Page 61 of Strong Side
We finished up our lunch, and we’re outside the restaurant now, saying our goodbyes. Emma hugs us all, then gets Lainey in her car seat as Archie hugs everyone.
“We’ll see you all soon. Maybe after Christmas or something, yeah?” He starts to walk around the front of his truck. “Be safe on and off the field.” He winks and waves as he gets in the driver’s side.
We stand there and wave as they honk, then drive off.
“Okay, that was fun. How freakin’ cute is that baby?! I could eat her up.” Charlie grabs Beck’s arm.
He smiles and shakes his head. “She’s really cute.”
“Char, no. No babies yet. I’m not ready to be an uncle,” Casey teases.
“Settle down, Case. We have lots to do before we have babies. Right, Beck?” She stands on her tiptoes and kisses his cheek.
He wraps his arm around her waist and lifts her up to kiss her lips. “Yes, like going home and taking a nap.”
Casey takes his keys out of his pocket and tosses them to Beck. “You guys take my truck home. I’ll ride with Noelle.”
Charlie comes over to me and hugs me. “Talk to him, okay?” she whispers in my ear.
I nod, and when she pulls back, I smile. “I will.”
Bo and Silas come over to me next and give me a hug. Since I spend so much time at the house, I’ve gotten to know Bo and Silas better, and I’d definitely consider them friends now. They’re both total sweethearts, and Bo is seriously driven to succeed.
“See ya.” He rubs my head, messing up my hair, making pieces fall out of my ponytail.
“Hey!” I laugh and fix my hair.
Casey takes my hand in his and waves to everyone. “Later.”
“I had to park in the back.” I steer him toward the alley that leads to the parking lot in the back of the restaurant.
“You want me to drive?” he asks.
“It doesn’t matter to me. If you want to, you can.” Even though I have a push-start, I hand him my keys to unlock the doors.
He walks me to the passenger side and opens it for me. Once I’m in, he closes the door and walks around the back to the driver’s side.
I watch him as he gets into the car. I have an SUV, but he still looks like he has to fold his legs into the car—they’re so long. He adjusts the seat, then turns to look at me.
“We should talk,” he says.
I know we should. For many reasons, but it stirs my nerves that he’s the one to bring it up. I was kind of hoping to ease into the conversation. He seemed to be less tense by the time we finished lunch, but I guess not.
“Okay,” I say quietly. “Yeah, we should.”
He starts to drive, and we’re quiet for the five minutes it takes us to get from Campus Corner to Duck Pond Park. When he pulls into the parking lot, there are a few cars scattered, but it’s chilly today, so not many people are outside from what I can tell.
He puts the car in park and turns to face me. “First thing I want to say is that I’m sorry you had to see that today, but I’m not sorry I hit him. He deserved it and then some. But what I want to know is how long he’s been texting you, and are you still talking to him?”
“God, no! I mean, yes, he has been texting me, but I don’t talk to him. I block him every time he texts me from a new number.” I reach for his hand, but he pulls it away.
“How long?” he asks.
“Well, you know he was texting me this summer, but I blocked him on his main number and on Instagram.” I shake my head. “Then when we got to school and after I ran into him, he texted me from an unknown number, and I blocked him again.”
“Is that it?” He raises his brows questioningly.
“It’s probably been about a month since I last heard from him. So, I’ve handled it. It’s fine, Casey, really.” I lay my head back on the headrest.
