by K. A. Linde
My mom fell into step with me, Jordan, and Annie as we headed for the soccer pitch. I located our field and found my mom a place to sit on the bleachers.
“Stop treating me like an invalid,” she said with a smile. “I can still kick your ass.”
I laughed. “I believe it. I can’t help but worry.”
“Lord, don’t I know it?” She had that twinkle in her eye when she said it. “It’s a little heat. I brought an umbrella. I’m not going to melt.”
“Old habits.”
“Speaking of,” Jordan said, “can I talk to you?”
I frowned. “About what?”
“Just hear him out, Jules,” my mom said.
She was the only one who ever got away with using that nickname. My dad hated it. I never used it or let anyone else call me that. But my mom did what she wanted. She also used it when she needed to get her way.
“What?” I demanded.
“Dad is coming back into town.”
“So?”
Jordan sighed. He ran a hand back through his dark hair, the mirror image of mine. And yet he was in a button-up with the sleeves rolled up and khakis while I was in a red soccer uniform. So similar and so different. “He wants to have dinner.”
“So?” I repeated.
“With you and me.”
“No thanks.”
“Julian, please. He’s trying. He’s flying all the way here to see us.”
“Not interested.”
“Could you please stop being petulant for one second?” Jordan asked.
“Petulant?” I seethed. “He’s a bastard, and I have no interest in seeing his face again. Especially after the ambush at the opening.”
“That was…the wrong way to do it.”
“Oh, my big brother admits fault?” I gasped.
He sighed. “Come on, man. Just one dinner. He’s invited Annie, too. It’s going to be casual. If it doesn’t go well, then I’ll leave it alone.”
I could see the desperation in my brother’s face. I wanted to tell him to go fuck himself. But this was Jordan. This was my best friend and protector. The best brother I could have ever asked for. He hadn’t always made the right choices, but he’d always been there for me. He’d even moved here for me when he really didn’t want to. Would it kill me to suffer through one dinner with our dad to please Jordan?
“If it’s as bad as I suspect, then that’s it, Jor.”
He nodded and held his hand out. “Deal.”
I ground my teeth together but shook his hand. “Fine.”
It felt like a death sentence.
Then I found a spot of sunlight in a sea of faces, and another thought occurred to me. If Jordan was bringing Annie, maybe I could bring someone, too, and this wouldn’t be a total loss.
16
Jennifer
“Are you sure?” I asked Piper and Blaire before I could stop myself.
It was an old habit, believing that no one else would want my presence near them.
“Yes!” Blaire cried. “I think it’ll be awesome.”
“It’s your house, Piper,” I said.
“Jennifer,” Piper said, putting her hand on my shoulder, “we want you to move in with us.”
“Bradley just finished a remodel on the guest bathroom,” Blaire explained. “Before, it was really a half-bath that connected to the living room, but now, it’s the full-blown deal. So, there are three full baths. We won’t even have to share.”
“It does still connect to the living room,” Piper said, as if that would talk me out of it. “Guests would still use your bathroom.”
“Would that be a problem?” Blaire asked with her wide blue eyes. She recently died her dark-brown hair black as night and it made her eyes pop even more under the shag of her bangs.
They both looked at me with worry. As if I might suddenly change my mind about moving in with them. Tears came to my eyes, and I had to force down the swell of emotions. I’d never really had girlfriends. When I’d gotten Annie and Sutton, I’d felt like I’d won some lottery. Weren’t girls catty and terrible? But, no, that was some bullshit that I’d been force-fed. Girls ruled the world, and they made mine so much better.
Now, I had Piper and Blaire in my circle, too. High school Jennifer would have never believed it. Especially because Piper had been a year older than me in high school. She’d always seemed so much more with it. I hadn’t known Blaire. She was two years younger, still only twenty-five, but she’d grown up with Piper, and now, I couldn’t imagine life without them all.
“It would be amazing,” I told them truthfully.
“I’m so excited!” Blaire threw her arms around me, jumping up and down in her Tacos uniform. Her long ponytail swinging around wildly from the back of her characteristic Blaire Blush baseball cap.
I laughed and hugged her back. “Me too.”
“I’ll get together a lease,” Piper said, all efficient. “When do you want to move in?”
“Annie is moving Wednesday,” I said with a sigh. I was still sad to see her go. “I’ll need to track down boxes, but then I don’t know…Saturday?”
“Oh my God, Saturday!” Blaire cried.
Annie jogged over then with Sutton and her toddler, Madison, in tow. “What’s happening Saturday?”
“Jen is moving in with us,” Blaire said, her arm still around my shoulders.
“Yes!” Annie said.
“Wow, Jen,” Sutton said.
Madison, in response, burst into tears and started screaming. Sutton’s eyes widened in horror and tried to shush her one-year-old. Madison squirmed and flailed until Sutton was forced to put her down into the grass. There, she flopped over and began to wail.
“I have no idea what’s gotten into her lately,” Sutton said in despair. There were black thumbprints under her eyes from lack of sleep, and she seemed to be on her last leg. “Jason was such a good toddler.”
I laughed and leaned down to Madison’s level. Jason had been an exceptionally well-behaved toddler. He still was a really good kid. It had been the easiest nannying job I could have asked for. But I’d babysat toddler monsters for years before taking on Jason full-time. I could generally wrangle even the hardest-to-navigate toddler.
After a few minutes, Madison was in my arms, laughing, and Sutton was staring at me with wide eyes.
“How?” she gasped.
I shrugged. “I’m not exhausted or with her twenty-four/seven. Plus, she knows that she can be herself with you. I’m new and different.”
Sutton just stared, perplexed.
“If y’all need a night to yourself, I don’t mind taking them,” I reminded her.
She laughed. “Yeah. I’m going to have to take you up on that.”
“Godsend,” Annie said. She tapped Blaire’s arm. “We have to go warm up.”
“See you after, roomie,” Blaire said.
They jogged off toward the field, and my eyes snagged on the person they were dragging away—Julian. His eyes were already on me when I found his, and we snapped together like a magnet. He smiled with that look that made my stomach flip and waved before following the girls onto the field.
“What’s up with that?” Piper asked.
“They went away together last weekend,” Sutton filled her in as we headed to the blanket Sutton had laid out for the kids.
Jason was running a small soccer ball up and down the sidelines with David.
Piper’s head whipped to me. “What?”
“We didn’t go away! He came with me to my brother’s graduation.”
“Holy shit! Are you dating?”
I bit my lip and then shook my head. “No. It’s not like that. Just helping out a friend.”
“Yeah, right,” Piper drawled.
“That’s what I said,” Sutton said. “Like, sure, if you hadn’t hooked up, then maybe.”
“Sutton!”
“You hooked up?!” Piper said.
“Shh,” I said, putting a finger over Piper’s mouth. “W
ay to tell everyone.”
“Oh, sorry. Didn’t realize it was a secret.”
“It’s not a secret. It’s…” Was it a secret? Had Julian told anyone? What did that make us?
Casual. Just having fun. That was what he’d said over that ridiculous doughnut. I’d laughed and felt all good about it then. Now, it felt more complicated, and I didn’t want it to be.
I set Madison down next to the blocks that Sutton had brought and played with her.
“It’s not a secret,” I repeated. “It’s just not…a relationship.”
“Hey, I’ve been on-again, off-again with Bradley for years,” Piper said. “Who am I to judge?”
“Seriously, what is up with y’all?” Sutton asked.
Piper shrugged. “He wants more. He always wants more.”
“And you?” I asked.
Piper frowned. “I feel like it’s missing something, but I haven’t found anything better either.”
“How exactly do you find someone better when you’re still sleeping with the last guy?” Sutton arched an eyebrow.
“Point taken,” Piper said with a laugh. “But how do I find a guy in this small town?”
That was a good question. Annie and Sutton had gotten lucky. David and Jordan had moved here from out of town. Julian was new here, too. But guys from Lubbock? I’d known them all my entire life. The only new guys were usually college students here for Tech. There was some medical and oil money in town, but it wasn’t a huge draw. Which left the guys we’d always known. It was probably why Piper kept going back to Bradley.
With Madison temporarily occupied, we turned our attention to The Tacos game. I went to their games every weekend that I was in town and much preferred the outdoor games to the indoor ones, where we all froze our asses off. There were more players for the outdoor games, too. They’d tried to get me to play, but I had no skill with a ball, just with my dutiful camera that I pulled out of my bag.
Blaire was their star forward. Julian and Isaac played mid along with Hollin’s sister, Nora. She was a tiny pixie of a thing, but she was fast. Her boyfriend, August, played forward with Blaire, but he was mostly there for assists since girl goals counted for two. Hollin and Annie played defense with Annie’s med school friend Cézanne. And Cézanne’s boyfriend, Gerome, was their goalie. Nora and August were the latest recruits for outdoor, and as far as I could tell, they were a big help on the larger field.
I put the camera to my eye and trailed the players, focusing in on my friends and snapping shots. Blaire scoring a goal, Annie passing to Hollin, Isaac getting fancy and pulling a nutmeg—passing the ball between the opponent’s legs—and then finally landing on Julian.
My heart stuttered at the sight of him. His shorts were shorter than average, revealing inches of his tan, muscular legs. His hair flopped side to side as he ran with the ball. His footwork was impeccable. There was something about him. About having been under him.
I’d never thought that I’d be the kind of girl who would get drunk and have a one-night stand with a guy. That was Annie. Not me. But I couldn’t regret that it had happened, no matter what my mom had said. And part of me hoped it wasn’t actually a one-time thing.
The game ended with The Tacos winning at an embarrassing twelve to two. The teams shook hands, and then the guys stripped out of their shirts, mopping up their sweat with them. My eyes hungrily roved over Julian’s body.
“You’re drooling,” Piper joked, nudging me.
I coughed and looked away. “I can appreciate a nice body.”
“So can I. Hollin looks hot as fuck.”
My eyes rounded.
Sutton looked at Madison and was glad to see that she was still napping.
“Sorry,” Piper said, “but look at his body. He’s built like a tank.”
We both looked. He certainly was, and he was tatted to high heaven. I’d never really noticed how many tattoos covered Hollin Abbey’s body. I’d been too busy admiring Julian.
“But I thought you and Hollin were like oil and water,” I said.
“We are,” she agreed. “Being around him makes me want to stab something.”
“But he’s still hot,” I volunteered.
Piper’s gaze was stuck on Hollin with a glare in her brown eyes. “He’s still hot.”
I laughed and came to my feet, shaking the grass off of my legs. “I’m going to go congratulate them.”
“Say hi to Julian for me,” Piper said with a smirk.
“Hollin for you.”
“You wouldn’t.” Her cool demeanor slipped.
One day, I wanted to know what had started this huge feud between Piper and Hollin. But for now, it was fun to tease her.
“Love you,” I said, waving at her.
I veered for Annie and Blaire, but as I got there, Julian stepped into my path. He was still shirtless, sweat dripping down his chest. His shirt was slung over his shoulder, and his bag was at his feet. He’d changed out of his cleats and into his indoor Pumas.
“Hey, I heard that you’re moving in with Blaire and Piper,” he said with a panty-melting smile.
“Good news travels fast.”
“I knew you were worried about what you were going to do now that Annie is moving in with Jordan.”
I was. I’d told him that last weekend on the drive to Austin.
“Looks like I was worried for nothing. It all worked out in the end.”
“Definitely. Need help with the move? I’m sure I can borrow Jordan’s truck and coax Hollin into helping.”
I flushed at the thought of him and Hollin, shirtless, moving my belongings. I cleared the thought from my head. “That would be amazing actually.”
“Not a problem.” He grinned. “Might even be able to convince my cousins to help. You know, Jensen also has a giant pickup. Good ole boys.”
“Wright Construction would now be Wright Movers.”
“Hey, we do business where it’s necessary.”
“I’d really appreciate it.”
“I just have one question,” he said, crossing his arms over his amazing pectorals.
“Uh-huh.” I tried not to be distracted by the gesture. The last time I’d seen him in this little clothing, we’d been having sex.
“What are you going to do about the cats?”
“Oh fuck,” I whispered.
What was I going to do about Avocado and Bacon?
17
Jennifer
I never thought I’d be a cat person.
I was definitely not a cat person.
And yet the thought of leaving the two babies behind that I’d named and been feeding for over a year was heart-wrenching. It was impossible. There was no way I was doing that. Just because they weren’t indoor cats didn’t mean they weren’t my cats.
So, I’d stayed up all week after I finished packing and editing to research what the hell I was supposed to do in this situation. Cats didn’t like to be introduced to new environments, even when they belonged to you. Stray cats that I’d been feeding and such were definitely not going to be happy.
Poor Avocado and Bacon. This was not going to be fun.
At least Julian had agreed to come and help.
Which was why he was now setting up a spring-loaded cat trap. I hadn’t wanted to use them at all. They seemed so scary, and I didn’t want to traumatize the cats that I’d just decided belonged to me.
So, I’d gone out and gotten pet carriers along with fancy, smelly cat food to entice them to get inside. I’d rather get them into a regular carrier than trap them and have them freak out. With my luck, they’d never forgive me.
“Okay, all set,” Julian said, coming back to my side.
I bit my lip and nodded. “Me too. Hopefully, they don’t hate me.”
“You’re going to keep feeding them. They’ll get over it.”
“You’ve never had cats, have you?”
He laughed. “Admittedly, no. You?”
“My mom had one, growing up. Total bitc
h. Thing hated everyone. Even my mom.”
“Eesh. Well, I think Avocado and Bacon will be different.”
I crossed both of my fingers and held them up. “Let’s hope.”
With the enticing smell of fish too potent to resist, Avocado stuck her head out of the bushes. Her orange tail swished back and forth as she scented the air. She walked over to me first, running her body against my legs.
“Wish I could pick her up here,” I said. “Would be a lot easier.”
“I could,” he said, bending at the waist and touching Cado’s back.
“Wait…”
But it was too late.
Avocado was the more finicky of the two cats. Bacon didn’t mind being pet by strangers as long as they were near me, but Cado was still getting used to it all. Especially men. She really hated men. I never wanted to know the trauma she had gone through at the hands of some asshole. I never wanted to see her full rage either.
She whipped around so fast that Julian never saw it coming. Avocado raked her claws along his arm.
Julian yelped and reared back. “Fuck!”
Three long red welts rose on his forearm. He clapped his hand over the scratch, and blood welled underneath.
“Oh God, are you okay?”
“Fine,” he said through gritted teeth.
“She really got you. God, let me get you something for that.”
“No, look,” he said, pointing toward the crate I’d set up.
Avocado had her tail in the air as she followed the bread crumb trail toward the opening.
“She’s so close,” I whispered. “But someone is going to need to close the door.”