Page 15 of A Better Place

“Doesn’t seem to have. I don’t think she even would have cared if we hadn’t come home early. She was just worried that James was going to leave.”

“Uncle James for the win! I knew I was her favorite!” James says and throws a fist in the air.

In the very short time I’ve known him, he’s seemed playful, funny and a generally happy and optimistic guy. It’s refreshing to be around.

“Don’t let Dean hear you say that,” Tess snorts.

“Whatever. Boring old Dean’s got nothing on me. He knows the truth,” he says, sitting up straighter.

“Who’s Dean?” I find myself asking.

He turns to me, his beautiful blue eyes dancing. “Our older brother. Older and boring,” he repeats. “No way is there even competition.”

“Whatever lets you sleep at night,” Tess says, patting him on the shoulder.

“No way. I’m her favorite. She told me today! Right, Carly?” he turns glaring eyes at his sister then looks directly at me again. It’s the first time he’s used my given name, and I can’t say that it doesn’t do something to my insides. But even more than that, I love how he just casually included me into the conversation. As if I hadn’t spewed some incredibly telling information about what I think of him just moments ago.

“Yeah, all the way to Pluto and back,” I say while rolling my eyes.

“See?”

“James. Of course she’s going to say that!”

“You take a mean pill this morning?”

“Oh stop. I just meant because Dean’s already taken the Milky Way.”

He gasps. “She wouldn’t!”

“Oh, trust me…” Tess starts to say.

He sticks two fingers into his mouth and whistles loudly, causing everyone around us to once again turn our direction. “Harper Elizabeth Ryan! Get your cute butt up here!” he yells over three sets of bleachers in front of everyone when the whistle doesn’t get her attention.

She turns her head, scrunches up her nose, and shakes her head at him before going back to being the center of attention around Maggie and Grady’s friends.

He gasps again. “Why that little swindling turd! She just totally snubbed me!”

We all laugh at how offended he seems to be over a six-year-old brushing him off.

I reach my hand up and rub his arm before I think twice about it. “Aww, is Uncle James feeling a little rejected?”

He furrows his brow and pouts a little bit and shrugs his shoulders. He looks down at my hand that’s still on his arm and reaches up and pats it. “It’s okay. Just so long as that’s the only rejection I feel tonight,” he says, looking directly at me.

My breathing picks up. I can’t look away from him. He winks and gives me a smoldering smile before turning his attention toward the football field.

I’m in so much trouble.

Even with the distraction that is James Cole’s body so close to mine through the game, I am still watching Jack closely. He’s playing well, but I can’t help but notice that his eyes shift to the stands whenever he is on the sidelines. And he’s definitely not looking for me.

After a particularly long look shared between he and Maggie Ryan, James leans down and says, “They won’t be easy on him.”

“What? Who?” I turn to him, our faces close.

“Grady. Brandon. Basically, the rest of the team. They won’t make it easy on him.”

“On…”

“Oh, don’t play coy with me. I know you see Jack staring at Maggie every chance he can get.”

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