Under the Lights (The Field Party #2) - Abbi Glines Page 0,23

get food. They would sit at the table in the dining room, and Ms. Ames would serve them their meal. I, however, had started eating in here with Willa when we were kids. I liked it better at the small, round table that was always set whenever I walked in.

“Morning, boy,” Ms. Ames said with real affection in her voice. “’Bout time you got down here. You’re gonna be late. I put your coffee in a travel mug, and here’s your two blueberry muffins and a few slices of bacon. Don’t eat and drive. Just eat it quick before you go.”

I was in a bigger hurry than she realized. I had to get Willa and get us both to school on time. “I’ll eat in first period,” I told her, taking the food and coffee from her hands.

She frowned but nodded. “Okay then. You drive safe.”

“Will do,” I assured her.

My mother wouldn’t wake for another two hours. It was a blessing. Having to face her before I’d had coffee every morning would suck. I never saw the man in the office, and I liked to keep it that way. One of the reasons I never showed for family meals. I told Mom that dinner in the kitchen was easier on my schedule for football and homework. It was complete bullshit, but for the most part it worked.

“Willa doing okay at school? You seen her?”

“She’s doing just fine from what I’ve seen, but I’ll watch out for her,” I replied, then hurried out the door. I wanted time with Willa, and the more I wasted in the house chatting up her nonna the less I’d have on my ride to school with her.

She made me remember a happier time. A simple, easy friendship I no longer knew. I wanted it back. Being with her hadn’t just been easy, it had made me feel good. It still did. My chest felt lighter, and I looked forward to being around her. No one calmed me and excited me at the same time the way Willa did.

I took a long swig of my coffee and let it burn my throat on the way down before starting my truck and making my way to Ms. Ames’s house the long way in case anyone was watching.

Willa was outside at the end of her driveway, with the brown backpack she carried on one shoulder and a bottle of water in her other hand. Her blond hair was dancing in the breeze as the early morning sun illuminated her. She really was gorgeous. It sucked that I needed her friendship too much to ruin it by getting to put my hands on her.

I stopped beside her and watched as she climbed inside and looked at my uneaten muffin and three slices of bacon on the napkin on my seat. Her hand reached out, and she snatched a slice, then took a bite before smiling at me. “Next time get her to give you more. She expects me to eat cereal since she leaves so early.”

I’d keep that in mind. “You can have the muffin. I’ve already eaten one of them. But leave me the rest of the bacon.”

She took a muffin and began eating like she was starving. I wasn’t sure a girl had ever eaten like that in front of me. Most didn’t eat in front of me at all, or in front of any guys for that matter.

“Ms. Ames starving you this week?” I asked, amused.

She nodded, then smiled. “I have a high metabolism, and I require food.”

“Someone needs to tell your nonna then. She should be sending you off with more than cereal for breakfast.”

She shrugged. “Why would I do that if I have you to smuggle it out to me from the big house? Y’all get the good stuff.”

I knew she meant the more expensive meals. My mother required uppity healthy shit that cost money and was bought at that organic grocery in Franklin. “Fine. I’ll keep you fed. But you owe me. I’ll collect when the time is right.”

She laughed, and although it didn’t fully touch her eyes, it was definitely a laugh. Something I wanted to hear more of. Willa had a really good laugh.

I Don’t Drink Alcohol

CHAPTER 15

BRADY

Taking Ivy to Asa’s birthday party didn’t help how she viewed our relationship. It also didn’t give me the opportunity to spend time with Willa. Who had shown up with Gunner. Not that they had stayed together. Gunner had taken off to the woods