the internal lights that I’d turned on to search for my wallet before leaving the car in the parking lot and walking to the last handful of places on my list?

  Street parking had been a nightmare so I’d parked in this lot and opted to walk, hence my current wet-rat state. I remembered flipping on all the lights; I remembered keeping the headlights on to see my surroundings.

  But in my distress did I remember to turn anything off?

  The silent engine told me that no. I had not remembered.

  Stupid battery. Stupid lights.

  Stupid, stupid Catherine.

  My forehead bounced off the steering wheel when I face planted against it. This was it. Stick a fork in me because I was done. I gave up. The universe had clearly been trying to mess with me for weeks now…maybe even months.

  “Fine, I cave. You win.”

  I wasn’t even sure who I was talking to. And then I couldn’t even talk because I was crying. Sobbing. The frustration and disappointment of the past few hours mixed with the wretched last semester of high school and all combined I was a messy ball of self-pity.

  I normally had a strict policy of not wallowing. I didn’t believe in it. Self-pity wasn’t useful, it accomplished nothing.

  I didn’t cry when I didn’t get into Columbia, my first choice of schools. Instead I’d acknowledged my disappointment but then patted myself on the back for doing such a fine job of choosing backup options. Instead I would go to Fordham, another wonderful school in New York where I could pursue pre-law as planned.

  See? I handled that disappointment with maturity. I had the same sort of levelheadedness when my boyfriend of two years broke up with me right before prom.

  Was it difficult to accept that Ted didn’t actually love me anymore and that all of our plans of heading to New York together had been in vain? Yes. Of course. But I had graciously agreed that we ought to be friends.

  I mean, it was the most sensible way to handle the situation. I could have gone ranting and raving about how he’d sworn he loved me and how he was singlehandedly ruining what was supposed to be the happiest time of my life.

  But I didn’t.

  We even went to prom together, since we both needed dates and as student council president and lead on the dance committee I had been the main organizer. I wasn’t even all that disappointed when I didn’t win prom queen. Everyone agreed Ted and I would have won if we were still a couple, but what could you do? We were friends, and I accepted that.

  For the time being.

  I mean, I might not be a drama queen, and I never wallowed, but I wasn’t a quitter either. Ask any of the students who’d tried to compete against me for student council president. They would all tell you that Catherine Vaughn does not quit. She’ll fight till the end to get what she wants.

  And what I wanted was the perfect last hoorah for my friends. What I wanted was one freakin’ last-a-lifetime memory to not be ruined by circumstances out of my control. What I wanted was to arrange for the most perfect, and most romantic situations so Ted would remember how right we were for one another.

  What I wanted was to get my life back on track, and this week was how I planned to do that.

  Another sob racked my body as I finally gave in to the surge of emotions that I’d been pushing to the side ever since my last exam ended and with it the last of my distractions. It was a mix of panic and fear and anger and a million other toxic, useless emotions and for the first time in ages I gave into it.

&nb
sp; I guess my point was, I didn’t normally wallow, but at this particular moment, I couldn’t fight against my misery any longer, because this was it. This was my last chance to get Ted back before he went off to summer at his grandparents’ lake house in Michigan. This was the last time to have all my friends together in one place. This was my last chance to make the memories I’d always dreamed about.

  Who didn’t romanticize senior year, right? I’d been looking forward to it since I was a kid. Senior year was supposed to be the epitome of high school, the year when everything came together.

  Instead, it was all falling apart.

  Senior Week was my last chance to make the memories of a lifetime. It was my last chance to show Ted that he was going through some sort of pre-graduation crisis but that he was wrong. We hadn’t grown apart when I went to camp last summer and we wouldn’t grow apart in college.

  This week needed to be perfect. It had to be perfect. My friends deserved a magical memory, and Ted and I deserved this second chance. We’d both just gotten too caught up in our responsibilities senior year, and I’d admittedly grown a bit too intense with my plans for the future.

  But this week was about fun and sun, and yes—the perfect romantic moment.

  I wailed into the steering wheel as self-pity washed over me like a tidal wave. I’d come early just to ensure that everything went according to plan and yet again the universe was messing it all up.

  How was I supposed to plan the epic week of romance when I was cold and wet and homeless?

  I almost didn’t hear the knock on my car window through my sobs. I chalked it up to wind and rain, but then it sounded again. Louder and right next to my ear.

  My head shot up and for a minute I thought I was imagining things.

  But no. That frown was no mirage. Jax was standing beside my window scowling at me like I was some rodent he’d just found hanging around the breakfast buffet. He didn’t seem to notice the rain that turned his hair into a tousled, matted mess and made his white shirt partially see-through so I could follow the tattoos all the way up to his shoulder and across his chest.