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“Her brother’s pretty decent. Scored the most points so far.” Mulaney glazed right over the question, and I let out a frustrated grunt as I looked down the row of bleachers.
That asshole who’d stolen my girl plucked a nacho from her fingers. She pretended to be put out and then grinned when he offered it to her Nana, who smiled at him like he’d been part of their family forever. She’d only been nice to me once—if I counted the time I’d showed up to go to church with the Morgans and she muttered that at least I had my shirt tucked in.
“Kinda sweet they fell in love in Paris.” Mulaney tipped her head back and dumped a few Whoppers down her throat straight from the box.
I grabbed it from her and had a few to keep from cussing my own sister out at a high school basketball game.
“Heard he’s even staying with them. Emily said they’re sharing a bedroom.”
A piece of candy got lodged in my throat. I coughed and spluttered, and pretty much every person in the stands was looking at me. Including Juliana. Not wanting all that attention, I managed to clear the Whopper and get myself under control.
“I don’t care,” I said after a long swallow of Dr. Pepper.
Mulaney snorted. “If you think you want her back, you better start caring. Her daddy makes you have her home by nine o’clock…on a good night.”
“Shut the hell up.”
Mrs. Hastings whipped around. “Has your mother heard the language that comes out of your mouth? She’d be appalled.”
Mulaney’s lips twitched. “I apologize for my brother. He’s been off in Austin around all those football players, and we can’t do a thing with him.”
Our old teacher let out a huff and faced forward. I dug my knuckle into Mulaney’s side until she smacked me.
“Youhave,” she said.
My sister had a worse mouth than I did. And our mama was a lady, but I’d put money down that she’d let a few curse words slip before she finished the breakfast dishes. Probably at me and my lazy ass for not getting up.
The motion of the Paris son of a bitch touching Juliana’s shoulder brought my attention back to them and turned my world red. We’d never been with anyone else. I hadn’t at least. Never wanted another girl besides Jules. But it sure seemed she’d moved on. And her family obviously liked him, better than me apparently.
A time-out was called in the game, and Juliana’s brother jogged over to the bench, offering all of them a wave. When he spotted me, all I got was a dirty look the equivalent of the finger. To think we’d been buddies before. Guess that was done too.
“How about instead of sitting here like a pissed off bull, you go talk to her?”
“I’m surprised you didn’t choose to sit right next to them,” I shot back.
She muttered something unintelligible under her breath. “Can I at least finish my popcorn before we take off?”
We stayeduntil the end of the game, mostly because I didn’t want to look like a wimp who couldn’t handle being around his ex. Truth be told though, I’d barely made it. Jules and her new boyfriend had talked and laughed the whole time as if they’d been best friends since they were kids.
That spot in my chest with the permanent ache expanded. It wasn’t just my girl I’d lost. She’d been the person I went to about everything. When I got home, she was the first person I called. If something good or bad happened, Jules was the one I wanted to tell.
In a split second, all of that had been ripped away from me. Suddenly, there was this empty space in my life that nothing else could fill, not that I’d tried. My anger had only burned hot and furious for so long. Once it had settled to a simmer, things got worse. Then I could see that maybe she hadn’t so much been ripped away from me as I’d thrown her down the drain.
My sister and I wandered out to the parking lot in silence.
“Mulaney Jacobs.” I furrowed my brow at the sound of her name. “You been fishing lately?”
Bryce Green strolled toward us, a smug smirk smeared across his face.
“Upset I didn’t ask you to go?” Behind her casual reply was a sharp sting. She regularly hung out with the guys, fishing being just one of the many things we all did together, but it was impossible to miss the undercurrent of hostility bouncing between these two.
“Nope. In fact, I ain’t never going with you again.”
She smiled sweetly and pinched his cheek. “Aww, just because I always catch more fish than you? No reason to be such a sourpuss.”
“Shut up, Mulaney.”
She finger waved at him mockingly. “As always, it’s been so nice to bump into you. Try to make it a little longer between run-ins from now on.” She climbed into the driver’s side of her truck.
