I frown. “What about it?”
“I don’t know. We were talking. Things were good. Then Tori had to show up and puke all over my car.” She lifts her head, her expression vaguely pained. “So gross. She feels terrible about it. She even asked me to tell you she’s sorry.”
I laugh. “She doesn’t have to apologize, even though it was gross as hell.”
Addie wrinkles her nose again. “It was so gross. I told her she owes me.”
“She does. You were a good friend, helping her get cleaned up.”
“I couldn’t just leave her standing there puking.” It’s her turn to laugh, and I soak up the sound, basking in her presence. Noting how her eyes glow, and when she moves to tuck her hair behind her ear, she sits up straighter, my gaze dropping to her chest.
She’s got nice tits. I stare for only a second before I look away, almost relieved when the teacher walks in. Mrs. Hardison has taught at this school for years. She’s practically an institution in her own right and everyone goes quiet when she starts talking.
I send a quick look in Addie’s direction, just because I can, and find her already smiling at me. Makes me feel like we share a secret and I smile in return before I look away.
The next fifty minutes drag on, even though I’m genuinely interested in the class subject. I’m just itching to talk to Addie again, wondering if I should ask her about Liam and what they’re up to.
Is it any of my business? I’m tempted to make it my business because I want to know what the hell is going on with those two, but I also don’t want to come across as too pushy.
Damn it, I can’t win with this girl. Seriously. She twists me up and leaves me overthinking my every move. With Sasha, it never felt like that. Maybe because I didn’t really care. I just went for it.
With Addie, I care. Maybe too much.
Dad always said things should be easy. If they’re complicated from the get-go, they might not work out.
Is that what’s happening between Addie and me? Are we so complicated that it will never work out between us?
Damn, I hope not.
By the time class is over and the bell is about to ring, I’m leaning back in my chair, sprawling my legs in front of me as I take a deep breath and stretch my arms above my head. I glance over to catch Addison watching me and she quickly averts her head, like she’s embarrassed she got caught.
Good. This makes me feel like we’re on more of a level playing field.
The bell rings, but I don’t immediately toss my stuff into my backpack and make for the door. Neither does Addie. I send her a questioning look. “What’s your next class?”
“TA for Hardison,” she answers.
“No shit? Me too.” Usually, they don’t schedule a bunch of teachers’ aides during the same period for the same teacher, but I know Hardison has a heavy class load, so maybe she needs more help?
And how lucky am I, that Addie will be with me as a teacher’s aide? Just the two of us…
“Beck, Addison, could you come up here please?” Mrs. Hardison asks us.
I shove my crap into my backpack and head up there while Addie takes a little more care with her stuff before she slides everything into her backpack carefully. I probably should’ve waited for her. Mom would’ve given me a minor speech about manners if she were here.
“Being it’s the first day of school, I have nothing for you to do,” Mrs. Hardison says, not wasting any time. “You can go to the library if you like. That’s where all the TAs go if their teachers don’t have any work for them to do.”
I glance over at Addie who’s nodding. “That sounds good,” she says.
“You can head straight over there tomorrow as well.” Hardison glances down at her planner on her desk, flipping through the pages. “It might take a few weeks for me to actually have projects for you two to work on, so I’ll keep you posted. Quite handy having you both in my sixth period class as well.”
“Sure is,” I tell Hardison with a smile and she grins at me in return.
“I remember having your sister in this class,” Mrs. Hardison starts.
Okay, here we go. The Callahan legends who came before me. “Oh yeah?”
“She ditched a lot.” Hardison frowns, making me laugh.
“Guess Ava wasn’t so perfect after all,” I joke.
“I was actually referring to your oldest sister, Autumn. That girl…” She shakes her head. “She’d run off with Ash Davis every chance she got.”
“And look at them now,” I murmur. He’s an NFL legend. They’re married with twins. Doing pretty well if you ask me.
“Yes, look at them now,” Hardison agrees. “I loved your sister Ava. She always wrote such thoughtful papers.”
She drones on about my siblings for a little while longer before Addie and I finally make our escape. The hallways are already mostly empty, thanks to everyone being in their last class for the day, so it almost feels like we have the school to ourselves.
“Do you deal with that a lot?” Addie asks me once we’re out of the classroom.
I send her a look. “Deal with what?”
“Teachers comparing you to your brother and sisters.”
“Yeah.” I groan a little. “It sucks. Everyone always has something to say about Jake. Or Autumn. Or Ava.”
“You’re the baby of the fam,” she points out. “It happens to me with Jocelyn but not too much. There’s a gap between us that wasn’t filled with other siblings like yours is. Some of them forget about her—with the exception of my volleyball coach, of course.”
“Does your coach compare you and Jos a lot?” One of the math teachers at school is the volleyball coach and she’s amazing. The girls’ varsity volleyball team seems to kick ass every year. “Always going on about how great your sister was?”
I don’t hear that from my dad, because he thinks Jake and I are both great—he has to, he’s our father. But the other coaches on staff? Some of them were around when Jake was playing and yep, I hear the comparisons from them all the time, even though we play different positions.
“At first, yeah, only because she didn’t know me and I hadn’t proved myself to her yet. As time went on though, she started to respect me for who I was and how I played. I’m a different player compared to Jos,” Addie explains, as we leave the building and head toward the hill for the library.
“Better?” I raise my brows.
Addie shrugs. “Different.” She’s quiet for a moment. “Coach has mentioned before that I’m better, yeah.”
“Knew it.” My tone is assured, my gaze on the library ahead of us as we keep walking, a faint smile curling my lips.
She nudges me with her elbow, a spark igniting from that simple touch. “You’re cocky.”
“You like it,” I throw back at her, making her laugh. “Especially if it has to do with your athletic abilities.”
“True.” Her laughter grows and it makes me want to keep on doing it.
Seeing her smile. Making her laugh.
Knowing I’m the cause of it.
We approach the double door entrance to the library and I rush ahead of her, opening the door for her. She walks past me into the building with a murmured thank you, and I subtly inhale, drawing her scent into my lungs. Trying to keep a straight face and not let on what I’m doing, though damn, her scent makes my knees weak.