Pregame(24)

A few moments after we got our milkshakes the door chimed and I looked  over to see Wes and Reese stroll in, laughing about something. I noticed  that I wasn't the only one who saw their entrance, as most of the  females in the diner were also staring at the two men.





Wes looked over and we locked eyes, and he made his way over to our booth, motioning Reese to follow.                       
       
           



       





"Hey," he said, a bit awkwardly.





"Hi," I replied, losing all capability of forming coherent sentences.





"Do you guys want to join us?" Savanna asked, her eyes focused on an unsuspecting Reese.





"Sounds good," he said, sliding into the booth beside her. I slid over  and made room for Wes as he got into booth beside me. He relaxed, the  earlier tension gone, and grabbed my milkshake, taking a sip.





"I want one of those," he declared, as the waitress came back over to take our orders.





"I know what I want," Reese said, tossing his menu down onto the table.





Savanna and I ordered a burger, deciding to split one considering their  abnormal size, and Reese and Wes both ordered a deluxe and milkshakes.





"Hey, I'm Reese," Reese nodded his head at Savanna, who actually  blushed, and he flashed her a boyish grin that I could only assume was  genetic.





"Uh uh, Savanna," I warned, "Not happening."





Reese and Wes both looked at me, eyebrows furrowed, and Savanna shot me a glare telling me to keep quiet.





"Sav, do I have to remind you of our conversation yesterday?" I asked her, raising an eyebrow.





Savanna sighed and grumbled, "whatever."





"What am I missin'?" Reese asked me.





I didn't say anything, but Savanna surprisingly spoke up, "I have a problem going after the wrong guys."





Wes laughed beside me, and slid his arm behind me, resting it on the back of the booth.





Reese still looked confused, "Okay … "





"Well, Brookelyn here is warning me to stay away from you," Savanna told  him, and smirked at me, making me look like the bad guy.





I rolled my eyes and Reese seemed offended, "I'm not a bad guy!"





"Reese, you just got out of prison." I gave him a pointed look.





I expected Savanna to back off but apparently the idea of prison wasn't as scary to her as most.





"Really? What was it like? Did you get into fights? Do they really use  that sleeping gas when people cause problems?" she bombarded him with  questions but Reese didn't seem to mind, answering each of them in  detail.





I turned to Wes, "Sorry about yesterday."





"It's alright. I kind of put two and two together and figured you  must've been scared after the fight. You know, especially with what you  had told me and everything … " he trailed off.





"Yeah, I'm just not very good with violence," I admitted, looking away from him and taking a long drink from my milkshake.





Wes touched my arm and I turned to look at him, "I'm sorry."





I could hear Savanna and Reese still chatting about prison life in front of us but my focus was solely on Wes.





"It's okay," I whispered, "I know you're not like that."





Wes let out a relieved breath just as our food arrived. We all ate,  laughing, while Savanna continued asking Reese questions about being in  prison.





"You need to stop watching so much TV, Sav," I laughed.





"Oh, shush, Brookelyn." Savanna said playfully, "Plus, Reese didn't even  do it. He shouldn't have even been in prison. Right, Reese?"





"Very true." Reese nodded, stuffing a french-fry in his mouth, "So are  you gonna let me take your friend out sometime, or what, Brookelyn?"





"Oooh, we could go on double dates with brothers. How cute is that!" Savanna exclaimed and we all laughed.





"I don't know about that, Savanna." Wes said, and looked over at me, a  smirk playing on his lips, "I like to keep Brooke to myself."





He winked and I blushed, nudging him with my shoulder.





"My little brother has gone soft. How fuckin' precious." Reese joked, earning a glare from both Wes and me.





The rest of the meal continued the same way, and we all discussed out  thanksgiving plans. Savanna was heading back home to Florida for the  break, and I was going home as well, riding with Elle. Wes and Reese  told us that they were spending a few days at their father's house,  although they weren't too excited about it. They were mostly going for  Ariana's sake. She had relentlessly begged them to be there. The two  guys clearly cared about their little sister a lot, and since their  father hadn't been in the picture until recently, they had been stand in  fathers for her all of their lives. Ariana was seventeen, and a senior  in high school, but with the way that Wes and Reese spoke about her  you'd expect her to be much younger. Wes brought up that she had a  boyfriend and Reese, who hadn't known, choked on his milkshake and  started cursing, threatening the poor guys safety.                       
       
           



       





By the time we finished eating, I was pleased to see that Reese was much  different than he had been on Saturday night. I only hoped that he  stayed this way. It would be hard to be with Wes when he was constantly  getting into fights to defend his brother.





Somewhere between when I had spoken with Emmy this morning and now, I  had decided to give a relationship with Wes another chance. I knew that  he was a good guy, if not a little rough around the edges, and I  couldn't continue to let fear dictate my life.





Wes held my hand as we walked out of the restaurant and over to Savanna's car. I laughed when I saw a ticket on her windshield.





Savanna giggled in conversation with Reese behind us, and I heard them  exchange numbers. I walked over to the passenger side of the car and  turned to face Wes, smiling up at him.





His expression was serious, and I squinted through the sun as it blocked my vision, starting to set.





Wes's left hand released my own, and he raised it, tucking my hair  behind my ear, raising his other hand and placing it behind my neck. I  stopped breathing as he bent his head down, pulling my face towards his.  I closed my eyes in anticipation, praying that he wasn't teasing me  again.





His warm lips met mine, soft yet firm, and it was unlike anything I had  ever experienced before. Fireworks shot off in my chest and I was  vaguely aware of Reese and Savanna sending out catcalls behind us. Wes  smiled against my lips, and pulled my bottom lip into his mouth, sucking  on it gently. I opened my mouth slightly and flicked my tongue across  his top lip, eliciting a small moan to escape him. His tongue met mine  and together they danced in a sensual rhythm. He tasted like the vanilla  milkshake we had been drinking, and I moved my mouth more eagerly  against his. After a few more moments, Wes pulled away and placed his  forehead against mine, both of us catching our breath. He had a content,  crooked smile on his face, and I could feel my own mouth stretched  across my face in a wide grin.





"Was it worth the wait?" he asked me softly, and I nodded.





"It was, but you should probably kiss me again so we can be sure … " I teased.





Wes smiled and bent his head towards me again but our lips only met briefly before Reese's voice interrupted us.





"C'mon, man! Put some ice on it, I gotta get to work!" he yelled to Wes.





I groaned, frowning as Wes pulled away.





"Don't worry, ugly. There's plenty more where that came from," Wes said,  placing a quick peck on my lips and winking before turning towards his  truck.





"You can't kiss a girl and then call her ugly! It's not good for her  self esteem, you know!" I yelled to him, but continued to smile.





"Just trying' to keep you humble, baby," he threw back, grinning.





I shook my head and climbed into Savanna's car, smiling like a fool the entire way home.





SIXTEEN


Thanksgiving break passed by slower than I would have preferred. After  the kiss with Wes outside of the diner, we had started spending more  time together and the long week apart was torturous. We would meet up  after classes almost everyday, doing our work together and taking very  long, very passionate study breaks. Kissing Wes had become my new  favorite pastime. Before Wes I had thought I knew what kissing was, but I  was wrong. In the past, it had been pleasant, and fun. With Wes, every  kiss seemed to ignite every inch of my skin on fire, my chest bursting  into flames, overwhelmed by his touch.