Page 20 of The Perfect Steal

“Fine, I’ll meet you there in a bit.” I had the day off from reffing the junior basketball league, and it had been nice to not have to wake up early and get to the gym to set things up.

But did I really want to go to brunch with the girls? With basketball practices and games every day, I wasn’t going to be bringing in too much money until the season ended. My lunch money every week only made it so far.

I brushed out my hair before throwing on a hoodie and some sweatpants, trying to preserve the cozy Sunday feeling I’d woken up with. Well, that I’d been rocking all weekend.

“Hey, girls,” I said, sitting in the booth next to them.

“You’re alive,” Penny said, exaggerating her words.

“What are you talking about? We just went to the dance last weekend. And I’ve been swamped with school and basketball.”

“Are you okay?” Kate asked. “We just haven’t seen you around much lately.”

I thought about the situation at home, about my parents arguing all the time and how much I still missed my sister. It was hard to talk to my friends about things now, so I went for the truth. I’d always been able to tell them the hard stuff. I just had to spill a little more now.

“It’s just been hard. I mean, you all have boyfriends. I’m just trying to get my homework done, work enough to pay for things through the season, and prep for my first game coming up this week.”

Serena slapped me on the shoulder, her idea of a love tap. “Girl, just because we have boyfriends doesn’t mean we’ve changed.”

I shook my head. “I know, but you only talk about things they do. I mean, it’s funny sometimes, but it gets old, ya know?”

The mood in the booth went somber. I hated it when I created that feeling. “Look, I don’t want anyone to feel guilty. I’m just going through a lot of stuff right now, and it’s easier to grind through the day, get it done.”

Penny leaned over the table. “Brynn, we’re always here for you, no matter what. Please know that. We miss hanging out with you, and we need to plan more time to have girls’ nights out without the guys.”

The other girls agreed, and I smiled. “That would be nice, but I don’t want to take you away from them. You’re so happy, and I don’t want that to go away. You’ve all been through your fair share of stuff when it comes to the guys and getting them back.”

Kate leaned on the table, trying to catch my attention. “What happened to Garrett Park?”

Throwing my hands in the air, I said, “What is with everyone asking me about Garrett? I took him to one dance.”

“Yeah, but you guys were so cute and looked like you were having fun.”

“Well, that’s what happens when you’re tall. Your options are slim, and the guys your height are usually into the girls about half their size.”

Bitter, party of one.

“Brynn, you’re fine. I didn’t know. You just hadn’t said anything, so I wondered.” Kate looked sorry, and I felt bad for my mini-outburst.

“It’s fine, you guys. There’s a lot happening at home, and I just don’t want to mess things up for the future, you know? Getting out of this town is my goal.”

Penny nodded. “I get that. It’s hard to think of anything but getting out of this town. But don’t rush off too fast. We’re always here for you, Brynn. Like you’ve always been here for us.”

Kate gave me her sad pity look. Not usually a bad thing, I just didn’t want all the attention directed at me. I squirmed, and she said, “There are a few guys over your height at our school.”

I ticked through all five of them in my head, leaving out the ones in my brother’s freshman class. That wasn’t going to happen.

“You should hang out with Nate,” Serena said, raising her eyebrows as she grinned. “That would be perfect.”

“Please don’t tell me you’re trying to set me up on a date just because he’s tall enough.” I rolled my eyes, but inside, I wondered how we would look together.

My attraction to him grew a little more with every interaction, and last night, at Hazel’s, I’d even leaned over and touched his forearm, which was huge for me. I couldn’t like him, though. I wasn’t the kind of girl he usually went after—the shorter, super-chatty girls.

“Colt was telling Jake that he asked about you a few days ago,” Penny said, grinning.

All the air went out of my lungs. A guy asking about me? Usually, I was the brunette skyscraper, or people would ask me how the weather is up there. I had never heard of anyone asking more about me, let alone having a crush on me.

Okay, so asking about someone and having a crush were two different things. We’d been paired up on an assignment. He was probably just curious since we were from completely different economic families, and mine was only holding on by a couple of threads at this point.

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