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“I see.” He nods and finally pulls his eyes off their retreat.
“You should ask her out.”
“Who? Harbor?”
“No, dumbass. Layla.”
“I’m not going out with Layla. She’s too happy-go-lucky for me. I don’t trust it. Life isn’t full of sunshine and roses.”
“Layla is.”
“Whatever.” He rolls his eyes and then waggles his eyebrows. “Guess what.”
“What?”
“Break is over.” He smirks and drives toward the spot he’d parked in this morning.
Son of a bitch. All I managed to do during break was ogle Harbor. Actually, it wasn’t the worst way to spend lunch.
Chapter Seven
One Week Later
Harbor
How did I get roped into this? Connor waves from the football field as he and Ledger hold on to opposite ends of the 10-yard marker chain while waiting for the game to start. That’s how I got roped into this. My brothers. Ledger follows Connor’s line of sight, grins, and mimics his younger brother’s acknowledgement of me.
Not that it’s unusual I’m at a game and helping out. I spent more time at sporting events growing up than I spent hours in the classroom. My brothers were in all the sports at one point in time, and I played my fair share before dropping everything but basketball and track to focus on schoolwork.
My stomach grumbles as the wind picks up and smacks my nose with the scent of butter-soaked popcorn and hotdogs. If my raffle-selling partner was here, I’d sneak over to the concession stand and grab some food.
But what am I doing now? I don’t even live here anymore.
“Harbor.” Tessa Rawling steps in front of the raffle booth. “Hey, it’s great to see you. I saw you and Layla at the bar the other weekend but didn’t get the chance to talk to you before you left.’
“Yeah, Layla was busy.”
“I saw the guy Layla was talking to.” Tessa waggles her eyebrows. She graduated with Layla, but we’ve never been close. “Talk about hot. Doesn’t he work at the station with Cole?”
The announcer runs through the captains for both teams over the loudspeaker.
“Yes.” Heat rises up my chest at the mention of Cole. It’s ridiculous that I respond this way to the mere mention of his name, but there’s no use chastising myself over it. Mainly because I’d only get brighter. “They work together.”
She shuffles items inside her purse until she retrieves her wallet. “I’ll take five tickets.”
I collect her money and give her a strip of five tickets for the 50:50 raffle. The proceeds will go toward supplies for next year’s homecoming festivities. She frowns and studies me. “Did you move back?”
“No.” I shake my head, flipping the end of my ponytail back over my shoulder. “I’m not moving back. I love it in San Francisco. My job is great. My boss is amazing. And….”
And…. well, that’s it, and the part about loving San Francisco is kind of a stretch. I hate the loud noises of the city, the overcrowding, the traffic, and the smog. And a big friend group? Nope. I don’t have that either.
I broke up with Ian nearly a year ago when he moved to Nashville. Not that we were serious, but he was someone to go to events and parties with. Then Layla dropped me off to return home. So basically, I have my job and my boss, which are the only things keeping me from drowning in pints of ice cream every night.
Shit. I have no one. Not even here. Layla dropped me tonight to go to her cousin’s house for a cookout. Not that I blame her. Kameron is supposed to show up.
I need to get out more or get a dog or a cat.
“Pip.” Cole nods as he steps into the booth, and all the air sucks out of the space, which is difficult to accomplish since the front and side windows have no glass, and their wooden covers are propped open, leaving us completely exposed to the outdoors.
