to lead us to the party. “Hey, everyone. This is Anderson, Jurnee’s friend. He’s from New York, so let’s show him how we tailgate here in East Lansing.”
Floyd and Elena were the first to greet us. Elena pulled me in for a hug, “Girl, he is one fine piece–”
“He’s nice.” Squeezing her hard, I caught Floyd introducing Anderson to my tribe with Deegan watching him from the opposite side of the spot. There was a petite blond happily chatting away on his lap as locked his gaze on me.
Deegan had been the closest thing to a boyfriend I had since leaving college. Although, boyfriend is a strong word. For two years, Deegan and I did the whole ‘couple’ thing. But when someone called him my boyfriend at my birthday party two years ago, he laughed and said I wasn’t girlfriend material. That didn’t explain why the hell he was here.
Lansing was a very small town and seeing him around had been tough. I had spent the two years since we were together searching for why I wasn’t exactly relationship material. Old doubts about myself arose upon seeing him but disappeared when Anderson wrapped his arms around me. This man is way more than I dared hope for. How am I going to not mess this up?
“I guess we have to get this over with. Ready?”
Anderson nodded and grabbed my hand. “You lead. I’ll follow.”
We stepped over to Deegan and his date. I extended my hand to the girl. Her smile slipped as she looked up at us.
“Hi. I’m Jurnee, and this is Anderson.” Anderson gave her a nod. “Anderson, this is Deegan. I’m sorry. I don’t know your name.”
“Hailey.” She announced as she bounced up and down on Deegan’s lap. Her words slurred as she continued, “Nice to meet you.”
“Jurnee,” Deegan said, but his eyes were on Anderson.
“Deegan, thanks for coming to my tailgate.”
His gaze returned to me. He took a drink and said, “They said you weren’t going to be here.”
“I couldn’t have her miss seeing her favorite team’s homecoming.” Anderson winked as I looked up at him. “You mentioned food. Shall we?”
“Of course.” I tugged at him to follow me, “You guys have fun. Hailey, very nice to meet you.”
We spent the rest of the tailgate on the opposite side to Deegan and Hailey. Anderson ate so much food that he blamed it for us losing the corn hole game. Elena and I started to clean up the food while the guys started the next game.
Elena was my best friend at work. I introduced her to Floyd at a tailgate a few years ago, and they had been the cutest couple since. At first, she wouldn’t go out with him because she thought I had feelings for him. Floyd and I both stated we were more like siblings, and I encouraged her to go on a date.
Elena smiled, “He’s really cute. Like, beautiful.”
I stopped packing food into the cooler and looked over at Anderson chatting it up with Floyd and Daryl. “He’s pretty good looking, isn’t he?”
Anderson glanced over at me, and a smile spread across his face. I returned the smile and went back to packing up the food.
“He’s been watching you the entire time. Are you guys together?” She asked while folding the tablecloth. “Okay. Dumb question. Of course you are. You brought him home with you.”
I froze. Panic spread through me like a California wildfire in August. “Elena, I hadn’t thought about the fact that I brought him home.”
“Girl, breathe.”
“We aren’t together. I mean, he’s here, and we have been spending some time together, but we haven’t talked about being in a relationship.”
“Guess what, he agreed to come to Michigan. I think you guys are in more of a relationship than you might think.”
Anderson’s words ‘I don’t date’ replayed in my mind. I cringed at the realization that our practice dating had taken on a real dating feel. That thought and the two cups of tailgate punch made me feel light-headed, and I grabbed for the edge of the table to steady myself.
“Hey, are you okay?” The concern in her voice took me off guard. “Sit down. Right here.”
Anderson was standing over me before my ass hit the chair. “What’s wrong?”
“It looked like she was going to fall,” Elena answered.
“I’m fine.” I tried to stand up, but both of them insisted I remain seated for a few minutes. “I need to break this place down if we’re going to get to the seats before kickoff.”