Last Stand Read Online Free

marching band, then hanging out together whenever we practiced outdoors. She was going out with Connor Ralston most of the year—one of those superjocks who’s good-looking and at ease in every situation—and she started confiding in me about the ups and downs of their relationship. First, in bits and pieces during those outdoor hours in band, then in more depth via texts and late-night cell phone calls when she and Connor had a particularly dramatic day.
     
    In other words, I’d happily relegated myself to the same pitiful role all average, somewhat geeky guys take when around a gorgeous, out-of-reach girl: I became her sounding board, just so I could spend more time around her. I never in a million years thought I’d be anything more than a friend to her, but neither did I want our symbiotic relationship to be put on hold just because school was out for the summer. So when freshman year ended, I asked her on a whim if she wanted to get together to practice over the summer.
     
    She shocked me and said yes, even though no one really expected us to practice.
     
    When Connor dumped her in early August for a girl from another school, her girlfriends assured Amber she’d get Connor back. It bugged her, she claimed, because she wasn’t even sure she wanted Connor back if he wasn’t going to treat her the way she deserved to be treated. I told her to ignore her friends and go with her gut, that if she got back with him, fine. But if not, when she was ready she’d find someone better. Someone who’d spoil her.
     
    I even gave her
names
, I was so pathetic.
     
    To my everlasting joy, she laughed out loud and said, “Too full of himself!” when I suggested Griff.
     
    The day before sophomore year started, when her mom took her to pick up new reeds for her clarinet, she called and offered to grab me some for my sax. She dropped them off a few hours later as I was sweeping out the garage, trying to earn car money. We flirted a little, talked about band and whether she could possibly make first chair as a sophomore, and then I was kissing her. Just leaned over the push broom and did it without letting myself think about it first.
     
    And it was perfect, at least until Keira walked in with a garbage bag full of dirty diapers, yelled, “Whoa! Um…sorry!,” dropped the bag on the floor, and hurried back into the house laughing her head off. One year ago today.
     
    I remember the necklace and whisper, “Hey, I forgot, I have something in my backpack.”
     
    “Really?” She eases back, and the grin on her face is downright heartstopping. I forgot how much I like the way she smiles at me while we’re kissing and no one else is around. Like I’m the only person in the world who makes her feel this happy.
     
    I reach for the floor and unzip the bag one-handed, keeping my other hand in its comfy location, tucked under the side of her bra, and pull out the box containing the necklace. I slide it so it’s on my chest, right between us. “Happy anniversary, Amber.”
     
    Twin lines furrow the area between her eyes, like she was expecting something else, but they disappear when she smiles. “You got me a present! Um…you want me to open it now?”
     
    “Yeah. Is there a problem?”
     
    “Of course not!” She sits up, letting her rear end slide into the space between my thigh and the back of the sofa, so I push myself upright and pull her onto my lap. She eases a finger under the tape, then peels off the wrapping paper without tearing it.
     
    My heart nearly stops at her sharp intake of breath as she opens the box from the jeweler. “Toby, this is gorgeous!”
     
    “You like?”
     
    She nods, fingering the gold-dipped aspen leaf and the small round opal set in its center.
     
    “I thought you might like something outdoorsy.” I explain. “When I saw this one, with your birthstone, it seemed like something you’d wear.”
     
    She doesn’t say anything. She just stares at the necklace, lying against the