Winning my Best Friend's Girl - Piper Rayne Page 0,40
is in that thing all the time.”
I shake my head and blow out a breath. “Trust me, you’re not their most faithful reader. I wish that thing would disappear.”
I place what she gave me on top of the cooler, grab both handles, and head to the stairs.
“So no one knows who writes it?”
I look over my shoulder. “You do know Stella’s from Lake Starlight too? You could ask her all this.”
“Oh, that girl is tight-lipped.”
We reach the door and I step to the side, waiting for her to open it for me. “You’re seriously telling me she never told you anything about us?”
She dodges eye contact.
I knew it. “That’s what I thought.”
Shutting the door, she rushes to catch up to me in the kitchen. “Believe me, whoever it is who writes Buzz Wheel knows a helluva lot more than she told me.” After opening the cooler, she takes things out and places them on the counter.
“The entire town would be happy to answer any questions you might have. Set up a booth in the middle of the gazebo with a sign that says, ‘Give me the gossip on Stella Harrison and Kingston Bailey.’ People will share and they won’t even need you to do anything for them. They like to discuss my turmoil.”
She shifts her attention from the fridge to the cooler. I glance inside to see the girl has everything from bacon to chicken to eggs and wine coolers.
“Let us chip in for some of this?” I shift my weight to pull my wallet out of my back pocket.
“Who said I was sharing?”
“Interesting. I’m wondering which of us would win if the two of us had an eating contest.”
She points at herself. “I would.”
“You would what?” Stella comes in from the deck and Lou follows, a towel wrapped around his waist. Probably to cover up his bulge.
“Eat Kingston under the table,” Allie says with a megawatt grin.
Stella raises her eyebrows at me. “He eats large pizzas on the regular.”
I raise my hand for a high five. “Looks like your girl is Team Kingston.”
Allie pretends to be offended. “Whatever. I know my worth.”
We all laugh, and I shift my attention back to Stella. “You never told me that nosey Allie’s been spying on our town gossip blog.”
“Yeah, she thinks Grandma Dori is famous. For an entire hour of the drive up here, I was quizzed all about your family.”
“The Baileys are fucking awesome,” Lou says.
“Thanks, man. I like them.” I give him an appreciative smile.
“You’ve met the Baileys!” Allie screams, pointing an accusatory finger at Lou and then at me. “I want an introduction.”
I catch Stella’s eye, and we share a moment of understanding. I didn’t always appreciate my family. Stella taught me to do that.
Sixteen
Kingston
Eighteen Years Old
I walk down the dock. Only the lights of the small boats still out on Lake Starlight are visible on the water. Sitting on the edge, my feet dangle and I itch to jump in. Submerge myself and come out on the other side of the lake. I’d rather do anything other than what I’m about to do.
A burst of colorful light breaks through the night sky and reflects down onto the calm water of the lake. Idiots on the boats are setting off fireworks.
Footsteps sound behind me on the wooden dock, but I refrain from looking over my shoulder. Stella picked a place we both knew would be empty after all the families left the beach.
She’s quiet and says nothing until she’s next to me, just like she was that night months earlier when the water was freezing.
“Hi,” she says. “Thanks for meeting me.”
“You knew I would.”
She nods, then she’s quiet for a few minutes. “Have you talked to Owen?”
The last person I want to talk about is Owen.
“No.” I glance at my arm.
Although it’s healed now and I’m done with the sling, I won’t be attending Bentley University on a scholarship. The fact that the injury happened from a fight at a party meant to them, I didn’t have the character to play for them. The coach said his hands were tied—it was the athletic director’s decision. Didn’t help any that last year, a guy on the football team hit his girlfriend at a party, so there’s a low tolerance for bullshit. Austin argued that it wasn’t close to the same thing and tried to explain the dynamics of the fucked-up threesome between Stella, Owen, and me, but all they heard was drama and trouble.