On The Rebound (Steinbeck U #1) - L.A. Cotton Page 0,89
held me at arm’s length. “Shooters.”
“Oh, I’m not sure—”
“Relax, I won’t let you get blitzed like you did at the party.”
God, the party.
It felt like a lifetime away, when in reality, it had barely even been a month. And in that time, I’d seen my father once for a few minutes and my brother only long enough to give him a small piece of my mind.
Josie flagged Xavier down and leaned over the bar to whisper something to him. His brows furrowed but then he said, “Yeah, yeah, okay.”
I dried my eyes on my SU hoodie sleeve. It was warm out, but the bar had AC and I’d been cold the last time we were here. “What are we getting?” I asked.
Josie smirked at me and chuckled. “You’ll see.”
“Do you know what else I hate?” I was draped all over Josie, the room spinning as I tried to hold my head upright. “Pickles,” I hiccoughed. “I really hate pickles.”
“Not the best idea you’ve ever had, Jos.”
I squinted up to find Xavier glaring at me. “Xavier,” I shrieked. “Look, Jos, it’s Xavier. I bet Xav would make a good big brother. He wouldn’t abandon me and then pretend I didn’t exist, would you Xavy wavy.” I tapped my hands against his stubbled cheeks.
“Yeah, lighten up, Xavier,” Josie added. “You sound like my brother.”
“Which one?” I asked, hiccoughing again.
She squinted her eyes, pondering the answer. “Both of them. Definitely both of them. God, big brothers suck.”
“That’s it, I’m cutting you off.” Xavier started clearing up our drinks. “Both of you.”
“What?” Josie’s shrill voice set my teeth on edge. “I’m fine. Tell him, Calli. Tell him I’m fine.”
“She’s fine... I mean look at her... whoa, there’s like two of you.” I blinked trying to make everything go back to normal.
“Fuck,” Xavier grumbled. “You two, don’t move. I mean it, Josie. Don’t pull any teenage escape bullshit.” He jabbed his finger at her.
“Ooh he’s so growly, like a bear.” I snickered.
“I bet he’s calling the cavalry,” she grumbled.
“Cavalry?”
“Yup, Joel.”
“Oh no!” My eyes almost bugged. I didn’t want Joel to see me like this. In fact, I didn’t want to see him at all. I’d done a horrible thing leading him on.
I was a bad person, a horrible, bad person.
“This wasn’t supposed to happen,” I groaned into the crook of my arm.
“We weren’t supposed to get drunk?” Josie asked.
“No! I wasn’t supposed to be a horrible person to your brother.”
“Ah, don’t worry about Joely. He soon got over you, banging one of the cheerleaders at a party.”
“He did that?”
“Oh shiiiit, did I say that out loud?” She clapped a hand over her eyes.
“He really did that?” My stomach sank.
Josie nodded. “The night of the fair.” Sympathy shone in her eyes as she peeled her fingers away. “I’m so sorry.”
“I deserve it.”
“Don’t talk crazy. You had your reasons. Besides, he has that stupid rule.”
“You mean the ‘don’t touch a teammate’s sister’ rule?”
“Yes, it’s a stupid, stupid rule. What if the sister is hot?” She flung her arm wide. “What if she’s clever and smart and has amazing tongue tricks? What if she can do this incredible thing with her—”
“I get it, I get it. She’s a catch.”
“Damn right, she’s a catch. Any teammate would be a lucky guy to snag her.”
“Brad is—”
“Don’t.” She smushed my lips together with her fingers. “Don’t you dare say it. I knew, I fucking knew he was a Scorpion, and I went there anyway and then I went and caught all these stupid feelings... dammit, Calli, what am I going to do? Joel is going to lose his shit if he ever finds out.”
“I’m too drunk to give you any advice.” My head hung on my shoulders like a limp noodle. “Not that I have any. I mean look at me. I’ve been sneaking around with Zach—”
Josie’s eyes widened, but she wasn’t looking me at me anymore. She was looking over my shoulder. “You need to revisit the part where you just said you’ve been sneaking around with Zach.” She smirked.
I didn’t need to turn around to see him, I felt him. The hairs along the back of my neck prickled with awareness as I inhaled a shaky breath.
“You’re not Joel,” Josie said bluntly.
“He was... busy. I said I’d come.”
“I bet you did.” She shot me a knowing glance.
“So what is this exactly?”
I finally found the courage to turn around and face him. His eyes glittered with something or maybe it was just the alcohol swimming through my veins.