Page 11 of Crew Princess
At his reaction, her eyes lit up in triumph. She sized him up, angling her head to get a better view. “Oh, wow. Look at you. You’ve got a model face, don’t you.” She grinned, tapping her chin. “That jawline could melt women’s panties across the nation.” She looked from him to me. “You two a thing?” She stepped back with a knowing look. “I think I’m piecing things together. I heard Marie took up a new boyfriend, met him at a work event recently. She was called in to decorate a few new offices. Hmmm... Is that someone you know?” A smirk tugged her mouth. “Your father, maybe?”
That gorgeous jaw of his closed, and he straightened, staring straight ahead.
Cross’ leg had been like cement when she first started, but the more she spoke, the more that cement melted to wet clay. He wouldn’t look at her, but he was listening.
I knew he clung to everything she said.
We weren’t the way she was.
She was warm. I couldn’t tell if she was trusting, but she came up to us not knowing who we were to do us a solid. That meant something to us, even if we were being dicks about it. Zellman would’ve been halfway to being her best friend by now, but he was holding back becausewewere holding back. And I was holding back because she represented a world connected to mine that I never thought I’d step foot into. That was all. I didn’t know how to proceed. Trusting adults wasn’t our forte either.
I did remember Heather mentioning her friend’s mother. There were two, if I was remembering right. One wasn’t spoken about in warm tones, but the other was. I guessed this was the one who was.
Giving her a nod and a small smile, I said, “Thank you.”
“There it is.” She dipped her head in approval. “Heather’s talked about you. I always wondered, knowing your mama, but I never said a word—not even your brother knows I knew his mama. You’ve got her beauty. I heard about your father. I’m sorry for what happened. You might not know it, but I am a friend.” She winked at Zellman. “I ain’t no enemy of yours, you can ask Heather, though…” She tilted her head to the side. “I don’t think you will, will you? If I’m feeling you right, you keep your cards to your chest. These guys are part of those cards, ain’t they?”
She was almost having her own conversation, but she was right. Each of her words pierced me.
She rapped softly on Jordan’s hood. “You want to hear stories about some crazy adventures your mama got involved in; you look me up. I’ll tell you all about her one night.” She backed off, circling around us and giving a small wave. “I’ll be seeing you folks, I’m sure.”
And with that, as Zellman stared after her (the only one of us waving back), she made her exit. We waited a beat, and then Jordan started laughing. “Fuck. I don’t know who that lady was, or any of the people she was talking about, but she owned us.”
Cross was grinning along with them, which eased my shoulders. Air moved through my lungs more freely.
Jordan came back around and got behind the wheel.
Zellman hopped up on the back. He stuck his head through the window as Jordan started the engine again. “You don’t know who Mason Kade is? He was drafted to the Pats and already has two rings. Can you believe that? Bren, you know him?”
“No.”
I didn’t.
“Channing’s friends with him.”
He said it as a statement, but it was more a question.
I didn’t answer, sinking into Cross’ side. “Let’s just go to that stupid bonfire.”
For the first time in a long while, I wanted a beer.
Cross said, “We gotta pick up some of our own shit. The Academy assholes roofie their dates.”
For the briefest of seconds, I had forgotten.
But oh yeah.
I hated Fallen Crest Crusties.
The District Weekend was a long tradition among the three towns.
Each town took an event. The Fallen Crest bonfire was usually Sunday, but things got switched around with Frisco. The street dance was tomorrow, but I wasn’t expecting to have any merriment. The street they shut down was the one that ran in front of my brother’s bar and his new bounty-hunting office. Channing would be there, probably busy kicking anyone underage out of his bar, while debating selling extra booze to make some cash.
Alas, Channing was on the straight and narrow too, which meant no booze to minors. I, on the other hand, would just take whatever was under the counter like always. Still, my big bro would be there, and he’d be keeping an eye out—his unofficial role in Roussou.
Tomorrow would be a day when I’d try to disappear from the watchful eye of his guys.
But tonight was a different matter. District Weekend used to have the bonfire up in a bunch of hills north of Fallen Crest, but this time, it was on the southside and overlooking Manny’s, a popular place my future sister-in-law ran.
