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I shrugged. “I’m guessing Clint will sit in our section. Are you going?”
She nodded, scooting her chair closer. “That’s why I’m asking. My cousin wanted to see if you wanted to go with us? We’d pick you up, and we usually grab food before. Mexican food. Would you be interested? We’d go to the game and wherever everyone goes afterward. That’s usually the plan. Theresa wants to make it up to you because of what Gabby did.”
I gave her a look. The girl who’d been the mouthpiece to spread my stuff on social media.
“Is Gabby in your cousin’s group?”
“Kinda, but kinda not. She’s been trying to get in with Kira’s group lately more. She won’t be there. You don’t have to worry about Theresa. She’s not about what Gabby did, and when you confronted her and Scout and everyone was right there, Theresa stopped a lot of what people might’ve been saying. She put it out there that it wasn’t cool.”
Seemed I was getting help from all sorts of people.
It meant a lot that Theresa had squashed the gossip, at least for her group of friends.
At the end of the day, I told Clint my plans for the night.
He gave me an unreadable look before nodding. “Okay. You want me to go with my friends?”
I opened my mouth to respond, then realized I didn’t know what to say. I shrugged. “I don’t know. Do you want to come with us?”
He frowned at me.
I frowned back.
His eyebrows furrowed.
So did mine.
“You’re just mirroring everything I do,” he said.
“You’re parroting me.”
“I’m parroting you? I’m a parrot now? You’re calling me a bird?”
“Yes.”
“I’m not a parrot.”
“I never said you were.”
“You just did.”
Scout walked up. “What are you guys talking about?”
Clint pointed to me. “She called me a bird.”
“A parrot.”
“You just said you weren’t doing that.”
“I said you were parroting me.”
“That’s a bird. A parrot. You’re repeating what I do.”
I shook my head. “That’s not me calling you a parrot.”
Clint and I were doing our usual thing, but the underlying issue was that neither of us knew whether he should come with me and Gem and her friends or not. Neither of us wanted to make the decision because, what if it was the wrong one?
We were stalling.
“You guys are weird.”
Clint ignored that. “What do you think Rams should do? Should I go with them or not?”
I smothered a grin. Scout hadn’t been here for that part of the conversation.
He shook his head. “What are you talking about?”
“Theresa extended an invitation to me via Gem,” I explained. “To eat with them and go to the football game. Should Clint go with me or not?”
“Shit no.” Scout’s eyebrows pinched together. “Who are you people that you have to be joined at the hip all the time?”
“We’re not—” Clint started to say.
“Don’t think Alex didn’t tell me about your sleepover,” Scout said.
I nodded. “That was an amazing sleepover, and we all got drunk.”
Clint shoved me. “That doesn’t help.”
“Next time, I’m hoping for forts and margaritas.”
“What?” Scout was still confused.
Clint laughed. “I think it’s time we let our little Ramsay spread her wings a little.” He took a dramatic step away. “It’s time, Rams. It’s time you fly alone. You be the parrot now.”
Scout muttered a curse and headed down the hall.
I gave Clint a slow nod. This energy between us couldn’t be ignored. “We’re going to do something stupid tonight, aren’t we? After the football game.”
“Oh, fuck yeah.” He held up a fist.
I met it with one of mine.
Gem came over with her backpack. “Uh, do you need a ride home or anything? Theresa said we could give you a ride to your place and wait if you wanted to change or something before heading to Mario’s.”
“You’re going to Mario’s?” Clint exclaimed. “I love Mario’s.”
Gem faltered back a step and dropped her phone. Cursing, she grabbed it and blinked a bunch of times before looking at me. “You can’t come.” She shook her head at Clint. “Not that you’re not invited to Mario’s since it’s a restaurant and I work there sometimes so of course, any and all customers are welcome, but . . . this is our thing with Ramsay.” She spoke faster and faster. “If you come, you’ll change the whole dynamic, and Theresa might not get to know Ramsay. I want her to get to know Ramsay.”
I frowned. “Wait. Did Theresa invite me, or did you invite me?”
“What’s the difference?”
“One is where I’m wanted, and the other is where she thinks she’s doing me a favor by allowing me to tag along. Two totally different scenarios.”
“Thinking I’ll be seeing you at Mario’s,” Clint said.
Gem let out a growl of frustration. “No! It’s—no. It’s nothing like that. I swear. Theresa invited you, and I’m glad because I think you guys could be good friends, and I don’t want Alex to come because he’ll change the dynamic. You’ve hung out with Kira and her clique more than my own group. You and Theresa will hit it off. I swear.”
