“Is something wrong?”
“The time just got away from me, that’s all.”
Putting one last book into the bag, I zip it and drink the rest of the coffee. No sense in wasting good fuel.
“Are you in a hurry?” He throws his finger over his shoulder. “My truck is right there—”
“It’s fine, really. It’s not that far, so I should be good.”
“If you’re sure.”
“Yup. But thanks.” I slip the strap over my shoulder. “I guess I’ll see you around.”
He looks at me for a moment, a serious expression on his face. “Yeah, sure.”
With one last smile, I push my chair back into place and hurry outside. I don’t like Penny to wait for me any more than she has to.
Once outside, I look both ways before crossing the street and hurrying toward Penny’s school.
It takes me roughly fifteen minutes, and Penny is already sitting on the bench outside, her golden retriever, Henry, lying by her side.
“I’m here,” I pant as I stop in front of her. “I lost track of time.”
“It’s okay.” She gets up, pushing a strand of her blonde hair behind her ear.
Most people don’t think we’re related, not with her being blonde and fair-skinned, and me dark-haired and tanned, but if you look closely enough, you can see the small resemblance that we both get from our mom’s side.
“How was the piano lesson?”
“It was good!” Penny beams. “I had so much fun. Miss Ginny said if I practice this piece and play it to her from start to finish without a hitch, we’ll switch to something harder next time.”
“That sounds like fun.” I loop my hand through hers. “You can practice when we get home to show me what you’ve been working on.”
“Sure thing! Henry,” Penny calls, her grip tightening on the harness. “Let’s go home.”
Chapter Seven
EMMETT
“Everybody ready to go?” I ask, looking around to count if all of our teammates got here.
“Not yet.” John doesn’t even bother to lift his head, all his attention on his phone and the message he’s typing.
I frown, my eyes scanning the space. “But everybody’s here.”
Just as I say the words out loud, more cars start to pull in.
What the—
“Hey, guys!” Rose calls out as she slides out of the car, followed by more girls from school. All of them on the cheer team.
“What are they doing here?” I hiss quietly, looking at Miguel.
He lifts his hands in the air defensively. “Don’t ask me. This wasn’t my idea.”
“That wasn’t the plan.” Tim’s appreciative gaze takes the girls in. “Do they actually plan to participate wearing that?”
Some of the girls are wearing dresses, others shorts and skirts. Seriously, what were they thinking? And how did they know we’d be here?
“They wanted to come,” John says—as if that explains everything—and goes to greet them, but I place my hand on his shoulder and pull him back.
“And you let them?” Is this guy for real? “What happened to team bonding?”
John’s eyes narrow into tiny slits, the irritation rolling off of him in waves. He shrugs my hand off and glares at me. “They’re cheerleaders. If that doesn’t make them part of the team, I don’t know what does.”
Plastering a smile on his face, that fucker, he goes to greet the girls.
“Easy now.” Miguel places his arm around my shoulders. To most of the people, the move would look casual, but we both know he’s actually the only thing that’s holding me back from pummeling some sense into John with my fists.
“I seriously can’t stand the guy.”
“It is what it is.” Tim shrugs. “Not like we can ask them to leave.”
Not like he actually looks sorry about how things turned out. Do they all think with their dicks? I rub my temples, feeling a headache approaching. Of course, they do.
You wouldn’t be this irritated if the one person you wanted to see were here.
I look up and scan the crowd, but as expected, only cheerleaders are here. So no Kate and no Becky.
Rose catches my eye and lifts her hand in a little wave. One of her friends leans in and whispers something in her ear, both of them laughing.
“I guess not.”
“Look on the bright side.” Miguel slaps me on the shoulder. “Now we’ll suit up, and you can kick his sorry ass in paintball.”
That does sound appealing.
“Yeah, I guess you’re right.”
Together we join the group of our friends, who are already discussing who’s going to be on what team.
“I guess that leaves Frannie and me on your team.” Rose turns around with a big smile on her face.
“You’re playing?” I ask, surprised.
Some of the girls decide to stay on the sidelines to cheer us on, but a small number of them have opted to participate. I didn’t expect Rose, of all people, to belong to the second group.
“What’s with that face?” Her hand brushes my upper arm. Rose leans in, her voice dropping so only I can hear her. “We’re still friends, right?”
I look down at her expectant face.
“Sure, Rose. Friends.”
A smile spreads over her lips. “Amazing! Let’s go kick some butt.”
KATHERINE
“There’s a little flower shop just on the corner,” Becky says, pointing in the direction of the shop. “Mrs. Timothy has owned it for as long as I can remember. And across from her works Mr. Wilson. Technically his son owns the place now, but old Mr. Wilson still comes by every day.” She leans in and whispers conspiratorially as the old lady in front of the shop lifts her head, shields her eyes from the sun, and after a moment waves at us. “I think it has more to do with Mrs. Timothy than his shop.” Becky waves back. “Hi, Mrs. Timothy!”
“Do you know everything about everybody?” I laugh.
“Just about. And that sums up the tour of Bluebonnet Creek.” Becky turns around and takes my hands in hers. “Can we go eat ice cream now?”
“Sure thing.”
“Yes!” Becky fist-pumps and starts dragging me back up the street.
“You’re the one who insisted on doing the tour first,” I remind her.
“Well, you can’t live here and not know anything!”
I guess she’s right. This place is our home now, might as well start getting used to it.
“For what it’s worth, thank you for showing me around. Bluebonnet is a lovely town.”
“Well, I’ve gotta show you all the good stuff before they chase you away with their questions. But, you’re welcome.” She tips her head to the side. “C’mon, let’s get that ice cream before I melt from this heat.”
The walk to the shop is short, thankfully, because it feels like it’s hell outside. When we get to the little ice cream shop, Becky pushes the door open, and we enter. A blast of cool air hits me in the face instantly, making goosebumps appear on my skin.