Page 38 of Freshmeet
“That’s where Sarah lives,” Jamie offered when he noticed my frown.
“Some say she slipped, while others say she—” Meg made a slicing motion at her throat.
I was hit with a memory from the night I met Sarah—tripping over a cartoonish tombstone with the name Emma on it.
That’s fucked up. And Jamie wants to join these assholes?
“Damn. That’s rough,” Jamie said.
“The University is still on our ass, and there’s a real chance National might step in to lead recruitment this year. It’s a mess.” Meg finished her burger.
Sarah came out of the bathroom, her face flushed and eyes slightly pink. Jamie hopped up to make room for her in the booth.
“Thank you,” she murmured as she slid past Jamie and back to her seat.
We ate in silence until Meg’s phone buzzed, and she sighed. “Ug. I’ve got to go if I don’t want to be late for my shift at the Wel.”
“Is it cool if I ride with you? I need to grab a book I left at Connor’s and get to campus.”
“Sure.”
Jamie tossed some money on the table. Turning to Sarah, he smiled hard, his dimples on full display. “We still on for tonight?”
She absentmindedly nodded, her mouth full of ice cream.
Jamie frowned and stood. “Hey.”
Sarah’s eyebrows raised as she looked up.
“Be ready to shake it, Ms. Tilney.” He shimmied at her, making her crack a smile. “There she is.”
Jealousy burned hot through me as they smiled at one another, connecting in a way that I could only dream about. Why, out of all the girls in Kirksville, did Jamie have to have a thing for Sarah?
“Let’s get going,” Meg said, grabbing her receipt and heading to the cash register.
“See you, Con,” Jamie said with a wave.
The bell above the door chimed, and they were gone, leaving me with the woman I was desperate to know more about, but who wanted nothing to do with me.
“You’d better watch out.”
“Why?” she asked, her voice quiet.
I scraped the bottom of my bowl, wishing I had more ice cream or something to drag out this lunch with Sarah. “I think Jamie has a little crush.”
She chuckled and wiped her mouth. “I know. It’s ridiculous.”
As much as I didn’t want my brother and Sarah to be involved, I didn’t like her laughing at him. “What do you mean?”
“I mean, we aren’t anywhere near a good fit. It’s ridiculously sweet though.”
“Huh.”
“What do you mean, huh?”
My temperature started to rise, a sure sign that I needed to walk away, but I couldn’t help myself. The silence between us only intensified my desire to fight with Sarah, to get some kind of rise out of her. “I mean, that’s two McCormicks who aren’t good fits, who are mistakes.”
She jerked her head back, blinking rapidly. “I’m sorry. I wasn’t the one who disappeared after asking you to go home with me. So clearly you had some feelings about whether what went down between us was a mistake or not.”
