Under the Lights (The Field Party #2) - Abbi Glines Page 0,50

shit. My father wants to give Rhett everything. My mother is furious. Lots of yelling and fighting. Rhett left and hasn’t returned my calls.”

Well hell. That sucked. Life for Gunner had mostly always sucked at home. He had never had it good there. That was something I never envied of Gunner. I hadn’t asked about his home life in years. Somewhere along the way our friendship had changed. We talked football and girls but nothing deeper. Willa coming back had given him something he and I had lost. A real friendship. The jealous bite that caused made me feel guilty. He had needed someone, and she’d been there. I hadn’t.

This was typical of his sorry excuse for a dad, but I hated he was dealing with it. “You stay at Ms. Ames’s last night?” I asked, remembering the blanket and pillow on the sofa.

He nodded. “Yeah. Couldn’t go home.”

Willa remained quiet as she sat there. I was torn about her being who he had run to. Being jealous of Gunner telling her instead of me. But was it because I wanted Willa or she was stepping in on my friendship? I wasn’t really sure.

When she’d come into our lives as kids, I hadn’t liked her right away. Gunner had liked her too much, and I didn’t want her taking my friend away. Over time we’d all become close, and I’d wanted Willa around just as much as Gunner. But we weren’t kids anymore.

“You coming to practice today?” I asked him.

He nodded. “I need to hit someone. We were both going to check in right before lunch. I just needed some time this morning.”

I could understand that. Gunner’s relationship with his parents had never made sense to me. My mom and dad were always there when I needed them and even when I didn’t. Mom made cookies and let me have the guys over to watch the game videos. Dad was always there cheering me on and believing in me. I was who I was because of my parents. That’s why I always understood Gunner’s stupid decisions. He was who he was because of his.

I was lucky in ways Gunner would never experience. Money wasn’t everything in the world. Being friends with Gunner had taught me that. I didn’t want his life. Not any of it. No amount of money and power made that life desirable.

“You know you’re welcome at my house any time you want. I’ve got two beds up in that attic room of mine. One is yours if you need it. Just say the word. Mom would love to stuff you with cookies.”

A smile tugged at Gunner’s lips. “Thanks. I’ll remember that.” For the first time in years I felt that old friendship ease back into place. The one where we knew we had each other if we didn’t have anyone else. And it always made it all right.

I stood up, walked over, and slapped him on the back. “If you need to talk, I’m here.”

Gunner nodded.

I glanced over at Willa, who was watching us both. “You need a ride to school? Or you going to stay with Gunner until he comes?” I wanted her to ride with me so we could talk. About Gunner and the possibility of me taking her to homecoming. I wasn’t sure where she stood with Gunner. I didn’t think he was ready for serious or ever would be. If this was just a friendship with them like we all once had, I wanted to explore more with her. I was going to break it off with Ivy today. She’d texted me fifteen times last night and called ten. She was out of hand, and I needed to end things.

She looked at Gunner for an answer. I didn’t want that to sting, but it did. Guess I was jealous of her giving him attention after all.

“She’ll come with me,” Gunner piped up.

It wasn’t like I could push it. Gunner was having a hard time, and he wanted Willa to make him feel better. I just didn’t like the idea of him hurting Willa for selfish reasons. Using her for someone to listen to and lean on but not giving anything back in return. She’d been hurt. It was obvious, and Gunner had too much emotional turmoil to help someone else with theirs.

“I’ll see y’all at lunch then” was all I could say before I turned and headed back down the ladder. If she wanted him, I couldn’t stop it, but I was afraid