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"You're up," he motioned, and before I thought better of it, I turned and gave him a small, private smile.
…
"Uh oh, looks like you have another package today," Becca called from the front seat. She'd driven us to get lunch, and Emily had called shotgun before me (the quiet ones are always the deadliest), so I was in the back, texting my mom about practice and telling her about the ridiculous outfits. The outfit that was now burned to ash in our backyard.
I leaned forward expecting to see another brown box, but instead I found Josh sitting at the foot of our small white porch. We ran a few errands after lunch, so I guess that gave Josh enough time to beat us home after his practice ended.
Which meant Liam was out of practice, too. Cue dream sequence of Liam running slowly on a beach carrying me in his arms. I love how he’s strong enough to carry me with one arm while using the other arm to feed the seagulls. He’s such an animal lover like that.
"Did you know he was going to be here?" Emily asked, shifting her gaze back to me. Oh, right. Josh.
I sighed. "Nope, I actually forgot to text him back yesterday, so I don't know what his plan is."
Becca pulled into the driveway and then she and Emily hurried inside, throwing Josh a quick wave as they passed. Traitors. They abandoned me right when I needed backup the most.
"Kinsley!" Josh smiled, hopping up off the porch and heading toward me.
"Hi Josh," I muttered, stuffing my hands into the back pockets of my cuffed white shorts.
"How are you? Have practices been really hard?" he asked.
Why was he trying to be the nice guy in this scenario? Couldn't he have just moved on and made it easier for everyone? Every time I saw his face I had to battle the urge to punch him— but if he asked me how my day was and then I punched him, wouldn’t that make me the bitch? How was your day – punch.
I sighed and answered him as politely as possible. "It's been a lot harder than I expected, but I like most of my teammates. What about you?"
I knew he wasn't expecting me to answer him so politely. His face broke out into a relieved smile.
"It's been killer. I was used to being the best, but these guys on the team are pros through and through. Wilder really surprised me. I thought he was a party boy, but when he gets on the field, it's all business. The team really respects him." It was strange hearing him talk about Liam like that. He had no clue that I'd even met him.
"He's helping out at our practices in the morning," I offered, mainly so I could keep the conversation in neutral territory.
Josh scrunched his brows. "Seriously? At ULA practices? He must be crazy busy."
I shrugged and moved passed him to sit on the bottom step of the porch. "I guess he has some free time.”
"Well that's good. I bet the girls love him. You shouldn't let him get to you, though. I've heard he's a serial flirt."
Like a flicking of a light switch, that comment instantly reminded me of why I was sitting outside with Josh in the first place. What the hell was I doing having a pleasant conversation with this guy?
"I'm not so sure you should be handing out advice about that sort of thing. What do you need, Josh?"
He winced. "Yeah, that's true. Seriously, Kinsley, you have to let me explain."
I looked him over, realizing that if he was going to keep popping into my life, and I knew he would because there was already a party planned for Saturday night, then I needed to get this conversation over with.
"Fine, I'm all ears," I answered, and then wrapped my arms around my knees as I watched him pace back and forth in front of the porch. I'm sure the girls could hear our conversation inside, but I didn't really care.
"Kinsley, I never meant to hurt you. That girl, Jenny, means nothing to me. We were friends from camp and she'd been texting me, wanting to hangout. I kept brushing her off, but then she showed up at my apartment."
I wanted to interrupt him and ask how she even knew where his apartment was, but there was no point.
"I let her inside and she practically threw herself on me. She'd heard I made the LA Stars team and I think she wanted to say that she'd hooked up with a professional soccer player. You and I hadn't been doing much of anything lately because we were busy with tryouts, and I just wasn't thinking. I made a huge mistake."
What a lame excuse. The lamest fucking excuse I’ve ever heard.
