Page 3 of Not that Impressed
She laughs and shakes her head. “Stop it.”
“You’re so cute when you’re in love.” I roll toward her and give her a big smooch on the cheek.
“Ellie! I amnotin love.” But her giggles say it’s something.
Joking about her quick connection to Charlie Baldwin will keep her from overthinking it. I can be the careful one for us thistime. She blushed all day about him, and she hasn’t stopped smiling and laughing as she told me about meeting his dog and getting his number. This is the quickest I’ve ever seen her move with someone, even if it is just a phone number and a chill party, and she’s excited about it. I don’t want her to lose this little bit of magic she’s grabbed.
Her phone buzzes, and her face lights up as she looks at the screen. I can’t help the way my heart warms for her.
Charlie Baldwin better live up to her already high opinion of him, and not just because I can ruin his life if he hurts her.
She deserves a happily ever after.
Ellie.Bennet.IRL
@Isla.is.GLOWING has been contouring me for years. (I promise she got better than this middle school trial run. ) Proud of my girl and her new clean makeup line. Get that preorder in. Trust me.
#GlowIsComing #BFFs
CHAPTER 2
WILL
I stand in front of the tall, white cabinets in Charlie’s new kitchen and try to decide where to find the ibuprofen. At his old apartment he kept a bottle in the cupboard next to the sink for quick access, but I’ve checked there already and no luck. I’d yell at him—he’s standing across the room, near the front door—but the music is turned up so loud there’s no chance he’d hear me. Yeah, I’m almost thirty, but I’m no cliché old man. I blame my crankiness about the loud music on my headache, considering I spend most Sundays in noisy stadiums.
This is supposedly a low-key barbecue, but there are too many people here. It’s become much more, people spilling from the large deck and crowding into the house. To be fair, most of our friends are large football players who take up double the space of normal people.
I don’t want to search a dozen places for a pain killer. I start threading my way back toward Charlie, cringing against the jostling from other players as I pass. It shouldn’t surprise me that this has turned into a full-on party. We’re talking about a bunch of single football players. The married guys like Jett McCombs and Colby Duncan dropped in with their wives early on, had some burgers, chatted briefly, and then peaced-out.
If I don’t get some ibuprofen soon, I’m going to peace out too, even if Charlie is my best friend.
I get within about ten feet of Charlie when I meet a roadblock—i.e. the large knot of people gathered around him. Charlie is the life of any party. He’s just … so nice. If the people between me and him were my teammates, I wouldn’t mind pushing a few guys out of the way. But a lot of the team members brought friends with them, which is how this party got so big, and navigating through a bunch of people I don’t know isn’t my favorite thing. I try to catch my friend’s eye from the outer rim of the group, but he’s so engaged with the people around him it’s a lost cause.
I do spot Kara, Charlie’s older sister by a mere eighteen months. She’s always been the calm balance to his boisterousness for as long as I’ve known them. And since she crashes with Charlie whenever she’s in town for work, she’ll know where the ibuprofen is.
Kara is easier to get to. She’s chatting with a couple people behind Charlie, playing the part of responsible hostess to his fun-loving host and hovering near him like she does when she’s around. Always the older sister.
“Kara!” My voice normally carries weight that turns heads. I’m the leader of the Pumas’ defense on the field, and the guys listen to me. Kara doesn’t even glance my way. Not only is the music still too loud, but the conversation volume of the guests in this part of the house is practically a roar. I growl at the effort this is taking to get a couple of pills for my headache. I give up on politeness, leaning into my grumpy mood, and muscle my way closer to her. “Hey, Kara!” I squeeze her elbow to get her attention, even though I’m interrupting her conversation. The guy with her scowls at me, but I ignore him.
She turns to me, saying something that I don’t understand.
“What?” I shout.
“What’s up?” she shouts back.
Do people actuallylikeparties like this? One look at Charlie and the grin on his face says yes.
I lean closer to Kara since I don’t relish the idea of bellowing back and forth with her. This isn’t a football field, despite the fact that the noise level rivals one. “Do you know where the ibuprofen is here?”
She grimaces. “Uhhh? Cupboard by the sink?” I shake my head. “I’ve got some in my bag,” she says. “Hold on.” She gives the guy she was talking to an apologetic glance and slips through the crowd. That’s probably a bonus to weighing about a hundred pounds less than I do, I guess.
Did the music getlouder? “Charlie!” My yell is basically instinct now, my headache getting sharper and sharper.
He turns toward me, but just as quickly, his attention is pulled away—to two stunning women walking through the open double front doors. I swear the noise of the party dims. Maybe it’s just the conversation level dropping because Charlie is openly staring rather than talking and most the people around him have quieted too as they turn to find what caught his attention.
I can’t help it. I move a few steps closer without consciously making the decision.
“Will.”
