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As I speak, I wonder,Am I talking to Maeve or myself?
Maeve pauses. “So that’s a no—on the party?”
I sigh. “It’s anI’ll be there,” I say, then roll onto my stomach and start another set of push-ups.
“Becca keeps looking over here,” Sam tells me.
I grunt, my gaze focused on the beer bottle I’m holding. Condensation drips to the group in slow rivulets.
My head is a mess. My conversation with Maeve, the time with Natalie earlier. Dread and anticipation for the upcoming season. Confusion and concern about the contrary ways I’m feeling. It all mixes together, making my head an uncomfortable place to be.
“I’m hosting Weston Cole’s birthday party this weekend.”
Sam coughs, spraying beer everywhere. “Come again?”
“I’m hosting Weston Cole’s birthday party this weekend.”
“Yeah, nope. I heard you right the first time, turns out. What the fuck, Stevens?”
“Maeve wants to throw him one. Mike only agreed if a lifeguard was there. So…yep.” I swig some beer.
“Shit.”
“You’re invited. It’ssuper inclusive, apparently.”
Sam scoffs. “Yeah. Fuck that.”
“’Sup, guys?” Matt takes the open chair around the firepit.
“Liam is hosting Cole’s birthday party this weekend,” Sam replies. “Should be a real rager.”
Matt turns a confused expression on me. “The hell?”
I shrug. “She’s my sister. I’ll show up and scowl the whole time. You guys don’t need to come. Probably better if you don’t, honestly.”
“No way,” Matt says. “I want to go. If it’s open season on Glenmont girls, I’ll see how loyal Alleghany’s are. There were a few cheerleaders in blue…” He smirks.
Sam grins, getting into it. “Hell yeah. Who was that one Cole would hang around? Fuck, she was hot. Natalie…”
“Natalie Jacobs,” Matt supplies.
My hand tightens around the bottle I’m holding, something dark and possessive snaking through my blood. I’ve never heard either Matt or Sam mention a girl from Alleghany before in any appreciative context. I’d think they were fucking with me—that they’d somehow seen us together—if not for the fact I know neither of them could have kept it to themselves.
“Yeah, right,” Sam says. “Brooke was looking at her photos the other night. She knows her from cheer competitions and shit. Natalie was a real bitch to Maggie senior year, apparently.”
“Would you have rolled out the welcome wagon if a guy from Alleghany joined our team?” I ask, picking at the wet label on the bottle.
“Of course not,” Sam responds. “But that’s different.”
I shrug. “Sounds the same to me.”
“Sounds like you’re defending a girl from Alleghany.”
“You’re the one talking about hooking up with her,” I remind him.
“He’s just looking for ways to make Brooke jealous,” Matt adds, leaning back and kicking his feet up. “Watch this.” He looks around the yard until he spots Brooke talking with Sarah by the back deck. “Brooke!”
Brooke walks over, cocking a hip like her usual sassy self. “What?”
