Page 61 of Wild About You
Jack takes it and spins it between his fingers. “Are you a friend of Everly’s?”
The kid shoots a nervous glance at her. “Uh, I don’t think we’ve met yet.”
“Allow me to help.” Jack grips his backpack and tugs him around so he’s facing her. “This is Everly.”
“Hey, I’m Jacob.” The tips of his ears go crimson.
Everly waves but doesn’t speak.
“You know the Wildcats?” Jacob asks.
“That one is my brother.” She tilts her head toward Tyler.
A little prick of admiration hits me at the look of adoration Jacob gives Tyler.
“What grade are you, Jake?” Jack asks him, still holding on to his bag.
“Senior.”
“So is our girl.” Jack signs the backpack and then sticks the pen behind his ear.
“Ourgirl?” Everly asks through gritted teeth.
“Do you play sports or is this your only gig?” Jack asks him, ignoring Everly.
“I’m on the baseball team and the golf team.”
“So, you know lots of people then.”
Jacob looks around. “I guess so.”
“Perfect.” Jack finally lets go of the poor kid’s backpack and gives him a squeeze on the shoulder that I’d bet is a little too hard to be welcoming. “You can pass on a message for me. You mess with her, and I’ll be back. You don’t want me to come back, Jake.”
Ash steps in before Jack can continue. “What my buddy is trying to say is that we’d love it if you could introduce Everly around and make sure she’s finding her way. It’d mean a lot to us.”
“I hate all of you,” Everly hisses. “Ignore them, Jacob.”
Fat chance of that. He looks like he’s going to shit himself. I might too with the daggers Declan and Jack are driving into him.
“Yeah. I can do that.” He clears his throat and looks back to his friends who have taken several steps away. “We all can, right, guys?”
“Yeah.” They all agree at once. A few others brave the guys, shoving things at them to sign, which they do.
“I’m going to wait in the car. Thanks for humiliating me.” Everly takes off.
Tyler stares after her, cursing under his breath.
“What did you expect?” I ask.
“I knew she was going to be pissed,” he admits. “But I had to do something.”
I put a step of distance between us. “I’m going to check on her. Are you done for the day?”
“No. We have to go back to the arena.”
“Okay. Well, I’ll see you at home later, then?”
“Yeah.” He comes to me. His fingers find mine again, brushing against them for just a second. “Let me walk you out.”
