Page 26 of Catch Me

“Reid,” I say, shrugging. “Mom must’ve really appreciated everything he did for them after Brady died.”

“Yeah. He was pretty great. Especially with you.” She hip bumps me.

“Yeah, yeah,” I say, remembering how mad I was when they started to work their way back into my life. I didn’t like anyone. Except for Jules, of course. I just wanted to be left alone.

I’m so glad they didn’t listen.

“Your parents won’t care?” I ask.

“Are you kidding? They’ll probably be thrilled I’m getting out of the house. They still keep looking at me like I’m going to break.” She cuts herself off. “Not that I mind. My parents have been wonderful throughout all this. Really.”

While we walk, she takes out her phone and types out a text to her mom. I watch as the response comes back within a minute. She slides her phone into her pocket, and we stop by Brady’s memorial. “We really need to get some flowers in here or something. These wood chips are just too blah.”

“Hey,” a voice sounds from behind us. Jules and I immediately freeze because it’s not from any voice we’re expecting to hear. “It’s nice what the school did for him, huh?”

I turn to stare at Oscar.

When neither one of us respond, he asks, “Are you guys going to the party?” He winks at me. “It would probably piss Sasha off.”

I can feel the heat of Jules’s gaze on me as she looks between us. “Yeah,” I finally say. “We’re going.”

“Well, this ought to be interesting.”

A smirk crosses his face before he jogs off to a car beeping in the parking lot. I recognize a few of the girls from the cheerleader squad in the car and wonder if Sasha is hiding in the backseat.

“Why the hell is he always talking to you?” Jules asks. “It’s so weird.”

“He says he likes me even though I’m not winning any social skills awards.”

Instead of laughing, she narrows her eyes. “He likes you?”

“I’m sure he just meant likes me like a friend. Or as an acquaintance. We are working on that English project together.” The one that’s actually going pretty smoothly despite my original misgivings. It turns out Oscar doesn’t mind putting in the hard work either.

“He better hope that’s all it is or someone will have something to say about that.”

That someone comes up behind Jules. I wave at Reid, who’s dressed more casually now. I study him as he approaches. Head injuries are so weird because despite the disappearing mark on his forehead, no one would know the doctors are worried about his brain. He just looks normal, like he could go out there and play right now, which is probably why he’s so frustrated.

“Hopefully, that’s the last fucking time you have to watch a game from the sidelines,” Cade tells him.

His words meet us before they actually do. When Reid gets there, I pop up on my tiptoes and give him a kiss. “I agree with Cade.”

“Finally,” Cade says, a hint of humor in his voice. “No one ever says that about me.”

“We’ll take my car,” Reid says, ignoring us both. “It’ll fit all of us better. You’re good to go, right, Jules?”

She nods. “Mom doesn’t mind as long as I’m not out too late.”

“I had to promise the same thing to Pam, so we’re good.”

“Oh, Pam, huh? Is that how it is?” I tease, referencing his relationship with my mom.

“Yeah,” he says, grinning. “You’re welcome.”

“Thank you,” I say, truly meaning it. I squeeze his hand. At least my mom trusts him since she doesn’t trust me right now.

Within a half hour, we’re at Sasha’s house. As soon as I see the front entrance, I second guess what the hell we’re doing. I hate this girl. I feel like this is walking into her evil lair, but we have to be close to her to find the evidence we need.

Cade’s friend Hayley is at the door when we walk up. I don’t think they’re as close as they were a few weeks ago, but apparently she and Cade are close enough that she agrees to let us into the party. I’m sure when Sasha sees us, she’ll have something to say about that.

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