Page 18 of Hello Heartbreaker

I went to the first row of bleachers where I’d stacked the packets and put a rock on top to keep them from blowing away. I got them and went to hand them to Maggie.

Our fingers brushed and heat spread from the contact. I held my breath, trying to shove back the feeling.

If she felt the same, she didn’t show it. She simply took the stack and began passing out the papers. It made me embarrassed, knowing I had all these one-sided feelings.

I turned my back, adjusting my ball cap and going to join the girls on the field. If I couldn’t make things right with Mags, this was going to be onelongsummer.

9

MAGNOLIA

On Saturday afternoon,Cam sat in the chair in front of me as I curled her hair for our evening of scouting eligible men at the rodeo. Upbeat music played on the radio, and it felt like one of those nights when I could see our lives behind us and before us. The pair of us doing hair before prom... doing hair for a night out... doing hair for our weddings... getting ready for our children’s graduations... in a nursing home...

“I’m so glad we’re going out,” I said. “I feel like it’s been forever since we’ve had a good night on the town.”

She bit off one of those massive Sweet Tarts, chewing through the sour candy. “We’re not in our twenties anymore.”

“Thank God,” I replied.

She laughed. “Right? I can’t help but think these are the days, you know? Like these could be some of our last times just you and me, living together, watching trashy reality TV on the weekends... hanging up another one of those wire art pieces you’re obsessed with...”

“Don’t make fun. And don’t make me sad. Are you sure we can’t just be single besties forever and live on a commune or something?”

“It’s a possibility.” She winked at me in the mirror.

But I knew she was right. She broke up with her last boyfriend in Austin because he didn’t want to have children someday like she did. Which meant she had a certain kind of future on her mind. And one thing I loved about Cam? She always went after what she wanted, no matter what anyone else thought.

“Maybe you’ll meet the one tonight,” I said.

“The one, or the one for the weekend. Either way is fine with me,” she replied.

I smiled. “Maybe that’s what I need too. A casual hookup to break me in to this new dating scene. Rhett’s crawled under my skin, and I need to get him off my mind.”

She shook the Sweet Tart wrapper to get another disc out. “Or you can bang one out with him.”

I nearly dropped the curling iron. “Shit.” I fumbled with it and pulled it away from her head.

“You almost burned me, you bitch!” she yelled.

I laughed. “You surprised me!” I set the curling iron on the table, just in case.

“With my fabulous idea?” She turned in the chair, resting her forearm on the back and her chin on her forearm.

“The guy is like a drug, Cam. One second around him and I’m sucked back in and he’s all I can think about! What do you think sex would do to me?”

She got a cheeky smile, and I said, “Don’t answer that.”

Letting out a laugh, she replied, “I mean, handling all those balls at practice didn’t get you fired up?”

I covered my face with my hands. “You’re incorrigible.”

“It is my middle name,” she replied. “Camryn Incorrigible Childers.”

“Has a nice ring to it.”

She nodded, turning back in the chair, and I picked up the curling iron, continuing to work my way through her hair. She had the prettiest natural sandy-blond hair with just enough wave to hold a curl.

When I finished, she had this cute curly do that went perfectly with her long-sleeve cotton dress. I wore a dress too with my cowboy boots and paired it with some silver jewelry.

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