AllFreeNovel
Share Us
A smile crept onto my face. Seeing Jo pissed had become one of my favorite things. Because when she was pissed, I’d usually just proven her wrong.
I could still feel the shape of her against me as I wrestled her into the pond, the two of us soaked through and laughing like maniacs.
It wasn’t as if I hadn’t done such things before. Only that it’d never been quite so honest as this.
So much of my life hadn’t been quite so honest as this.
Don’t get sentimental, asshole. Just get the job done.
I followed her all the way to the other end of the bleachers, like she wanted to put the entire town between her family and the mayor. I spotted her sisters and Wyatt with his boyfriend nearby, plus Bettie and a few other friendly faces. And they all saw me before Jo did. Their faces wore varied expressions, from amusement to mistrust.
“Hey, man,” Wyatt said with a thick lilt, half standing to shake my hand and clap me on the shoulder.
“Some game, huh?” I answered.
Jo whipped around like a top.
“We might take the championship this year in our division if they keep up like this,” he said proudly.
I extended a hand to Wyatt’s boyfriend, who looked amiable enough, though I was a thousand percent certain would beat my ass. He took it and nodded.
“Grant. Nice to meet you. Your boyfriend tried to kill me the other day.”
He laughed, pumping that hand before letting it go. “Manny, and he’ll do that.”
“Mind if I sit?”
Jo answered for him, sassy as all hell. “What, you don’t want to sit by your new best friend, Mitchell?”
“If I’m being honest, I’d rather have been on this side of the bleachers all night.”
“And when have you ever been honest?” she said with a challenge on her face but a smile on her lips.
“Don’t make me dump your ass in the pond again,” I warned. “I’ll do it without thinking twice.”
She rolled her eyes but blushed as I took the seat that opened up when Wyatt slid over, which was right in front of her.
“So,” I started, actively ignoring Jo in an attempt to get her attention, “let me guess. Cowboys fan?”
“It’s the only option ’round here unless you’re not a Texan.”
“Dak Prescott is on my fantasy team.”
“He’s looking good this year, if he’d quit getting hurt. You don’t have any Titans players, though, do you?”
“No, why?”
“Because there’s no greater offense in these parts than rooting for the team that used to be the Oilers.”
“What about the Texans?”
His face darkened. “Don’t even get me started.”
A chuckle through my nose. “I haven’t been following much this year, though. I’ve been here longer than I planned.”
“You could still leave,” Jo offered.
I smirked at her over my shoulder. “But we’re having so much fun.”
Wyatt shook his head at her. “Quit actin’ like you don’t love torturing him. I’ve seen it firsthand.”
“Oh, what do you know, Wyatt?”
The look on his face said he knew more than she should push him to admit. “Plenty, JoJo.” He turned back to me. “Who’s your team?”
“I don’t really have one. I like the Cardinals and the Chiefs. Always been a fan of Indie.”
“No home team?” He seemed confused.
“Washington’s fine, just never really felt like a home team.”
“Huh,” he answered noncommittally. “No college team?”
I shrugged. “I went to Cornell.”
“So, no,” he said on a laugh. “Ivy League, huh? You don’t have some kinda law degree or something, do you?”
“Speech communications.”
When I didn’t elaborate, he asked, “What all goes into that?”
I waited for Jo to butt in, but she didn’t.
“Preparation for communication positions in things like marketing and journalism. Studied methods of oral and written communication, rhetoric, that sort of thing.”
“And your stake in oil is…”
Other than the connection to my father, I didn’t have one, but I couldn’t exactly say so. “It’s a job. I’m good at it. And the money doesn’t hurt.”
Jo stood up hard enough her feet stomped. “I’m getting a Coke. Anybody want one?”
“I’ll take a Dr. Pepper,” Wyatt said.
She flipped the rim of his hat, knocking it off to reveal his smashed hair.
“Dammit, Jo.”
“Anybody else?” she asked her sisters.
“Dr. Pepper sounds great,” Poppy said.
“I’ll take one too,” Daisy answered.
“I’ll come with you,” I said, standing.
“Didn’t invite you,” she answered cheerily, already heading down the stairs.
“Well, now you made me out to be a creep,” I told her back as I followed her.
“Quit following me, then.”
I frowned, trotting to get next to her as we turned toward the stairs where concessions were. “What’s with you?”
“Nothin’. What’s with you?”
“Did I do something to upset you?”
“Other than exist?”
That did it. I stopped, snagging her arm gently. When she was facing me, I let her go, and she folded her arms.
“I mean it. What’d I do?”
Her arms rose and fell as she took a deep breath. “You came here with Mitchell.”
