After a few minutes, Madison was in my arms, laughing, and Sutton was staring at me with wide eyes.
“How?” she gasped.
I shrugged. “I’m not exhausted or with her twenty-four/seven. Plus, she knows that she can be herself with you. I’m new and different.”
Sutton just stared, perplexed.
“If y’all need a night to yourself, I don’t mind taking them,” I reminded her.
She laughed. “Yeah. I’m going to have to take you up on that.”
“Godsend,” Annie said. She tapped Blaire’s arm. “We have to go warm up.”
“See you after, roomie,” Blaire said.
They jogged off toward the field, and my eyes snagged on the person they were dragging away—Julian. His eyes were already on me when I found his, and we snapped together like a magnet. He smiled with that look that made my stomach flip and waved before following the girls onto the field.
“What’s up with that?” Piper asked.
“They went away together last weekend,” Sutton filled her in as we headed to the blanket Sutton had laid out for the kids.
Jason was running a small soccer ball up and down the sidelines with David.
Piper’s head whipped to me. “What?”
“We didn’t go away! He came with me to my brother’s graduation.”
“Holy shit! Are you dating?”
I bit my lip and then shook my head. “No. It’s not like that. Just helping out a friend.”
“Yeah, right,” Piper drawled.
“That’s what I said,” Sutton said. “Like, sure, if you hadn’t hooked up, then maybe.”
“Sutton!”
“You hooked up?!” Piper said.
“Shh,” I said, putting a finger over Piper’s mouth. “Way to tell everyone.”
“Oh, sorry. Didn’t realize it was a secret.”
“It’s not a secret. It’s…” Was it a secret? Had Julian told anyone? What did that make us?
Casual. Just having fun. That was what he’d said over that ridiculous doughnut. I’d laughed and felt all good about it then. Now, it felt more complicated, and I didn’t want it to be.
I set Madison down next to the blocks that Sutton had brought and played with her.
“It’s not a secret,” I repeated. “It’s just not…a relationship.”
“Hey, I’ve been on-again, off-again with Bradley for years,” Piper said. “Who am I to judge?”
“Seriously, what is up with y’all?” Sutton asked.
Piper shrugged. “He wants more. He always wants more.”
“And you?” I asked.
Piper frowned. “I feel like it’s missing something, but I haven’t found anything better either.”
“How exactly do you find someone better when you’re still sleeping with the last guy?” Sutton arched an eyebrow.
“Point taken,” Piper said with a laugh. “But how do I find a guy in this small town?”
That was a good question. Annie and Sutton had gotten lucky. David and Jordan had moved here from out of town. Julian was new here, too. But guys from Lubbock? I’d known them all my entire life. The only new guys were usually college students here for Tech. There was some medical and oil money in town, but it wasn’t a huge draw. Which left the guys we’d always known. It was probably why Piper kept going back to Bradley.
With Madison temporarily occupied, we turned our attention to The Tacos game. I went to their games every weekend that I was in town and much preferred the outdoor games to the indoor ones, where we all froze our asses off. There were more players for the outdoor games, too. They’d tried to get me to play, but I had no skill with a ball, just with my dutiful camera that I pulled out of my bag.
Blaire was their star forward. Julian and Isaac played mid along with Hollin’s sister, Nora. She was a tiny pixie of a thing, but she was fast. Her boyfriend, August, played forward with Blaire, but he was mostly there for assists since girl goals counted for two. Hollin and Annie played defense with Annie’s med school friend Cézanne. And Cézanne’s boyfriend, Gerome, was their goalie. Nora and August were the latest recruits for outdoor, and as far as I could tell, they were a big help on the larger field.
I put the camera to my eye and trailed the players, focusing in on my friends and snapping shots. Blaire scoring a goal, Annie passing to Hollin, Isaac getting fancy and pulling a nutmeg—passing the ball between the opponent’s legs—and then finally landing on Julian.
My heart stuttered at the sight of him. His shorts were shorter than average, revealing inches of his tan, muscular legs. His hair flopped side to side as he ran with the ball. His footwork was impeccable. There was something about him. About having been under him.
I’d never thought that I’d be the kind of girl who would get drunk and have a one-night stand with a guy. That was Annie. Not me. But I couldn’t regret that it had happened, no matter what my mom had said. And part of me hoped it wasn’t actually a one-time thing.
The game ended with The Tacos winning at an embarrassing twelve to two. The teams shook hands, and then the guys stripped out of their shirts, mopping up their sweat with them. My eyes hungrily roved over Julian’s body.
“You’re drooling,” Piper joked, nudging me.
I coughed and looked away. “I can appreciate a nice body.”
“So can I. Hollin looks hot as fuck.”
My eyes rounded.
Sutton looked at Madison and was glad to see that she was still napping.
“Sorry,” Piper said, “but look at his body. He’s built like a tank.”
We both looked. He certainly was, and he was tatted to high heaven. I’d never really noticed how many tattoos covered Hollin Abbey’s body. I’d been too busy admiring Julian.
“But I thought you and Hollin were like oil and water,” I said.
“We are,” she agreed. “Being around him makes me want to stab something.”
“But he’s still hot,” I volunteered.
Piper’s gaze was stuck on Hollin with a glare in her brown eyes. “He’s still hot.”
I laughed and came to my feet, shaking the grass off of my legs. “I’m going to go congratulate them.”
“Say hi to Julian for me,” Piper said with a smirk.
“Hollin for you.”
“You wouldn’t.” Her cool demeanor slipped.
One day, I wanted to know what had started this huge feud between Piper and Hollin. But for now, it was fun to tease her.
“Love you,” I said, waving at her.
I veered for Annie and Blaire, but as I got there, Julian stepped into my path. He was still shirtless, sweat dripping down his chest. His shirt was slung over his shoulder, and his bag was at his feet. He’d changed out of his cleats and into his indoor Pumas.
“Hey, I heard that you’re moving in with Blaire and Piper,” he said with a panty-melting smile.
“Good news travels fast.”
“I knew you were worried about what you were going to do now that Annie is moving in with Jordan.”
I was. I’d told him that last weekend on the drive to Austin.
“Looks like I was worried for nothing. It all worked out in the end.”