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“I wasn’t ignoring homework.”
Paxon snorted. “You’re worse than I am when it comes to procrastination. If I didn’t make you do it, you’d be trying to finish it on your way to school.”
Calvin blushed and looked down, not meeting either of our gazes. That was enough to tell me he did in fact procrastinate like crazy. That had me cracking a smile. No one liked homework.
“Bye, Cal. Bye, Paxon,” I said after walking them to the door.
Paxon’s smile was kind and warm and almost too nice for me to handle. There was something soft in it that made my stomach flutter and my heart expand. “Bye, Cadence.”
“Bye, Cadie. Thank you for letting me borrow the guitar.”
“You’re welcome. And make sure to return it when you finally get your own. But no rush.”
Calvin nodded. They walked across the street and into Seth’s house. I stayed in my doorway until they disappeared inside.
Seeing the two of them together and so close made me wonder what it would have been like if I had a sibling. Would we be as close as those two were?
Chapter Twenty-Three
I was making sure all my homework assignments were done for school when my phone went off on me. I glanced at the screen, seeing Toby’s name.
“Yeah?” I asked when I answered it.
“Get your butt over here and eat with us,” Toby said, and then he hung up on me.
I eyed the phone for a moment before dragging myself to my feet, grabbing my keys, and heading over. Dinner did sound good. I wasn’t the best cook, but I wasn’t terrible either. I just didn’t do it as often as I used to. It was nice not having Lindie yelling at me to have dinner done every day. Unfortunately, having to cook for Lindie had acted as a schedule for me, and now that I didn’t have that, I found that I didn’t keep up with my meals like I should. I still ate, but it usually amounted to sandwiches or cereal. I was enjoying the freedom to make the food that I wanted when I wanted it rather than what I needed to keep Lindie happy. So a lot of cereal.
I was going to have to stop doing that and start eating healthy again.
Bebe was outside sniffing around when I got to Seth’s house. He let out a happy bark before going toward the back. I followed, the laughter getting louder as I rounded the building. Everyone was on the back deck with plates of food. Looked like Seth had another barbeque, plates filled with chicken and ribs more than anything else. A table was set out like a buffet.
“There she is,” Paxon said.
I smiled. “Here I am.”
“Eat. There’s plenty,” Seth said, setting down a bowl of salad. It looked like no one planned to eat that anytime soon.
“Thanks. I was just getting hungry too.” I grabbed a piece of chicken and paired it with salad.
“Here,” Justin said, passing me a cold bottle of water.
Seth had a small patio set, enough to sit eight around the square table. I grabbed a seat on one side. It wasn’t long before Calvin grabbed the spot next to me, clearly beating Toby out. Toby did a fake pout as he sat next to Calvin.
“What do you guys do once winter comes?” I asked, noting that the deck was wet. They had to have been swimming again. Justin’s hair was still glistening too.
“We play in the snow,” Toby said, mouth full of food, barbeque sauce on the sides of his mouth.
“And video games,” Paxon said.
“Sleep,” Justin said.
Bryan snorted. “Justin practically turns into a bear and goes into hibernation.”
“Swim season officially starts then,” Justin said. “It’s exhausting. Practice before and after school and on Saturdays.”
“I’m exhausted just thinking about it,” I said.
“You should see him eat,” Toby said. “I’m jealous. I want to eat like that and not worry about the weight.” He patted his stomach.
