Sure, if you need someone to ride with you to Birmingham today, I will. Mom said she could watch Bryony. Why are we going?

  I had just thrown that out there. A two-hour drive to Birmingham had been the only thing I could think of. It was far enough away from Lawton that we could safely enjoy ourselves without running into someone we knew. I hadn’t thought of a reason why I needed to go. I’d just said I did. Now I needed something. Any excuse so she didn’t know I was simply going there so we could hang out. Alone.

  And why was I doing that?

  She needed a friend, and I wanted to be her friend, but there was more to it than all that. Last night, when I was distracted, I wanted to believe it was because I was worried about her or something that innocent. But the truth was, I liked her.

  I liked Riley Young. She was interesting. She was strong, She was a good person, and I respected her for all of that. I wanted to be around her. Away from the same group of people I was always around. Maybe that was why I had liked Willa. She was different. Not the same crowd doing the same things.

  I liked her even though my being her friend was going to cause a stir eventually. The confrontation with Gunner was the one I dreaded the most. But honestly, it was time he faced the fact that his brother had lied. After all they had been through lately, I didn’t think it was going to be too big of a stretch for him to believe Riley’s story now. We weren’t kids who let others tell us what to think anymore.

  I finally replied. I have some birthday money still in my savings account, and I wanted a pair of boots that are sold out here. Birmingham has better options.

  I doubted that sounded believable since Nashville was only an hour away. But I went with it anyway.

  “It smells wonderful in this house,” Maggie said, walking into the kitchen. Her hair was still messy from sleep, and she was wearing a pair of pajama pants and one of West’s shirts. He had made sure she had several of them. It was his way of being with her all the time. I used to make fun of that, but now I thought it made sense. Not that I’d tell him that. I liked the idea of Riley wearing my shirt. Which also meant my feelings for her were changing into something more than friendship.

  “Have a seat and I’ll get you a plate,” Mom told her.

  Maggie ignored that and walked over to pick up her own plate. “You’re still cooking. I can fix my own plate. Thank you, though.”

  Mom smiled as if Maggie were the perfect daughter she never had. They were good for each other. Mom was the kind of mom who needed a daughter, and Maggie had lost her mother tragically. They weren’t as close as a mother and daughter could get, but I expected over time they would fill that hole in each other’s lives.

  Maggie sat down across from me and yawned. Just a couple months ago this would have been a very silent table. It was nice that Maggie actually spoke now. “Fun game last night, huh?”

  Her comment sounded innocent, but I knew what she meant. She was the only person who had an idea of where my head had been that first half. I looked up at her as I put a bite of pancake in my mouth. I wasn’t amused. But the smirk on her face said she was.

  “It about gave me a heart attack,” Mom said with a chuckle. “Lord, I’ve never been so nervous over a game in all my life.”

  “The games are going to just get harder. Winning the championship isn’t meant to be easy.” I realized I sounded annoyed and wished I hadn’t said that.

  Maggie raised one eyebrow as if to say she knew better. Why couldn’t she just have stayed upstairs in bed? I was having a perfectly peaceful breakfast until she came in and brought this all up.

  “Oh, I know. I realized last night I needed to calm down and prepare for this to just get worse.” Mom’s voice was still gentle and understanding.

  “I’m sure it’s hard to keep your focus with all that pressure,” Maggie added, then grinned before eating a piece of bacon.

  I was either going to stop eating and leave the table with an excuse or change the subject. But I wasn’t full and I wanted more pancakes, so I went with the subject change. “Want me to take Dad some breakfast before I head to Birmingham?” I asked.

  Maggie snickered. I was about to throw my last pancake at her amused face.

  She’s My Spot of Sunshine in Life

  CHAPTER 21

  RILEY

  My parents hadn’t really questioned Brady picking me up to go to Birmingham for the day. I gave them the reason why Brady needed to go, but neither looked as if they believed it. I wondered myself if that was really the reason. I figured Nashville had just as good shopping as Birmingham. I could assume that he had found a pair in Birmingham. However, the idea that he was making up this excuse to spend the day with me made my heart do funny things. I liked it. Again I was feeling too much, and I really needed to be more cautious.

  I didn’t let Dad talk too long to Brady when he arrived. He of course told him good game and said he wished he’d seen it. I had pushed him out the door and escaped before Dad could say too much else. I never knew what was going to come out of his mouth.

  Brady’s truck wasn’t what I assumed a teenage guy’s truck to be like inside. For starters, it was clean. No trash on the floorboard, it didn’t stink like a locker room, and it wasn’t even dusty on the dash. He kept it really nice.

  “Do you get your truck detailed often?” I asked as I looked around at the cleanliness for the first time. The last two times I was in this truck I was preoccupied and hadn’t really paid attention.

  “My dad would take this truck away from me if I paid someone to clean it,” Brady said, sounding amused. “He’d also take it away from me if I didn’t keep it spotless.”

  Interesting. He was the football star, but that didn’t give him special treatment from his parents. I would have thought otherwise. Especially in this town. I imagined he had people begging to clean his truck for free.

  “Sounds like my dad. He expects me to do my part. Not that I wouldn’t anyway, but I know if I slack off he is there to remind me to get my ass in gear.”

  Brady chuckled. “Yeah. I know that feeling.”

  We were quiet then for a few minutes. I didn’t feel the need to talk just to make conversation. There were plenty of things I could ask him. Like why were we really going to Birmingham? But for now I wasn’t doing that. I’d enjoy the ride and being out of the house with someone my age. It had been two years since I’d done anything like this.

  It made me feel older than I was. Brady didn’t make me feel old, though. He wasn’t blaring music and talking about himself. That was how I remembered guys my age. But then I wasn’t used to the way they aged. My only experience was watching television shows and movies. This was much more pleasant than I had expected.

  I didn’t want to enjoy it too much because the fact that this could all end abruptly was there. Hanging in the distance. When it came down to it, I didn’t expect Brady to choose me over Gunner. And that would be the outcome when Gunner found out. Our town was small, and for a couple weeks we could keep our friendship hidden, but it would come out. Brady was being optimistic. He believed it would all work out.

  I’d lived through hell. I knew how it all ended. Hopefulness and optimism were things I’d grown out of.

  “When is the last time you’ve been to Birmingham?” he asked.

  Good question. I wasn’t sure. “Years, I guess. I can’t even remember.”

  “Did you go to school when you moved away?”

  I shook my head and stared out the window. “No. After leaving, I wasn’t brave enough to face more teenagers and their judgment about my pregnancy. I began homeschooling then.”

  He didn’t respond right away, and I wished we hadn’t gotten on this topic. It was awkward for him, I guess. And not something I liked to talk about.

  “Wasn’t that lonely?”

  He had no idea. “Yeah, but then Bryony was born and she changed my world.”

  That was the truth. Before her birth I had been depressed. My world was lost, and I didn’t think I’d ever smile again. Being fifteen and pregnant was terrifying. Even if you had the support of your parents.

  “You’re a good mom. You make it look easy, even though I know it can’t be.”

  Bryony made it easy. She was such a good baby. It was almost like she was born knowing I needed easy. The moment they laid her on my chest I started to cry. Not because I was scared or sad but because she was mine. Perfect, beautiful, and healthy. I’d brought a life into this world, and nothing I ever did after that would be as important.

  “She’s my spot of sunshine in life,” I replied. She was worth every teenage moment lost. I wouldn’t trade her to get any of it back. I would never suggest being a teen mom to someone, because it wasn’t a life choice. But when there is no option and it’s placed upon you, you then learn to survive and make the best of it. Bryony was definitely the best.

  “Are you going to just graduate from your online homeschooling courses? Or have you considered going back to school?”

  I never considered it. Nor could I. “I have responsibilities that won’t change. My parents need my help with my grandmother, and then there is Bryony. I don’t want her in a day care. She needs me.”

  “I wonder if any of the girls at school would think the same way you do. Somehow I doubt it,” he replied. “I respect that.”

  I wasn’t really after his respect, but I didn’t say that. I did this for my family because I loved them. Not to get a pat on the back.

  “So tell me about these boots and why you need them this badly,” I said, changing the subject off me.

  Finally turning my attention from the road to my right, I looked over at him. He had a small grin on his face. “They’re just some I want.”

  “Okay . . . well, you can’t order them online or go to Nashville to find them?”

  His grin got a little bigger. “I could. But then I wouldn’t have a reason to get you far enough away from Lawton so we could enjoy ourselves for the day.”

  “Are you saying this trip is so we can hang out?” I asked, my heart doing that silly little squeeze and flutter.

  He glanced over at me. “Yeah. I guess it is.”

  I didn’t ask any more. That was enough. Enough to make me forget this was going to end too. Most good things did.

  She’s with Me

  CHAPTER 22

  BRADY

  Our conversation became easy, and the two hours didn’t seem that long at all. When Riley laughed, I wanted to soak it in. The sound of it was . . . nice. No, it was more than nice. I craved it. I found myself trying to coax a laugh from her. Anything to hear her and watch her face light up.

  I received a few texts, and each one I ignored. Gunner’s, West’s, and Asa’s had been expected. The one from Ivy hadn’t, but I ignore hers normally anyway. Today I wasn’t living in that world. I was living in the world I chose to live in.

  “I’ve never had barbecue this good,” Riley said as she wiped her mouth with a napkin. I couldn’t think of one girl I’d ever dated that would have chosen a barbecue place to eat and then ordered ribs covered in sauce. Most of them ate things that weren’t messy. But Riley was enjoying her food. Getting sauce all over her hands and face didn’t bother her at all.

  Seeing her laugh at the mess she was making was cute. I wanted to sit here all day and experience this. I picked up another hot wing and cleaned the bone. Normally I was a cleaner eater because my date was. But with Riley I felt like I could eat as if she were one of the guys. Although she looked nothing like one of the guys.

  If girls realized how attractive it was to be so free and happy about something as simple as some ribs, they’d lighten up a bit. The guys two tables over from us kept checking Riley out, and although it was annoying that they didn’t seem to mind that she was with me, I couldn’t actually blame them.

  I was having a hard time taking my eyes off her too.

  “I’m going to have to go wash my face in the bathroom after this,” she said with a smile. “Bryony loves ribs. I wish she were here for these.”

  I’d offer to take some back with us, but they’d be bad by the time we finished our day and drove the two hours back.

  “I could grill some for her sometime. Y’all could come over for dinner.”

  Riley paused for a moment and a mix of emotions flashed in her eyes. She put a rib down and let out a small sigh. “Yeah, maybe.”

  What was that about? She seemed almost upset by my offer, or disappointed.

  “Did I say something wrong?”

  She was looking down at her ribs then lifted her eyes to mine. “I don’t live in a fantasy world, Brady. I’ve had too much reality for that. Truth is, when your friends find out that you’re spending time with me, it will stop. Because you’ll have to choose. They’ll make you. And I don’t expect you to choose me.”

  What the hell did that mean? I wasn’t going to have to choose anyone. I was my own man, dammit, and if I wanted to pick my friends, I could. I didn’t need anyone’s permission.

  “I’m not like that. I’d have hoped you knew that already. No one makes me do anything.”

  She shrugged and cleaned her hands off on a napkin. “It’s not a bad thing. It just is what it is. Here we have no judgment, and I enjoy being with you. I like this. Having a friend. But I’m not delusional. I know everyone in Lawton hates me and thinks I’m a liar. Well, everyone but you.”

  I had never been openly hated. I wondered what that felt like. How painful and unfair it must be. My anger rose up at all of them. Everyone who had talked bad about her. Everyone who had judged her or been cruel to her. Then I admitted to myself the hardest part: I was one of those everyones. Maybe not now, but I had been once. I wasn’t any better.

  “I’m sorry,” I said honestly.

  She smiled. “For being my friend?”

  “No. For turning on you when I did.”

  The smile on her face faded. “We were young. You thought what everyone else did. Besides, I ran out of town. It made me look even more guilty. If I had stayed, life for my family would have just gotten worse, but the fact is we left. People feel sorry for my parents because of me. But these people’ll always hate me. The good thing is I won’t always be there. I’ll get out and make my own way in life soon enough. In a town where no one knows me and I can start fresh. Me and Bryony.”

  The image of Riley taking Bryony to some town far away and building a life, getting a job, paying bills, raising her daughter, all while I was off throwing a football and chasing my dream, seemed unfair. So much of her life seemed unfair. She’d missed high school and she’d miss college.

  “What was your dream, when you were younger?” I asked her. I didn’t want to say before Bryony, because that sounded cold. Although that was what I wanted to know.

  “You mean before I became a mom?” She was smiling as if she read my mind. “I wanted to be a vet.”

  “So you love animals,” I said, feeling my heart ache for the girl who wouldn’t be able to chase her dream the way I would.

  “Yes. I do. I can’t take care of one now because I can’t afford it. But when Bryony and I have our own place, we will have dogs and cats. Maybe even goats if I get enough land.”

  “Could you still go to college to be a vet?”

  She shook her head. “No, I need a job that makes enough to support me and Bryony. I have plans. I want to make a difference in girls’ lives like me one day. The teen mom support group I went to got me through tough times. My dream is to do that for young girls. Show them there is happiness in their future. Life isn’t over.”

  She didn’t say it with bitterness or anger. Instead she took a drink of her sweet tea and stood up. “I need to go wash myself off,” she explained before walking to the back of the restaurant to the restrooms.

  Why did I want her to have that dream so badly? She seemed happy enough, and I had never wanted to fix anyone’s problems as much as I wanted to fix hers. She made me want to protect her and stand by her. Even though she may have been one of the toughest people I’d ever met. If she knew what I was thinking, she’d tell me to stop. She had everything under control.

  Maybe that was why I wanted to help her so much. Because she didn’t want help. She wanted to make her own way. And I knew she could.

  “Hey, y’all just friends or is she with you?” one of the guys asked from the other table.

  I turned to look at him, and his obvious interest pissed me off. Sure, I understood it, but I was jealous. Me. Jealous. Not the kind I felt with Gunner and Willa, but the kind that made me want to stake my claim and threaten him.

  “She’s with me,” I replied in a cold tone.

  The guy looked let down. “Damn” was his response.

  I Didn’t Know Friends Kissed Like That

  CHAPTER 23

  RILEY

  It was after six when Brady pulled into my driveway. I had kept in contact with my mom all day, and Bryony had been fine. As much as I missed her, this little getaway had been needed. I was thankful Brady had thought of it.

  I turned to tell him thank you and how much I enjoyed our day when he pulled to a stop, but his gaze was already locked on me. The look in his eyes was different, and I recognized it. Or at least my body did. My heart had picked up its pace, and I felt flushed from anticipation.

  Before I could get too nervous or think this through, he leaned over and his right hand cupped my cheek just as he leaned his head down until his lips touched mine. It wasn’t controlling or possessive. It wasn’t like a hungry teenage boy trying to attack me. It was sweet. Like he wanted to savor this.

  I moved my body closer to his and opened my mouth beneath his, hoping that wasn’t too much too soon. Although this was not how I expected this day to end. Not that deep down I hadn’t wanted it. Because I had. I knew that. It was just actually having it happen was different. It was exciting and terrifying. Reality had been much different in my head. I had even been debating giving him a hug earlier, not realizing he was planning on this.