Page 149 of Crew Princess
“Hey!” Heather shouted. “Where’s Logan?”
“He’s coming in a bit with Taylor,” the runner said. “They were waiting for Nate and Matteo to get here.”
“Matteo’s coming? Great.”
I side-eyed Heather, but she seemed genuine. She wasn’t worried about me at all. These guys showed up, and I was mincemeat.
Jealousy flared, but I stomped it down. That was stupid. They were her good friends. I’d just gotten used to Heather’s undivided attention over the year, and this was a two-minute meeting. I needed to get ahold of myself.
The female hugged Heather while the guy looked me over, almost exactly the way I’d just eyed Heather.
My eyes went flat. My lips thinned, and I scooted down in my chair, throwing up my feet on the railing. Whatever, dude. If he was trying to intimidate, he needed to pick someone else. I rolled my shoulders back and lifted my chin up. I was even willing to show a bit of teeth, but the way this guy’s green eyes were cold and emotionless, and all the stories I’d heard about him, I didn’t think he’d care one way or another.
I could see where all the hype came from, though that was a reluctant acknowledgment. The guy was gorgeous. So was the girl. Both with jet black hair, they could’ve been bookends. She had long slim running legs, and he was built—well, he was a wide receiver. Channing told me he’d had to slim down when he changed football positions. He still seemed like a giant, though.
“You’re Bren.”
The runner oozed warmth, and I turned to her, feeling myself standing without consciously planning on it. “Hi. Yeah.”
She came at me, wrapped her arms tight, and squeezed.
Heather winced. “Uh. Bren’s not—”
She stiffened, cursing under her breath. Pulling back, she grimaced. “Sorry. You’re just…” She smoothed my hair and motioned over the rest of me as she forcibly took a step backward. “I’m Sam, and you’re perfect, and I’ve been wanting to meet you for so long, but Heather’s been wary. Anyway, I recently had a baby, and my emotions are still all motherly, and Heather talks about you as if she’s your mother, and it melts my heart every time, but...” Her eyes raised to mine, and she slowed down.
She bit her lip, taking another step back. The footballer hooked an arm around her waist, pulling her to him, but they both stood, both observing me.
“Well…” I was full of piss and vinegar. “Don’t I feel like an animal in the zoo right now.”
“Bren!” Heather yelled.
The couple laughed. Both of them. They enjoyed that from me.
I wasn’t sure how to take that.
“This is Sam and Mason,” Heather said. “These are two very, very,verygood friends of mine and your brother’s.”
I heard the warning in her voice and knew I needed to make myself scarce. I didn’t adult well, and these people were too important to piss off the first time I officially met them. It was just my go-to habit.
“I should get going.”
The guy spoke up, his eyes narrowing on me. “We heard you met Sam’s mother-in-law.”
“Mason,” his woman said.
He ignored the reprimand. “What’d you think of her?”
I remembered that lady. I shrugged. “Not much.”
Sam seemed to tense. Her face didn’t show anything, but I sensed it. My indifference struck her for some reason.
His face got colder. “She said she knows your boy’s father and woman. Said they’re neighbors of hers. Said you might be around more because you and your guy are tighter than Sam and I were in high school.”
I waited, my head tilted to the side. His words might’ve come off as just words. Maybe a conversation starter, but I wasn’t getting that from him. He was warning me too, warning me that Heather had warned me.
That was interesting.
“I thought you said she was her mother-in-law?” I nodded toward his wife.
