Under the Lights (The Field Party #2) - Abbi Glines Page 0,43
sitting alone with my brown-paper-bag lunch that Nonna packed me and my book. It was quieter out there.
Gunner had come after me and asked me to come eat with him, so I said yes without thinking that through. I’d been passing their table on my way outside for days now, and I knew it was full of people like Ivy who I didn’t particularly care for.
Poppy would have started mimicking her by this point while whispering in my ear. I’d be giggling and unable to control my laughs from escaping. My heart squeezed at the thought. I missed her.
“The dance is fun. You should go,” Brady leaned down and whispered, then reached out to get a plate with cheese pizza and put it down in front of me. I only ate cheese pizza. There were three other choices being placed at the center of the table by what looked like overdressed mothers. I wasn’t sure what that was all about. I didn’t much care. What I did care about was that Brady had gotten me the correct one.
“Was that a lucky guess?” I asked him.
He flashed me a pleased grin. “No. I picked more than one pepperoni off your pizza back in the day Miss I-Only-Eat-Cheese-on-My-Pizza.”
He remembered. The silly feeling in my stomach should have gone away, but it got sillier and I hated that I was smiling now. My gaze fell to his lips, and I remembered how they had tasted. How much I had enjoyed it. How much I shouldn’t have enjoyed it.
“Didn’t think I’d remember that? I don’t forget much when it comes to you.” His voice was still low so that only I could hear him.
“You gonna feed her next?” Gunner asked loudly, and we both jumped.
I turned my gaze over to Gunner, who had a smile on his face as if he was joking, but it didn’t meet his eyes. He was glaring with that grin, and his glare was centered on the guy beside me. Tension grew thick, and I no longer looked forward to that piece of pizza on my plate.
“Just being polite,” Brady replied with a tightness in his tone that meant he knew Gunner was angry.
Gunner didn’t answer that. He rolled his eyes and reached for a plate, then looked down the table before nodding his head to someone. I didn’t understand him at all.
Seconds later I understood. Gunner had hailed him a female to entertain him with the nod of his head. A blonde with really long hair and boobs much larger than the average high school girl’s sashayed up to him, and he pulled his seat back so she could sit on his lap. Disgusting.
“That should cause a riot with Kimmie,” Brady muttered, and I turned my attention from Gunner and the girl to him.
“When he wants to cause a scene, he pits Serena and Kimmie against each other. It’s his immature way of inflating his ego.” Brady was whispering this so Gunner couldn’t hear him. The Gunner I knew from the tree house wasn’t this guy acting like a jock right now.
“Oh,” I replied, unwilling to bad-mouth him. He was still my friend, and I obviously trusted him enough to hold my biggest secret.
Serena giggled loudly, and I heard Gunner’s deep voice rumble as he said something to her in a low whisper. Jealousy slowly crept over me, and I hated it. I had nothing to be jealous of. Gunner was my friend. Keeping quiet and smiling at Brady or Maggie as they spoke to me was the best I could do. My emotions felt raw, and that was silly.
Lunch getting over couldn’t be fast enough.
Ivy began to demand Brady’s attention, and I focused on my pizza and wished again to be outside with my book at the picnic table. Once I finished my food, I would make an excuse to use the restroom, then bolt. I’d stay in there until the bell rang. I liked being alone. It gave me time to remember where I had been and where I needed to go. Being with Gunner and Brady made me forget at times, and I couldn’t forget. It wasn’t fair for me to forget.
Brady met me outside of our last period and asked me to sit with him, West, and Maggie. So I did. None of them mentioned my escape from lunch. Which was a relief. It made the last class speed by and kept my confusing thoughts off of Gunner for the time being. I had