Nate’s stomach fluttered a bit at the thought, and he felt a familiar twinge of arousal in his groin.
It made him uncomfortable, realizing he was thinking about his best friend in such a blatantly sexual way. Cody wasn’t supposed to make him feel like this. Cody wasn’t supposed to turn him on. But watching Cody now, seeing the tender curve of his neck, the smooth line where it met his shoulder, Nate had the undeniable urge to run his fingertips over that bit of skin. He wanted to explore it with his lips and his tongue, to see if Cody made the same sounds in real life as he did in Nate’s dream.
The possibility made him breathless.
“Mr. Bradford!”
Mrs. Simmons had the annoying habit of addressing everybody by their last names, so Nate didn’t realize the teacher was addressing him until the student next to him kicked his chair and hissed, “That’s you, dumbass!”
Nate jumped. Mrs. Simmons was looking right at him, her fists on her expansive hips and her eyebrows up.
“Yes?” Nate felt his cheeks burning. He risked a glance Cody’s way. Cody’s eyes were determinedly glued to his textbook. Logan, on the other hand, was staring at Nate with obvious puzzlement and more than a bit of amusement. “I’m sorry. What was the question?”
“We’re talking about the Servicemen’s Readjustment Act of 1944, otherwise known as . . .”
“Uh, the GI Bill?”
“And what was the purpose of this bill?”
“To help soldiers returning from the war buy houses and go to college and, uh, stuff like that.”
“Yes, ‘stuff like that.’” Mrs. Simmons almost smiled. “You don’t pay attention in class, but at least I know you did the reading.”
She moved on, letting Nate off the hook.
And Nate went back to studying the perfect curve of Cody’s neck.
Nate ventured out to the field on Friday night, but once again found the wagon empty. He spent the rest of the evening watching TV with his dad. He checked the field again three times on Saturday, but Cody wasn’t there.
Where the hell could he be? He wouldn’t go to the rock quarry or the mine. He wasn’t in the field. It was possible he was sitting at home by himself, but Nate dismissed that possibility, not because it was unlikely, but because he hoped it was wrong. After all, he still had no idea where Cody lived, so the only chance he had of finding him was if Cody was somewhere other than home.
It wasn’t until he was driving back to Orange Grove and spotted Logan’s Camaro in the parking lot of the bowling alley that Nate realized how stupid he’d been. Hadn’t Cody told him the bowling alley was the only hangout he’d go to? And if Logan was here, Cody probably was too.
Nate tried not to be nervous as he stepped inside.
The bowling alley smelled like every bowling alley Nate had ever been in, except more so, the foul odors condensed in the relatively small space. Sweaty feet, disinfectant spray, and stale beer, undercut by the tantalizing aroma of hamburgers and the acrid tang of lots of cigarette smoke. There were only three lanes, two of them being used by a group of adults. A chain of empty beer bottles lined the counter behind them. To the right of the door was the shoe rental counter. The employee working it took one look at Nate and went back to reading his Mad magazine. To Nate’s left was the source of the more pleasant aromas—a food counter, with a pegboard menu boasting burgers, hot dogs, and chili-cheese fries. And just past that, Nate found the other high school students. They were lounging around a half-dozen tables that trailed from the makeshift café to the half-assed arcade in the corner.
Nate approached slowly, his heart sinking. He couldn’t picture Cody here, and his eyes skipped from face to face, confirming what he’d already suspected. No Cody. The few people who bothered to notice his arrival quickly dismissed him.
All but one.
Logan maintained eye contact, and Nate shifted from one foot to the other, debating. The obvious answer was just to ask Logan, but Logan wasn’t alone. Larry Lucero, Amy Prescott, and Jimmy Riordan were with him. Their conversation died as Nate edged closer.
“You look a bit lost,” Logan said, although his tone was friendly enough.
“Yeah.” Nate glanced at the others, wishing they’d all find something else to occupy their attention, but their eyes were glued on him. “I’m looking for Cody.”
Larry laughed. Not a nice laugh, either. It was full of mockery. “He ain’t here.”
Amy and Jimmy glanced sideways at him. Logan ignored him completely.
“I can see that,” Nate said. “I just . . . I couldn’t think where else he’d be—”