Chapter Twenty Three
Raleigh
“I think he’s going to break up with me,” I mutter to Serenity as we make our way to the parking lot after fourth period.
Something is different with Lincoln. I don’t know what happened, maybe it was because I opened my big mouth and opened up to him, but whatever the reasoning behind it, he’s putting distance between us. He keeps putting off us spending time together, coming up with excuses about being too busy because of one reason or another and I just know that it’s my fault.
Stopping in her tracks, causing the people behind us to move around her, grumbling, she grasps ahold of my elbow and turns me to look at her, “What do you mean? The boy is crazy about you.”
Sighing, I shake my head, “I don’t know. It’s just this gut feeling that I screwed things up somehow.”
“Has he said or done anything that would make you think that?” She asks, concern written all over her face.
“Yes‒no‒maybe.” Throwing my hands up in frustration, I grumble, “I don’t know. I thought things were good between us but now it’s like he doesn’t want anything to do with me.”
“He said that?” She snaps, clearly pissed.
“No,” I shake my head, trying to figure out how to explain it. “He’s jus—”
“Hey, Little Stew, you and your girl want to go and have lunch with me and the guys?” Brady Stevens asks, cutting me off as he wraps an arm around my shoulders.
I glance over at Serenity, only to find her looking from me to Brady with a mischievous look in her dark brown eyes that makes me immediately want to turn down Brady’s offer. But, before I get to say anything, Serenity answers for us.
“Heck yeah,” she says, throwing a wink my way. “Where are we going?”
Rubbing his thumb along the exposed skin at my collarbone, the action making me slightly uncomfortable, Brady glances back and forth between Ser and me, clearly trying to figure out what’s going on with us, but then with a shake of his head, he grins and nods at one of his boys standing a few feet away from us.
“Goob and I were thinking of going to The Shak. That alright with you ladies?” I pop a shoulder, not really caring where we eat. Serenity smiles, her eyes lighting up as she pulls her phone from her back pocket and holds it in front of her fiddling with it for a moment before she slips it back into her pocket, saying, “Sorry. The Shak sounds great. Let's go.”
We make our way to the parking lot, Brady keeping his arm around me the entire time, only removing it when we split off to go to our separate cars. Brady has always been big brotherly to me, walking me to class with his arm around me, inviting me and Serenity to lunch and stuff, but for whatever reason, today, it makes me slightly uncomfortable. I’m not sure if it’s because of the uncertainty over me and Lincoln's relationship or the glint in Ser’s eyes, but I find myself uncomfortable nonetheless.
As soon as we’re both seated in the car, I put the key in the ignition, turn it over, and then ask, “What are you scheming?”
“What?” she asks, pulling her attention from her phone screen to glance over at me.
“I know you’ve got some kind of plan formulating in that head of yours. So, what is it?” I say as I back out of my parking spot and then pull behind Brady’s truck as we get in line to leave the parking lot.
“It’s nothing you need to worry your pretty little head about,” She says, her face softening as she says, “Just trust me, okay?”
“Okay,” I mutter, as we pull out of the lot, turning right and then immediately left just past the football field.
We pull into the parking lot of The Shak just after Brady, parking next to him, and get out. He wraps his arm around my shoulders once more as Goob gets the door, holding it open for us. “Ladies first,” he says with a cheeky grin as he looks directly at Brady.
“Lady?” Brady play scoffs, “You wouldn’t be able to handle this lady,” he teases as he reaches down with his free hand and grabs ahold of his crotch, emphasizing his meaning.
We get to our table and I slide in first, taking a seat next to the wall. Serenity slides in on the other side, sitting across from me, earning a glare from me when Brady settles in next to me, his arm wrapping around my shoulders once more.
Pulling her phone out again, she holds it in front of her, and this time I have no doubt that she’s snapping pictures of me with Brady’s arm around me. But, I don’t understand why.
She glances up, catching me as I squint my eyes at her, trying to figure out what her angle is when she just grins and then mouths the words *trust me*.
I give her a slight nod, letting her know that I do, and then turn my attention to the conversation going on between the guys.
“—hope we get a chance to go up against them at Playoffs again this year,” Hudson says from the end of the table.
“They’re definitely going to be there, so I don’t see why we wouldn't.” Brady says then turns his attention from the guys to me and asks, “Do you know what you’re going to order?”
“Yeah.” Just then the waitress comes over and begins taking our orders.
When it’s my turn, I tell her that I’d like a crispy chicken high-roller with ranch and a side of barbeque sauce and a sweet tea. Once she’s finished taking all of our orders, she heads off and conversations about the upcoming playoffs continue.
It doesn’t take long to get our food, and then the previously loud table is eerily quiet as we all stuff our faces.
“Try this,” Brady says, holding out what looks like an eggroll dipped in ranch. Leaning in, I take a bite, my eyes widening and I moan in satisfaction as an explosion of flavor hits my tastebuds.
“Oh my Jesus, that is good,” I say, covering my mouth with my hand as I finish chewing, then ask, “What is that?”
“A Southwest Eggroll,” he’s grinning as he dips it in ranch once more and takes a bite. Around the mouthful, he says, “So freaking good.”
“Shit,” Hudson whisper shouts. “Guys, we have ten minutes to get back. We gotta go.”
“Shit!” Brady mutters, as he quickly begins shoving his food into his mouth. “We can’t risk being late or we may get benched for playoffs.” He explains as all the guys stand up at once and begin scooting across the bench seat and making their way toward the front to pay. Before he walks away, Brady plants his hand on the table and says, “Thank you for having lunch with me—us. Thanks for having lunch with us.” His focus is directed solely at me and he's giving me a look that makes me question if maybe his affection that I thought of as brotherly, hasn’t been so much that of a brother's after all. “I’ll text you later,” he says and then he walks away.
“Oh, girl,” Serenity gasps, “If things don’t work out with Lincoln, I’m thinking *that* boy will be the first to try to help you forget all about him.”
I give her a small smile, suddenly no longer having an appetite for my lunch because as her words sink in, all I can think is, *But I don’t want to forget about him.*
Log in with Google Account
Chapters
Favorite
Settings
