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Sawyer
“What’sthequestionofthe week?” Hollie asks, falling into place next to me as practice gets underway.
The buzz about my living situation has died down, and now that our parents are officially engaged Wes is legitimately my future stepbrother. Unfortunately, neither of those things have stopped the questions from girls who think I should know a little more about him than I do. Last week it was whether he shaves his chest--which I can’t answer because I still haven’t seen it. The week before it was whether my two hands were enough to wrap around his bicep, or if that bicep is so big it exceeds my grip.
“My money is on whether he wears boxers or briefs.” The mischievous glint in her eye tells me she’s teasing, although I wouldn’t be surprised if she’s genuinely curious. He has that effect on girls.
“Does anyone even wear briefs anymore?” I feel my nose wrinkle at the thought.
“How should I know? You’re the one living with the teenage stud.”
I snort and nearly break my stride. “I’m sure it’s bound to come up, but so far people seem to be more interested in who he’s got his eye on.”
“Ah, yes. I suppose it is that time of year.”
“What time of year?” The crisp fall air doesn’t mean anything to me except less heat during afternoon practice.
“Homecoming. They want to know if they have a shot at being his date.”
The realization that homecoming is around the corner causes my stomach to revolt, and this time I falter, gripping my side as though I’ve got a cramp.
“You okay?” Hollie stops beside me, resting her hands on her hips.
“Too much water before practice.” I wave her away. “It’ll pass, just give me a second.”
I walk in a circle trying to catch my breath and get my emotions under control before Hollie can suspect the real reason for my discomfort.
Spending so much time with Wes over the last several weeks has led me to feel possessive. Even though I have no claim on him, no right to be offended by the idea of him dancing with, or touching, or even kissing another girl, it does offend me. The thought of those amber eyes looking intently at someone else, those soft lips smiling at or, God forbid, kissing someone else, fills me with dread. I don’t want to imagine it, let alone see it.
So far, I haven’t had to. We’ve sort of been existing in our own little bubble since my mom and I moved in, which I think left me feeling like he was mine alone. With the exception of school and sports we haven’t been out of each other’s company very often, and he’s so easy to be with I actually feel more like myself around him than anyone. I guess that led me to believe the world outside our bubble didn’t exist. How incredibly naïve of me.
“All good. So, doing anything interesting this weekend?” I ask as Hollie falls into pace beside me. I’m not overly interested in her social life, but I hope the question distracts her from my queasiness.
“The school camp out.” She casts a curious look in my direction when I don’t respond. “You do know about that, right?”
“Uh, no, actually.”
“Oh my gosh, I can’t believe you don’t know about this. Literally the whole school goes every year.” Her eyes sparkle more than they should considering we’re doing laps around the track.
“The whole school? Goes camping?” I suppose being in Colorado a camp out makes sense, although I don’t remember hearing about one last year.
“Well, most of the school. Upperclassman anyway. And it’s more of a party in the woods than an actual camp out.”
“Oh.” I force my voice to stay level upon learning it’s not at all what I pictured. “Sounds fun.”
“I hear it is. I haven’t been myself since it was the night before the regional meet last year, and I didn’t know about it as a freshman, but this year we don’t have a race the next day. Hey, you should come with me.” Her ponytail bobs along with her head as she gets into this idea.
“You just said it’s for upperclassmen.” We dodge a stray soccer ball that got away from the team practicing in the center of the track.
“I said mostly upperclassmen, not exclusively. And you being Wes’ stepsister means you’re in the popular crowd now. You’re probably expected to go.”
“Go where, exactly?” I don’t love the idea of being considered part of the popular crowd. I like the idea of being Wes's stepsister even less, though I have zero complaints about seeing him every day.
“This campsite near Deckers. It’s sort of in the middle of nowhere so it’s the perfect place to let loose, so I’m told.”
“By let loose you mean what?” I cast a wary glance her way.
“Whatever you feel like. Dancing, drinking, the usual I suppose.” Hollie shrugs as we round the final turn on our first mile.
