Page 29 of The Pass Protection
We fall in step together. “Okay, but I should probably warn you, my sister is here too, and she’s a little annoying.”
Her shoulder nudges mine as we climb the stairs from the sidewalk to the road. “I am the annoying little sister; I know how this works.”
Standing by the first bus, Mom and Saylor wait for our goodbyes. Mom’s eyes glisten in the late afternoon sunshine while Saylor bounces on her toes.
“Bret, this is my mom, Nora, and my younger sister, Saylor.”
Warmth spreads across Bret’s face as her smile spreads wide, crinkling the corners of her eyes. I watch as Bret steps forward and what she does next surprises the hell out of me. She lifts her arms and envelops my mom in a hug. “It is so nice to meet you in person.”
Mom wraps her arms around Bret, hugging her back. “You too, sweetie.” She breaks their embrace first and holds Bret at arm’sdistance as she takes in her appearance. “You are so much prettier in person.”
“Mom,” I grit as Bret’s cheeks flame.
“I’m Saylor!” she screams as she pushes Mom aside to hug Bret. An oomph leaves Bret at the contact before chuckling.
Returning the hug, Bret says, “I’ve heard a lot about you.”
“What, that I’m the annoying little sister?” Bret glances up at me, and I raise my brows in an ‘I told you so’ way.
“I’m the younger sister, too, so I know all about that.”
“Oh yeah, we met your parents. They told us you were the youngest and how you transferred to CTU.” The words tumble out of Saylor’s mouth.
A hand taps my shoulder as Harris stops next to us. “Mama Riggs!”
“Tyler!” He pulls her in for a hug while Saylor talks Bret’s ears off. “It’s so good to see you, honey. Good luck this weekend.”
“Will you be at the game?”
“Saylor and I are heading up in the morning with a small caravan.” My chest warms at her admission. It feels so good to play in my home state and have so many people who mean a lot to me at the game.
Harris flings his arm around my shoulder as he taps my chest with his opposite hand. “I bet this guy is excited about that.”
“I am.”
Mom’s lips curl in a small smile. I know she has to be thinking about Dad right now. She always gets a far-off look in her eyes. “Well, we’ve got to get loaded. Ready, roomies?”
“I am so jealous you get to live with him,” my sister not so quietly whispers.
With one last final round of hugs, Bret, Harris, and I say our goodbyes as we load onto the bus. Bret sits in the empty spot next to her brother while Harris and I find spots toward the back of the bus.
As the driver starts the ignition, pulling us away from Sunset Shores, I watch as all the locals line the boardwalk waving as we leave.
And I say goodbye to my home.
“Oh my gosh, you guys were incredible last night.” I can’t contain my excitement as we climb the stairs to our apartment. It’s mid-afternoon when we arrived back on campus. Last night, the boys crushed Western Ohio forty-two to three.
The drive home from the football facility was unusually quiet. As I looked over my shoulder at the three guys trailing behind me, I saw their exhaustion.
“Thanks, Rebel.”
“Rebel?” I can hear the accusation in JP’s voice at Crew’s slip of the nickname he gave me. I busy myself with unlocking the front door because the blush on my cheeks would give a few things away.
“Uh, yeah, you know she kind of rebelled and moved here.” His explanation is full of holes.
“What’s that?” Harris interrupts. He reaches above my head, where an envelope is taped to the door. I was so busy trying to unlock the door that I didn’t even see it. “It’s got your name on it, Bret.”
Dread settles in my stomach like a lead weight as fear creeps through my skin, causing my body to tremble. This can’t be happening. “Whoa, whoa, whoa, you all right Bret?” Tyler’s right by my side.
