by Piper Frost
I’m sitting on it.
“Sorry,” I giggle, shifting over to my brother’s side.
“Get your ass off me,” Gray blurts. Just to annoy him, I shove against him again and he curses before I move back to the middle, favoring Fenton’s side.
“Sorry for my brother. Again.” I grin at Fenton. “He’s a grumpy old man. Stick by me and you’ll be happier.” I look over at him and he’s smiling at me with a little head shake but doesn’t say anything.
“Stick by her and you’ll probably end up in jail,” my brother says. “Girl’s got a one track mind that leads straight to trouble.”
“I do not!” I might...
“So you’re telling me it wasn’t you that snuck out of the house at midnight last month to go skinny dipping in the lake and almost had the cops called ‘cause dad thought people were having a party?”
“You have no proof of that.” I turn and grin at Fenton. “Like I said. I’m more fun than he is.”
“Sounds like trouble.” Fenton chuckles. “I’m trying to graduate on time.” With a big grin, he beams at me, not looking away until Gray slams on the truck brakes after pulling into the parking lot.
“You’re buying!” Gray hollers as he jumps out of the cab.
“God, he’s such a jerk,” I mutter, letting Fenton help me out of the cab. “And you’re a gentleman. Thank you.”
Like I’ve seen him do a hundred times in school, he rubs the back of his neck, but he doesn’t respond, just follows me into Dotty’s. We find our crew taking up the back booths and there’s barely room enough for Gray to squeeze a chair in at the end of one of the tables.
“We can grab this one, it’s close enough.” I nod to the booth not too far and wait for Fenton to join me.
He slides in all the way, leaving room for someone else but before I can get in, Kirby swoops right in, almost knocking me down. Fenton flinches back before getting smashed by Kirby, then pushing him back a little.
“Thanks for saving me a spot, babe.” Kirby puckers his lips toward Fenton and again, Fenton drops his head, rubbing his neck.
That’s a weird habit, but cute.
“Not for you, but okay,” he mumbles before shooting me a glance.
Kirby smiles over at me. “No room, Paige, sorry. Or you can sit here.” He flings his hands toward his lap.
“Gross,” I grimace. “I’ve known you since Kindergarten. You really think I want that?” I snicker and slap him on the head. “Get up. That was my spot.”
“Ooo, you two on a romantic date?” He puckers toward Fenton again and I roll my eyes at how childish he is.
“No, man.” Fenton shoves him away. “But a lady sits before a guy.” Giving him a huge shove, Fenton gets him out of the booth. “Now move.”
“Thank you.” I pat Kirby’s cheek and slide into my spot. “There’s an empty bench right across from us, you know.” I nod towards the other side of our booth. “Feel free to join us. On this non-romantic date.”
“Who the fuck’s on a date?” Gray spins in his chair. He eyes the three of us and knocks on the table he’s sitting at before abandoning his chair and sliding in next to Kirby.
“These two. He’s bonin’ your sister, man.” Kirby thumbs toward us.
“I’m not,” Fenton blurts like Kirby’s even serious right now, but the way he’s looking at Gray is like he’s afraid my brother’s going to whoop his ass.
Gray’s eyebrows raise and I laugh.
“Har har, funny,” I say. “Still got my V-card, soooo....” My brother chokes on the drink he just took and Kirby busts out a laugh.
“Jesus, Paige,” Gray bitches. “Maybe it’s time we head home.”
“Oh come on, you know I’m just giving you a hard time. I wouldn’t talk to my bother about my sex life, don’t worry.” I grin and glance over at Fenton who scooted a little farther from me when I made it clear I’m still a virgin.
He quickly pulls out his phone and focuses on a text.
The waitress walks up and impatiently taps her pen on her notepad. She hates when so many of us come in at once. She’s such a bitch.
“I’m going with strawberry,” I say, breaking up the awkwardness at the table. “Gray, you getting chocolate again?”
“Yep.” He slaps the menu closed. “Fenton?” We look at him and he glances up from his phone.
“I think Strawberry is better. My brother thinks chocolate is better. What type of shake you want?”
“Uh.” He grabs the menu and looks. “I think I’m more of a mint person.” Pushing the menu back, he’s focused on his phone again.
I try my hardest not to glance at his screen. I really do. But when my eyes travel on their own, I see my last name on his screen.
“Who you talking to about me?” I nudge him playfully and he immediately locks his phone, shoving it in his pocket. “Woah, sorry,” I laugh. “Didn’t mean to interrupt an important conversation.”
“Just my brother. I was filling him in on what I was doing and with who.” He glances at Gray who’s too busy hollering across the diner at Shae and a few more of my friends I should be sitting with, but I opted for the new kid.
The cute new kid.
“How old’s your brother?” I spin my straw in my glass of water.
“He’s fifteen.” When he shifts to look at me, it appears I finally got his attention back. “He’s back at home. Didn’t move with me to my aunt’s, so I try to talk to him daily.”
“Why’d you move in with your aunt when your family stayed behind?” My brows furrow, trying to understand why he’d do that his senior year in high school. “I mean, don’t get me wrong, aunts are cool and all. I’ve got some pretty awesome ones, but I wouldn’t move my senior year just so I could live with them.”
“Uh.” There’s the neck rub again. “Not really a choice. Differences with my dad. He kinda made me. Told me I gotta get a job. Know anyone hiring?” He chuckles but won’t hold eye contact. Poor kid’s shier than a turtle hiding in his shell.
“Actually, you came to the right people.” I grin at him and kick Gray under the table.
“The hell?” he blurts, spinning back to face us. “Why? My shin hurts now!”
“Think dad’ll hire him as an extra hand on the ranch?” I nod towards Fenton, knowing the answer already. They always need more help, and Fenton’s unbelievably capable of doing the physical labor it takes to be a ranch hand. And I’d be happy because I could watch him working.
Gray looks at Fenton and nods.
“Yeah, actually. That’s not too bad of an idea. You lived on a farm, so you know the drill, right?”
“Yeah. Yeah, totally. I could help out if you think your dad’ll let me.” His eyes stay on Gray and I study his profile a minute. Nice, clean, defined jaw. Cute little nose, but not so cute it doesn’t go with his masculine features. His cheekbones are high and prominent. He lived on a farm? He’s too...pretty to be a cowboy. And I need to stop figuratively tracing the features on his face.
“I bet he’d love the extra help.” I smile, wanting his attention back on me. “So what type of farm did you live on?”
“Cattle.” He nods but keeps his eyes on the table. “Y’all got cattle?” He looks at Gray who’s no longer paying attention to us so he has to look at me for the answer.
“Yep. Started with cattle back with my grandpa. It’s huge now. All kinds of animals and crops. You should come by after practice tomorrow. We can show you the ropes and I’ll introduce you to my dad. He runs the joint with my older sister.”
“Yeah, cool. Uh, thanks.” He looks from the table to me but doesn’t look away like I expect him to. Finally we stare at each other. Lost to the world around us. God, his eyes are pretty.
“Right, Sterling?” Kirby slaps his head and Fenton blinks his eyes away from me, ruining the trance.
“Uh, sure, right,” he says to Kirby, not hearing what he asked but he probably cares as much as I do right now. “Hey, you and Gray twins?” He glances acros
s the table at my brother.
“No,” I say, giggling. “Not at all. He’s nine months older than me and the way our birthdays fall we ended up being in the same grade.”
“That’s cool. You got other siblings? Besides your older sister?” The way he’s turned toward me and staring makes it seem like he actually cares. None of the boys in this school care, but maybe it’s ‘cause he’s new and doesn’t know anything about us. Most everyone else in this town knows my family top to bottom and all the in-betweens.
“There are six of us. My parents are crazy.” I laugh, because in this day it sounds crazy to have such a big family. “Either that or they don’t know how to not have kids. Annie’s the oldest, then Gray, me, Leena, Griffin, and Garrison.” He’s watching me like he’s eating up every word I say. I’m not used to it...and I think I like it.
“That’s a big family.” He chuckles. “But it would be cool having that many people to be there, looking out for each other.” His eyes glance toward his phone.
“It’s kind of nice. But then there are times you feel like you can’t go anywhere in town without someone watching you and running their mouths back to Mom and Dad.” I glance at Gray who’s oblivious to our conversation right now. “But yeah, all in all it’s nice having people around that always have your back.” Fenton’s eyes are trained on his phone still and I’ve lost him again. “You only have the one brother, then?”
“Yeah.” He picks up his phone and shows me as if it's actually his brother. “Sutton.”
“He’s lucky to have as cool of a big brother as you. I’m stuck with that thing.” I nod towards Gray who’s finally picked up what we’re talking about.
“I’m the best big brother you’ll ever have.” He grabs my shake as soon as the waitress sets it in front of us and takes a huge sip then winces. “That’s still nasty.”
I growl and pull my glass from him. “Jerk. So like I said. Having siblings around is sometimes okay, I guess.” I look up at Fenton and he’s watching me with a smile on his face. I could sit here for hours and stare at that smile. “I like your smile,” I blurt and reach over and touch his dimple.
He laughs and rubs the back of his neck as his head dips. “Thanks. I do too. I mean yours. I like your smile. And lips.”
A barfing noise heaves over my shoulder and I look up at Kirby. “Gag me, you creeps. Gray, Fenton’s trying to bone your sister.”
“I’m not!” Fenton blurts and stands partially, wanting me to move. “Excuse me. Sorry, I...excuse me.”
I move off the bench and stand, watching him walk past us and head for the bathrooms. Tightening my fists at my side, I glare at Kirby.
“I’m going to murder you,” I growl.
He does an annoying laugh then flips my hair around before walking away.
“So,” Gray says, grinning at me. “You want to go to homecoming with Sterling?”
"I don’t have a date yet.” I shrug. “He’s a nice guy.” Turning to look over my shoulder, I bite my lip, watching him duck into the bathroom.
“I could get him to take you, ya know.”
I narrow my eyes at him. “I don’t need a pity date. If he wants to take me, he’ll ask.” Hopefully. Maybe I need to ask him, he seems kind of timid.
“I don’t know, the guy seems kind of shy. You think you could throw yourself on him any more tonight?” Kirby chuckles and I let out a low growl.
“I’m not throwing myself on him!” I snap.
“Sure.” He laughs and Gray pins him with a look that says get the fuck out of our conversation. He holds his hands up and walks away, leaving the two of us alone.
Thank god.
“Look, all I’m saying is Fenton’s a nice guy. He’s new and you two seem to have some weird connection I don’t want to think too much about.” Gray shivers like the thought of me liking someone is beyond gross. “But it’s going to be sad when he ends up taking someone else and you’re all alone on homecoming night.” He winks at me and slides out of the booth.
And I know where he’s going.
“Do not go in there, Gray,” I whisper hiss. “Don’t you dare guilt him into taking me to homecoming. I can get a date on my own!”
All he does is laugh and shove his hands in his pockets as he walks away. I watch Gray head for the bathroom and sink deeper into my seat. Kirby slides in and almost pushes me against the wall, then wraps his arm around the back of the bench.
“I’m still going to kill you,” I mutter, reaching for my shake.
“I’m just fucking around.” He bumps me. “Sterling’s cool. Not as cool as me and I’ve liked you since last year.” He shrugs. “But whatever, you do what you gotta do in these young high school days. I know we’ll end up married.” When he reaches to touch my hair, I pull back.
“Gross. Kirby, you like anything with tits and two legs that looks at you.” I shove him off and push him out of the booth. “That’s my brother’s spot. Get out.” I want it to be Fenton’s spot but apparently the attention we’re getting by sitting next to each other isn’t the kind Fenton wants right now.
I watch as Fenton and my brother come out of the bathroom. Fenton stares at me the entire walk back to the table and my stomach flutters with butterflies. I scoot over leaving an obvious spot for him but he slides in across from me. I knew that would happen. He reaches for his shake and I slide it over. As Gray sits next to me, he grins at me, then Fenton and I want to dump my shake on his head.
“So tomorrow night maybe we can hit up the lake? Our parents have a kickass guest lake house that no one uses anymore, we can have a couple people over and chill.”
Fenton looks from Gray to me, then back again. “Yeah, cool. Hey, think my brother could come?”
“Yeah, that’d be awesome!” I chirp. “Right, Gray?”
“Yeah sure, whatever.” He takes a drink of his shake. “We can get a bonfire goin’. It’ll be a good time.”
“Fenton’s brother is fifteen. He and Leena are close in age, maybe she can show him around town.”
“Yeah.” He chuckles with a roll of his eyes. “You guys about ready? Sunrise comes early, sis.”
“I can’t tomorrow, I need my beauty sleep.” I glance at Fenton and he’s smirking down at his milkshake.
“You know dad’s pulling your ass out of bed at five a.m. You’ve never gotten out of it before.” Gray slaps my head. “I’ll meet y’all outside.” He heads for the door and I turn to look at Fenton.
“We’re not much of a late-night crowd here. Sorry about that. My dad makes all the kids get up before the sun on the weekends and help out around the ranch.” I slide out of the bench after taking a final pull of my shake.
“Yeah, that’s cool. We have practice at noon anyway. Your uh...uncle? He doesn’t like to wake up before ten on the weekends he said.” He smirks as he stands and I laugh because that sounds like something he’d say, but not something that’s true. Not with a little baby girl that’s as hyper as he is.
“Grant’s a character. I’m still not sure how the high school hasn’t fired him. But he brings the wins so I guess they don’t care. Don’t let him intimidate you, he’s a huge softie.”
“Not sure about that. But he’s cool. He got a kid on the team? Or just Gray? Why’s he the coach?”
“Gray talked him into it. Our dad used to coach when we were younger, but he’s so busy with the ranch now he doesn’t have the time. And since Grant was a stay at home dad, Gray guilted him into it.”
Fenton chuckles then turns to the other guys from the team to say bye.
“Bye, Fenton,” Susan coos toward him and I almost growl at her, but I catch myself.
Fenton has no ties to me, he can talk to Susan if he wants. That thought makes me head for the door without saying bye to the rest of the girls on the squad. He catches up and reaches around me to push open the door. His hand lightly lands on my back, but when I step out, it’s gone and he’s a few feet away from me.
“Hey, so when do y’all practic
e? The cheerleaders.”
“Usually after school while you guys are running drills. Our captain doesn’t like weekend practices so I’ve got the next two days off.” I smile up at him.
“Oh cool. Grant usually tells us to focus or get run over so I haven’t noticed y’all that much. I don’t want to get run over.” He smirks down at me as I look back at him with a smile.
“I’m glad you came out with us tonight.”
“Me too.” Like the gentleman he is, he opens the truck door for me then steps back with a gesture.
“Thanks.” I hop in and my brother’s watching us with narrowed eyes.
“You guys are slow fucks, you know that?” He starts the engine as we all get buckled.
The ride home I somehow manage to favor Fenton’s side more and more so that by the time we’re dropping him off our legs are touching, but his hands have been tight in his lap the entire drive like he’s nervous. The guy is cute as sin, I just can’t picture he’s this shy with the ladies, but he’s been proving me wrong since I met him.
“Thanks for the ride, Gray,” he says opening the door. “I’ll see you guys tomorrow.”
“Bye!” I chirp louder than Gray’s goodbye.
When the door shuts I slide over to Fenton’s seat and buckle up. My brother clears his throat and I glance over after watching Fenton close his front door.
“What?” I say, pulling my phone out of my bag.
“So I saw Fenton in the bathroom.” Gray’s smirking and I slug him in the arm.
“You seriously better not have said anything!” I shriek and he laughs.
“That’s kinda awkward, being in a bathroom with a guy you know and not talking to him.” He rolls his eyes as he speeds home so we don’t miss curfew.
“I’m going to murder you. Murder. In your sleep tonight.”
He grins over at me and shakes his head. “You love me.” His reach is long as he ruffles my hair and I huff, crossing my arms over my chest and sinking deeper into the leather bench seat.
“I have to, you’re my brother,” I growl. “But I really didn’t think you’d say something, Gray. That’s humiliating!”
