Page 18 of Crazy for You
I laughed, the act freeing. “You can try. But seriously, I can’t blame him for wanting to make sure I’m taken care of when he’s gone.” I’d thought a lot about it while I snuggled with my cat, Stella, the night before. I couldn’t live on my own. Well, I could. But since I was only seventeen, adults would have a problem with that. “I told him I want to live with Nan.”
“Isn’t the house yours when he…” She couldn’t bring herself to say it either.
“It is, but I’m a minor.”
She mashed her glossy lips together. “You can live with me. My parents already said you could.”
Mr. and Mrs. Branson had offered to talk to Dad, but Dad was adamant about me living with family. “Can we talk about something else now?” I shouldn’t have brought it up. It only served to twist my stomach into knots.
Georgia nodded as tears pooled in her green eyes. “I’m organizing a beach party for this weekend. We’ll do a bonfire and just let loose. I think I need to take my mind off things as much as you do.”
I bumped her arm with mine. “I know you love my dad too.”
She wiped a tear away. “He’s like a second dad to me.”
“Girl, if you get emotional, I will too.” And the football field was the last place to become a blubbering mess, especially with Colton nearby.
“Um… look who’s coming our way.” As subtle as she could be, Georgia stabbed her blue-painted thumbnail at the field.
Colton strutted toward us, carrying his sports bag in one hand and his helmet in the other. He looked rather beat and definitely sweaty. All that football gear had to be brutal in the Southern heat.
Grady caught up to him, patted him on the back, then darted over to Mia, who was packing up her gear. I didn’t get them, except maybe I did. Guys liked sex, and Mia was crazy for it. And yowza, she wasn’t one to hold back the details, either. Frankly, I blocked my ears when she was gushing about her latest conquest, which as of late had been Grady.
Mia would always laugh when she found me trying to tune her out. Then she would say, “I like sex, and I’m not ashamed to admit it like you and Georgia.”
“It’s not sex,” I would fire back, though it might have been—I was still a virgin. “You like Grady.”
“He’s hung like a horse,” she would say proudly. “And he’s good in bed.”
“Ew” would be my response, followed by the need to puke.
Regardless of my sexual inexperience, I admired Mia. She knew who she was, knew what she wanted and liked, and wasn’t afraid to admit it.
I, on the other hand, was still trying to find myself. Having gone through one death and getting ready to lose another parent, I felt lost and a little out of sorts, particularly in the guy department, and more so with Colton in the picture.
Georgia waved a hand in front of me. “Where did you go?”
I blinked away the image of Mia throwing herself at Grady. “Nowhere.”Everywhere.
“I don’t get those two,” Georgia said as Grady pulled Mia flush against his body.
“Join the club. But we’ve had this convo many times.”
“Do you think we’ll be as excited about sex when the time comes?” Georgia sounded frightened.
I couldn’t blame her. I was sure my first time would be nerves galore.
Georgia nudged me with her elbow.
My gaze swung from Mia and Grady to the only guy I wouldn’t mind giving my virginity to.
Colton crossed the track, his muscular legs eating up the space, and when he climbed the bleachers, my body started to shake, rattle, and roll.
I tucked my hands between my thighs and squeezed, hoping I could get them to stop trembling.
Colton gave me a wolfish grin. “Ladies,” he said.
My pulse went into overdrive, the sweat multiplying—and not from the thick humidity hanging in the air.
