I waited impatiently for the full minute it took her to travel a couple of feet. To her credit, she stuck with the slow-motion theme all the way through the part where she noticed I didn’t have any nachos.
“Hey,” she said. “Where are the nachos?”
“Maybe I ate them,” I said dryly.
Iris laughed. “Damn. What crawled up your ass and converted it into a rental property?”
I must’ve looked particularly pathetic, because Iris’s eyebrows scrunched together, and she put her hands on my shoulders. “Hey,” she said more softly. “Are you okay?”
As much as I wanted to smile and nod, I knew Iris would see straight through the lie. “A kid ran into me and made me drop them. Then I stomped them into the ground and made him run off laughing or crying—I’m still not sure which. Okay? And I was really mean to him. I normally like kids. So stop interrogating me about it. That’s everything.”
Iris looked like she was trying to keep a straight face, but she wound up laughing. “I’m sorry. It’s just that I’m picturing you stomping the nachos. What was going through your head, exactly?”
I put my hands on my hips. I wanted to be mad at her for laughing, but I couldn’t stop myself from smiling too.
“But really. Why did you stomp them?” she asked.
“Because I was pissed? Can we talk about something else?”
“Iris,” Cade called. “Your turn.” I didn’t fail to notice the wink he gave me. Helpful bastard.
“Are you winning yet?” I asked Iris.
Iris turned and squinted at the scoreboard, where the names of our little group were on display. If there was any doubt of my fifth-wheel status, all I needed to do was check out the scoreboard. Cade and Iris had entered themselves as a team named “Snakes on a Lane.” They had even come up with a cringeworthy handshake where it looked like they were trying to pretend their arms were snakes in some sort of fight, complete with hissing sound effects. At least it would’ve been cringeworthy if Cade wasn’t so obnoxiously confident. He probably could’ve pretended to be a chicken in the middle of a crowded room, and women still would’ve swooned.
In typical Richard King fashion, he and Kira had gone with a more down-to-earth team name: “Rich and Kira.”
Then there was me. I’d tried to enter my name without a team designation, but Cade had gone to the liberty of editing it while I was making a food run. I was apparently now a member of the “Rolling Solo” team. Great.
“Yessss,” Iris said in a poor impression of a snake. “Sssseems we’re going to win.”
“You are such a dork,” I said. I was too annoyed to want to laugh, but I couldn’t help at least smiling a little. No matter how lost I felt at the moment, the one thing that had always been an anchor in my life was my friendship with Kira and Iris.
“Then you’re going to lose to a dork,” Iris said. “What does that make you?”
“Bad at bowling?” I guessed.
Iris took a fry from Rich and Kira’s tray, burned her mouth, and strung together a creative line of swear words. “Thanks for warning me they were hotter than Satan’s asshole.”
“Maybe you should stop trying to steal other people’s food. It’s karma,” I said. “I’d also be curious to know how you have experience with the temperature of Satan’s rectum.”
“Rectum,” she said, laughing. “You’re such a proper dork.” Iris reached for another fry. I swatted at her wrist, and she pulled her hand back, then shot me a dirty look. “You can’t control me.”
I rolled my eyes. I found a spot on the cracked-leather bench behind our alley and sat down. I set Rich and Kira’s food to the side and watched as Iris joined into an argument Cade and Kira were in. They were debating if it was against the rules for Cade to lie on his belly and push the ball instead of doing it like a normal human being. He was getting way too far into character as a snake.
“You good?” Rich asked.
“I’m fine,” I said. I still wasn’t used to talking to any of the King brothers. Seven years ago, I’d sworn an oath with Kira and Iris. We said we’d never date them again, no matter what. Even if they came back on their knees and begged us to forgive them for what they put us through—even if they wound up famous and dripping with cash. Apparently, my friends had decided solemn oaths sworn on hilltops in the dead of night were negotiable. I guessed I’d missed that particular memo. Now the oath that held the three of us together felt more like an anchor tied around my neck.
“I’ve just been thinking about everything lately,” I said.
It was almost silly for me to even care anymore. It would be different if Nick King had shown any interest in me since coming back to West Valley, but he seemed content to take over his brother Cade’s role of the town playboy. It still turned my stomach to think about. The Nick I’d known seven years ago was thoughtful and intelligent. He didn’t jump from woman to woman for a quick thrill. I knew people changed, but looking at who he was becoming felt more like admitting the boy I’d known back then was dead. The only glimmer of solace I could take was the rumor about how he was becoming notorious for never sleeping with any of the women he was dating. I wasn’t sure if I believed it, but it was confusing to find I wanted to.
Rich was the put-together, mostly normal twin brother of Cade. Like all the King brothers, he was offensively hot. They were like the three brothers of the apocalypse, at least if apocalypses could be caused by raging female hormones. Rich would bring destruction to all the women with traditional taste. He was smart, funny, and kind. He’d charm your mom and dad, be great with the kids, and probably help fix your dad’s 401(k) while he was at it. Cade would charm your mom in particular, piss off your dad, and wind up talking one of the kids into doing something reckless that resulted in broken bones.
The Nick I’d known in high school was harder to figure out. He had seemed nice enough, but there was also a dark cloud around him if you looked closely. You’d never quite known what his goals were, but he was so viciously intelligent that we’d all known he was destined for something incredible.
“Thinking about everything, huh?” He stroked his chin thoughtfully. “People don’t usually think about everything unless it feels like everything is going to shit, I’ve found.”
I laughed softly. “Fair point. And maybe that’s not so far from the truth.”
He raised an eyebrow. I couldn’t blame him for looking surprised. The few sentences I’d muttered to him had probably been the most open I’d ever been with him. I wasn’t even sure why I suddenly wanted to confide in him. Normally, I would’ve at least talked to Kira or Iris about this. For some reason, I felt the floodgates threatening to open for Rich instead. Maybe it was knowing that Cade, of all people, was the only person who really knew what was going on with me. Well, Cade and the traumatized middle school kid.
I sighed. “It’s just that I was kind of used to the idea of having steady boyfriend checked off my list. You know? My whole life has always been about checking off boxes. Get good grades. Get into my first choice for college. Get a degree. Get a job. Get promoted. Work harder until you get promoted again.”