Ronnie froze in the doorway, her body tense, fingers gripping the door frame. After several moments, Ronnie turned and whispered, “Keep it down, Brendon Shaw. If my momma finds out what we did on your parents’ couch she’ll skin me alive.”

Flowing right into their little game, Brendon moved in front of her and placed his hands on the archway, his arms and body leaning over Ronnie Lee. If he remembered correctly, he did the same thing to her at the hospital. It was a signature Shaw move he often used in high school. “I promised I wouldn’t tell and I won’t. But I need to see you tonight.”

“I…I can’t. I have a calculus test next week.”

“Meet me, Ronnie.” He leaned in closer, his lips brushing against her forehead. “Promise you’ll meet me.”

“Where?”

“My car. Tonight.”

She swallowed. “Your car?”

“Yeah. I wanna see if those boots look as good against the inside roof of my car as they do against this floor.”

Ronnie looked honestly surprised for several moments before a beautiful grin spread across her face. She shook her head and instantly went back to their game. “Are we gonna do what we did…before?”

“Did you like what we did before?”

Looking appropriately embarrassed and turned on at the same time, she nodded. “I…I did.”

“Then, yes. We’ll do what we did before. As many times as you want.”

“Rhonda Lee Reed. Get your ass in here now!”

Her grin returned. “Coming, Momma,” she called back. She looked at Brendon, sizing him up. “At least I better be. Tonight. In that car.”

Brendon laughed. “That I definitely promise.” He brushed a finger across her cheek. “Love you, Ronnie Lee.”

She went up on her toes and kissed his lips. “I love you, too. Now,” she grabbed his hand with her own, intertwining their fingers, “let’s go have some fun molesting each other when my family ain’t lookin’.”

Grinning, Brendon let Ronnie lead him to the warm Evan–Reed family kitchen. “Rhonda Lee Reed, I absolutely love how you think.”