AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Sure. Sounds good.” My tone stays friendly, but I don’t offer anything else.
“Last I saw, Matt was in the living room.”
“Shirt on or off?”
Becca grins. Matt has a thing about whipping his shirt off when he’s drunk. Sober, he’s as serious as me. A few beers in is another story. “On, but it was like twenty minutes ago, so who knows.”
“Right. Good to see you, Becca.”
“Yeah, you too.” She smiles before I head toward the living room.
There’s no sign of Matt, but Sam is leaning against the wall by the fireplace. I weave through the crowd toward him. “I’m heading out.”
Sam smirks. “Yeah, of course you are.”
I roll my eyes. “You seen Matt? I was going to say goodbye.”
“He headed upstairs with Amanda Lucas a few minutes ago.”
“Okay. If he emerges anytime soon, tell him I left. I’ll text him too.”
“Got it. Doubt he’ll be checking his phone.” Sam glances toward the front hall.
“Yeah, no shit.” I follow his gaze. Brooke has appeared and is talking with Sarah.
I shove his shoulder. “You should go for it, man.”
Sam scoffs. “She’s not interested.”
“She doesn’t knowyou’reinterested, Jackson. Just saying, one of these days it’ll be too late.”
“Are you some relationship expert now, Stevens? Last I checked, you’ve never been in one.”
“We’re talking about you, not me,” I reply. “If there was a girl I was into like that, I’d do something about it.”
Sam shakes his head. “Easy to say when you had the whole cheerleading squad after you in high school.”
“Nothing happened between me and Brooke at prom. You know that, right? And I never would have said yes if I knew you had a thing for her.”
“I don’t.”
I sigh. “Okay. Whatever. I’ll see you tomorrow, okay?”
Sam nods and bumps my offered fist.
I head toward the front door, my own advice to Sam echoing in my ears like a taunt. Our situations aren’t comparable, though. There’s nothing keeping Sam from pursuing Brooke outside himself.
There’s everything standing in the way between me and Natalie.
CHAPTERTWELVE
NATALIE
Sun warms my skin as I flip onto my back, inhaling the scent of coconut sunscreen and cherry Gatorade. A laugh I recognize as Chris’s booms to my right. Makes sense, since I’m in his backyard.
“Natalie!”
I shield my eyes as I sit up, watching Madeline approach and sprawl out on the lounger next to me.
