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The Trouble With You 89
A loud knock startled us, and Asher pressed his face up against Cameron’s window. “Are you guys going to sit in there all morning?”Cameron groaned. “I’m sorry.” He mouthed at me, and I chuckled softly.“Me and Fee are waiting.”That had me craning my head around Cameron to find Flick standing to Asher’s side, looking like a deer caught in headlights. Shouldering the door, I climbed out of the truck and went around to meet my best friend.“Hi,” she said giving me a small smile. “This is... what is this exactly?”I went to reply, but Cameron climbed out and wrapped his arms around me, pulling me back against his chest. “Me and Hailee are together now.”Flick grinned while Asher’s eyes almost bugged out of his head. “Together, together? Or like fuck buddies together, because I thought—” His lips flattened at whatever Cameron was mouthing to him.I glanced back at Cameron and he dipped his head, capturing my lips in a soft kiss. “I apologize now for anything that might come out of his mo
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“Give me a second,” he said to me before guiding Miley down the hall just out of earshot. My stomach knotted as I watched them talk. They stood close, him staring down at her, her gazing up at him. She was gorgeous, lean and toned, an athlete for sure. And for as much as I didn’t want to feel jealous, it burned through me like acid.After a minute or two, Miley nodded and turned on her heel and walked off down the hall. Cameron approached me slowly, his eyes drinking me in. Trying to tell me things I couldn’t quite decipher.“So that’s Miley,” I said. “She’s pretty. Were the two of you, like, a thing?”“Hailee, don’t do this.” He let out a heavy sigh. “Miley is not important to me.”“But she was someone to you?”Cameron crowded me against the locker again, cupping my jaw, angling my face to his. “Listen to me when I say this. It’s you, I want. You, I need. Miley was someone to fill the void for a little while. But that’s all. Me and you, this, it’s real.” He lowered his head to mine.
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“I...” Flick was right. She always was. But it didn’t quell the sting of Mom’s betrayal. I think I was more hurt by the fact she’d lied all this time than the fact she’d had an affair.People had affairs all the time. I didn’t condone it, but she and Kent were adults. They knew what they were doing. Jason and I knowing wouldn’t have changed anything.But something told me, he was in no rush to forgive his dad.“And you and Jason, what’s going on there?”“Yeah, sister.” He appeared out of nowhere. “What is going on there?”Flick rolled her eyes at him, but he barely looked twice at her.“Don’t be a dick, Jason.”His hands went up. “I come in peace.” His eyes flicked over to where Cameron was. “How is he?”“Why don’t you ask him yourself?” There was no malice in my words. Cameron was right; life was too short. After sitting with him in the hospital waiting room while his mom underwent a life-saving craniotomy, I realized this grudge between me and Jason, the stuff with Thatcher, it didn
The Trouble With You 92
“Listen, Jase, I’m not sure Penn State is—”“Fuck Penn State. You’ve got to do what’s best for your family, I get it. It was always my dream anyway. But this year, it’s ours. I can do it without you, but honestly,”—Jase locked eyes on me—“I don’t want to.”“Worried you’re nothing without your star wide receiver?” I smirked.“Damn right I am. Kaiden is good but he’s no Fourteen.” He gave me a rare smile. “So what do you say, Chase? Are you in?”“I can’t promise anything but if Mom is okay and the doctors are happy with her progress then yeah, I’m in.” Coach had already said I could cut back on practice if I needed to.Relief settled in my best friend’s eyes, his shoulders sagging, and for the first time in my life, I saw Jason Ford lower his walls. He really meant every word he’d just said.And that meant something to me.Despite all the highs and lows and events of the last few weeks, the fact he’d finally managed to look past himself and football, meant something.“So, you and Hailee
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“Good to see you, man.” Grady came up to me, pulling me into a guy hug. “We heard about your mom. If there’s anything I can do.”“Thanks, man, I appreciate it,” I choked out the words over the lump in my throat. Kaiden was next, and then Mackey and some of the other sophomores. Each of them offered their words of support, each of them reminding me why I’d loved football so much, for as long as I could remember.Because it was more than just a game.It was more than the high of the win or the pain of the loss. It was brotherhood, and family, and knowing you had each other’s backs no matter what.“Hey.” Hailee appeared at my side when the guys finally let me have some space. “Are you okay?”“Actually yeah, I am.” I kissed her, not caring who could see us, earning us another round of applause. Her fingers twisted into my jersey and when she pulled away, the cutest blush was smattered along her cheeks. “Oh God, that was so embarrassing,” she murmured.“You’re a Raider now,” I said fightin
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He had to be wrong.Flick didn’t like my step-brother—there was nothing to like.“Are you excited?” Cameron’s lips brushed the shell of my ear, sending a trail of heat zipping through me. I clenched my legs together and his smooth chuckle washed over me.“Yeah, I’ve always wanted to see a Reba exhibition. I can’t believe Kent managed to score us tickets.”“You, tickets,” Jason said. “I told you already, I’m not going to some lame art show. Besides, Ash’s cousins are going to give us the tour, right?”“What?” I asked, looking from him to Cameron and back again. “You didn’t say anything about Asher’s cousins.” This trip had officially been hijacked by my step-brother.Fuck my life.We might have found a temporary truce since everything with Cameron’s mom happened, but I was under no illusion it would last. Too much had happened between us. But for a rare weekend, our differences weren’t front and center. Cameron needed this weekend, we all did. And nothing was going to ruin it.Not a da
The Trouble With You 95
And it occurred to me, maybe that’s where this strange thing they had going on was headed.“Fee, Hails, this is my cousin Riley and his sister Vaughn.”“Hey,” the guy said, his eyes running over Flick and then me. Cameron moved closer, whispering how much he’d missed me in my ear. Riley smirked. “She yours?”“Actually, he’s mine,” I said, clasping Cameron’s hand in mine.“Noted.” Riley’s smirk morphed into an easy smile. “And you?” He flicked his head to Flick who blushed deeply.“Me? I’m, uh, I’m very much... single,” she croaked out.“But you’ll be keeping your dirty paws off her.” Asher threw his arm around Riley and pulled him away.“If I didn’t know better,” Vaughn said as she took off after them. “I’d say my cousin has a crush.”“Hey, man, you okay?” Cameron asked Jason who was rooted to the spot, watching Vaughn’s retreating form.“What? Yeah, I’m good.” He glared at Flick. “You know she’s joking, right? Ash doesn’t want you. He just likes playing with you.”“I...” She snapped
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“What’s his deal?” Asher joined me, running his eyes over the crowd below.“Who, Jase? Just his usual bullshit.”“He likes her, you know,” he said as if it was nothing. “He won’t ever admit it, but he does. She gets under his skin.”I side-eyed him but he was too busy watching the dance floor... the girls.Felicity.He was watching Felicity.“And what about you?” I asked, uncertain whether this was water I wanted to tread. “Does she get under your skin?”He shrugged, playing it cool. But I saw the tightness around his jaw. He liked her. Fuck. “Doesn’t matter,” he said. “She’s not into me.”“And she’s into Jase?”“I’m not sure. She says she isn’t, but I catch her watching him sometimes with this look in her eye, and I’m pretty sure something happened with them the other week at my house.”“What look?”Asher expelled a shaky breath as he gripped the rail. “The look you used to give Hailee. The same look that says you want something even though you know it’s a really fucking bad idea.”“
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