“Did you see who they left with? Rhett Lawton was driving. He’s a senior!” Ivy said in horror. Rhett was my boyfriend’s older brother. Serena wanted him bad. Everyone knew it.

  “Connor and Joel were with him,” Naomi piped up.

  Ivy nodded dramatically. “What are they thinking! Those boys only want sex.”

  “It’s Serena’s favorite pastime,” Hillary said with disgust, although rumor had it she’d slept with Connor two weeks before she’d started dating Brady. I bit my lip to keep from smirking.

  I closed my eyes and wondered if we would actually sleep tonight or discuss the wild ways of Serena and Kimmie. My bed really sounded good about now, and I missed it. The older we got, the more I felt myself wanting to pull away from them. We weren’t little girls anymore. Those days were gone. There was sex, boys, and drama in our lives that I wasn’t a big fan of. Yet here I stayed in the middle of it all. Listening.

  I Want to Be Rhett When I Grow Up

  CHAPTER 12

  BRADY

  West was standing out by his truck when I pulled into the driveway. He was either waiting on Maggie or he was waiting on me. The frown between his eyebrows said it was me. He never frowned at Maggie.

  “What’s up?” I called out as I walked around the front of my truck.

  “I was going to ask you the same thing,” he replied. “Didn’t want to bring it up at practice, but this Riley thing. I get why you were helping today, but I also know your truck was seen at her grandmother’s last night. That hasn’t reached Gunner’s ears yet, but when it does, you ready to explain that?”

  It had been two years, but this grudge was still holding strong. The more time I spent around Riley, the more I believed she’d been treated unfairly. That this town should have listened to her, not ridiculed her.

  “Not sure I believe Rhett was innocent. Not anymore. Not after the way we saw him act just last month.”

  West nodded slowly, but his frown stayed in place. “Maybe. But we have a championship to win. If Gunner still believes his brother and you’re hanging around Riley, then we are going to have a problem. Don’t know what I believe anymore, but I do know that this isn’t the time to make any bold statements.”

  I understood what he was saying. It wasn’t as if Riley was going to warm up to me any time soon anyway. I’d tried to be her friend, but she wasn’t interested. We had the biggest game in our high school career, the state championship, coming up in a few weeks, and we had to actually get there by winning the last two games that would place us at that game. If we lost, our season ended. We had to win the play-offs to get to the championship game.

  “You’re right,” I replied. “I won’t be seen with her anymore. This morning was a fluke. That’s all.”

  The front door opened and Maggie stepped out. She was dressed like they were going somewhere: in a yellow sundress, with her hair curled. “Looks like you got a date.”

  West turned and his face went from serious to love-struck. If Maggie weren’t my cousin, I would laugh at him. But Maggie had lived through hell, and she’d found happiness with West. The most unlikely guy in the world to end up saving her.

  “Yeah, I do,” he agreed, then walked toward her. He’d forgotten me and our conversation. For now.

  I waved at Maggie and told them to have a good time before heading inside. The smell of Mom’s meat loaf engulfed me as I walked into the house. I knew she’d have creamed potatoes, turnip greens, and corn bread to go with it. Dropping my bag by the front door, I headed for the kitchen.

  “He’s home. Let’s eat,” my dad said, turning to look at me with a large mason jar full of sweet tea in his hand.

  Mom chuckled and shook her head. “The man has no patience. I’ve been slapping his hand away from the meat loaf since he walked in the door. First night home for dinner in a week, and he acts like this.”

  Dad had been working on a project at work that was keeping him late every evening.

  “Smells great. I’m starved. Where’s Maggie headed?” I asked, knowing my mother would have the details of their date.

  “West is taking her to some fancy place in Franklin. He got a reservation for it and everything. She spent an hour trying to decide what to wear. I just love watching her like this. Hard to believe four months ago when she moved here she wouldn’t even speak.”

  She had come a long way in a short time. I agreed with Mom there. It was all thanks to West, but then again she’d been West’s rock through his father’s death too. Really, they’d saved each other.

  “Let’s talk football,” Dad said, not wanting to be reminded of why Maggie was here and why she had come to us not speaking. Maggie’s mother was his sister, and her brutal death still haunted him. Mom said he had nightmares about it.

  “We look good. Friday night won’t be easy, but we should win. As long as everyone keeps their head in the game this week. I thought I’d have the guys over tonight to watch some clips of the Panthers play this year. So we would know what to look for.”

  “Good idea. West has to have Maggie back by nine. He’ll miss most of it,” Dad said, sitting down with his plate piled high with food.

  “I’ll make some cookies,” Mom said, then handed me a plate.

  “We can do it tonight and tomorrow night for those who can’t come tonight. I mentioned it after practice. The guys who are available tonight will be here around seven thirty.”

  Dad nodded his head as if he approved of the idea. “What does Coach say? He think y’all are ready?”

  “You know Coach. He never thinks we’re ready. Part of what makes us work. We never get comfortable.”

  For the rest of dinner we discussed Friday night. It was what we always talked about this time of year. Once the championship was over, we would talk about next year. College football. My future.

  Three years ago . . .

  “You know your brother is banging Serena. Isn’t that, like, illegal?” West asked Gunner.

  I had heard that Serena was sneaking around with Rhett too. But I hadn’t wanted to bring it up. Leave it to West to throw that out there.

  “Naw, he’s still seventeen. She doesn’t become illegal until his birthday in April.”

  West laughed. “So he’s gonna bang the freshman while he still can. I want to be Rhett when I grow up.”

  Gunner smirked. “Join the club.”

  I didn’t say anything because I in no way wanted to be Rhett Lawton. I thought he was cool and I admired his skill on the field, but he was always partying. Dad said I wouldn’t make it far in life if I lived like that. I had a future in the NFL to pursue. Rhett was the heir to the Lawton millions. I doubted he planned on any career, really. Other than taking over for his dad one day.

  “Y’all want to go outside and throw the ball?” I asked, hoping to change the subject.

  West shrugged and reached for his soda and a bag of chips. “I guess.”

  “All you do is think football,” Gunner replied, still lounging on the sofa.

  It was my future. Of course that was all I thought about.

  I’m Not Every Other Guy

  CHAPTER 13

  RILEY

  This was probably stupid. Maybe even the stupidest idea I had ever come up with. I debated going through with it the entire two-mile walk it took me to get from my grandmamma’s house to Brady’s house. It was late and very dark.

  If I believed that Damon Salvatore was real, I wouldn’t be out here. Oh, who was I kidding? Yes, I would. Hot vampires aside, it was dark and spooky at eleven in this town. Everyone was in their house and most in bed. Lights were sparse.

  The last noise that had made me squeal and jump had been a cat. I was giving myself a pep talk about being silly right up until I turned onto Brady’s driveway and paused. Now what? I was here. I knew which window was Brady’s. I just had to toss a rock up there and get his attention.

  What if he was asleep? Doubtful.

  What if he had changed his mind about the being-friends thing? Possible.

  Why the heck was I here again? Because I was lonely. Because Brady had tried to be my friend. And if I was honest with myself, I wanted that.

  That was just sad. I glanced back at the sidewalk and thought about turning around and going home. He’d never know I was here, and I would have gotten in a good four miles of cardio before bed. No harm done.

  Then tomorrow morning I would wake up and do the same thing I did every day. No one to talk to. No one who believed me but my family.

  That reminder had me walking the few last steps into his yard. The small, smooth stone in my hand I had picked up along the way was warm now from my tight clutch. I stared down at it and wondered if this was a bad idea for the hundredth time. Once I had been a chance taker. I had liked adventure.

  That girl was gone, though. Life had changed me, but now I wanted a bit of her back.

  The stone flew from my hands and with a ping hit his window. I had only picked up one stone. I figured if he didn’t get up after one I was taking that as fate and leaving.

  A light came on in the dark room and butterflies became bats in my stomach. I had done it. I had to go through with it now. The curtains moved, and the long, dark hair was the first thing I saw. That was not Brady.

  I moved fast into the shadows. I couldn’t run for the road. Whoever it was would see me in the streetlight. So I ducked behind the hedges in front of their house and held my breath like they could hear me breathing. Which I know was silly because they were on the second floor.

  The sound of the window opening made me cringe, and I didn’t move a muscle. That had been a girl. If Brady had a girl in his room, then he sure wouldn’t let her come to the window. He’d hide her. So who was it?

  The cousin. Holy crap, I’d forgotten about the cousin. Mom had told me about his cousin moving in with them. Apparently she’d gotten his room. Why hadn’t I thought about that possibility? If you’re gonna throw rocks at a window just before midnight, you need to make sure you’ve got the right window. I was terrible at this.

  The sound of the window closing calmed me some, and I let out the breath I’d been holding. I would need to stay here awhile until I was sure she’d walked away from the window before I made a run for the street. I tried not to think about the critters that could be behind this hedge with me. Staying put was the only safe thing to do here.

  This was fate’s way of telling me that trying to be Brady’s friend was a bad idea. I got that now. I appreciate fate stepping in and stopping me from sure disaster. Now if only fate could make sure no animal bit me back here, that would be really awesome.

  The front door opened, and I stopped breathing again. This was not good. I should have run when I had the chance. What if it was Brady’s dad and he had a gun? I could end up shot. Even if a squirrel decided to bite me, I wasn’t moving now. I preferred a squirrel attack to a gunshot. I think.

  When I wanted a change and some adventure, this was not what I had in mind. I needed to get out of this alive. I had a kid to raise.

  “Hello?” Brady called out, and I let out a small breath. It was Brady, not his dad, and I was sure Brady didn’t have a gun. I was going to live.

  “Anyone out here?” he asked.

  I could ignore him and let him continue his search, or I could come out of the hedges and announce myself. My goal had been to get Brady down here. That was what had happened. Hiding from him seemed silly now.

  Instead of chancing the animal attack, I stood up and stepped out of hiding. This was embarrassing, now that I thought about it: coming here at night and throwing a rock at his window. My face was warm, and I was glad the darkness would mask my embarrassment.

  “It’s me,” I said, and he spun around.

  “Riley?”

  “Yeah.”

  “What are you doing? Are you okay?”

  No, apparently I was warped in the head. This whole idea seemed terrible. I should have stayed at home in bed and not let my need for friends send me out on this wild chase.

  “You, uh, changed bedrooms.” I couldn’t think of anything smarter to say.

  He nodded.

  “I didn’t know—”

  “So you came here and threw a rock at my window because . . . ?”

  I was an idiot. I needed my head examined. I was desperate and pathetic.

  “I want to be friends.” There, I said it.

  He didn’t respond right away. Instead he studied me a moment, then glanced down at his feet before shifting them.

  “I believe you—I mean about the Rhett thing. And I meant what I said last night. But . . . we have the next few games and the championship hopefully in our reach. I can’t upset the team.”

  Meaning, he had thought about it and he couldn’t be my friend. He was a habitual good guy, but his future was on the line. I could be mad, but I got it. He’d worked for this as long as I had known him.

  “Oh, that makes sense. I get it. Sorry I bothered you.” I wanted to sprint for the sidewalk. Get as far away from here as possible. I didn’t think it could get any more embarrassing, but it just had.

  “Wait! Did you walk here?” His voice sounded concerned.

  I wish he’d just let me go. But he was, after all, Mr. Nice Guy. “Yeah,” I replied, barely glancing back over my shoulder and not stopping.

  “It’s not safe for you to be out like this. I’ll drive you back.”

  No, no, no. I needed alone time.

  “I’m good. Really. Besides, someone may see you.”

  He sighed loudly. “Don’t be like that, Riley. I meant what I said about being friends. It’s just better if we wait until the season is over. Then the team can get mad at me.”

  I really did understand his decision. I got it completely. But I didn’t want to talk about it anymore. “Just let me go, Brady.”

  I kept walking and only got a little farther before I heard him jogging up behind me. His conscience couldn’t handle this. There weren’t many guys like Brady Higgens on this earth.

  “Then I’m walking you back,” he said as he came up beside me. “Would be easier if I drove you, but if you insist on walking, then we will walk.”

  Stubborn. I stopped and turned to him. “Why can’t you just be like every other guy and go back inside and forget I came over here? Or better yet, make fun of me tomorrow to your friends?”

  “I’m not every other guy.”

  No, he wasn’t.

  I glanced back at his driveway. “Fine. I’ll let you give me a ride.”

  A small smile tugged at his lips. “Thanks.”

  This Town Had a Big Mouth

  CHAPTER 14

  BRADY

  Sleep never came last night, and I felt like shit. Our game was tomorrow, and I had to get my head clear and focused. Problem was, all I could do was remember Riley’s face and how hurt she’d been. It was eating me alive.

  She had been raped and called a liar, then run out of town. Now she was back because of her grandmother and facing an entire town that didn’t welcome her. My grand idea to be her friend had seemed like a good one until I talked to West and he reminded me how bad that could be for the team. West may understand, but Gunner wouldn’t. And a lot of people would side with Gunner. The team would be split, and we couldn’t win games like that.

  “You look terrible,” Maggie said as she walked into the kitchen. “Anything to do with the rock at the window last night?”

  When Riley had thrown the rock, Maggie had come to get me, figuring that it had been meant for me. I hadn’t told her about it when I got back from taking Riley home last night.

  “Yeah” was all I said.

  “Who’s the girl?” Maggie asked, handing me the box of cereal.

  “You don’t know her.”

  “Oh, so it was Riley Young.”

  This town had a big mouth. Jesus.

  “That can’t get out, Maggie,” I said, taking the cereal from her.

  “Who am I gonna tell? I’m not exactly a gossip.”

  She had a point. Although she was talking now, she still didn’t talk to many people. She kept a small circle of those she conversed with. Maggie didn’t trust easily. Can’t say I blame her.

  “I know. It’s just there is so much drama there. I need to get through the next few weeks without that.”

  She lifted a shoulder in acknowledgment and took a bite of her cereal. I could see she didn’t actually agree with me. She was thinking something else.

  “What?” I asked.

  “Nothing,” she replied.

  “Say it.”

  “Okay, fine. She trusted you, so you did something to gain her trust. I think that her coming here means she needs someone right now.”

  And I should be that someone. Maggie didn’t have to say it. I got what she meant.

  “It’s complicated.”

  “She’s got a baby, right? She’s seventeen and the father claims she’s a liar. Sounds like her life is a lot more complicated than yours.”

  Maggie set her bowl down in the sink and grabbed her book bag. “West just drove up. See you at school.”

  I finished my cereal, although now it tasted like sawdust. Damn, she was right.

  * * *

  The hallway was filled with people I knew and some I really didn’t. I watched them talk and laugh. Friends whispered, and guys called out my name in greeting. It was all very normal. Part of high school life. The last year I’d have this.

  All I could think was Riley didn’t get this. She was missing it all. My chest felt heavy as I made my way through the crowd of people. Each one I’d seen at some point in my past. I didn’t kid myself and believe that none of them had bad things in their lives. We all did.

  It was just that they all had someone. They had a place to go. They had people to talk to and escape from reality.

  Riley didn’t. But she’d trusted me, and I was a dick.

  There, I admitted it. I was a complete dick last night.