“You’re such a flirt. It’s cute though. I’ll allow it.” I smirk at him as I struggle to heft the full trash bag out of the industrial-size can. Sam takes it from me and lifts it with far less effort, because in this case, size does matter.
“For real, though, I’m tryin’ to be serious. That whole act they pull, acting like you’re with one of them to shut down other girls?” He swivels his head back and forth to be sure no one canhear us. “Jace started it to mess with Danny, which I’ll admit was fun to watch, but Danny does it to get attention from you. They were both so into you when you moved here. Don’t you dare tell them I said that. Remember that first time we were outside with guitars, and you jumped in and sang with us? I think we all fell in love a little bit that night.” He sniffs with mock emotion and wipes a fake tear.
“Oh, please. Save it for a country song, Haynes. Why are you telling me this?”
“Jace has always been weird about Annie. But her last roommate complained about our noise and double parked her Mustang, so he stayed away to keep his big mouth out of trouble.” It sounds like something he wasn’t supposed to tell, but it’s not new information. “He knew real quick you’d be good for Dannyandhelp him get closer to Annie. Harrassin’ you killed two stones with one bird … sorry, you’re the bird in this story.”
I tilt my head and blink slowly. “Sammy, you’re so …”
“Brilliant?” He laughs.
“Pretty. Really pretty. But yeah. Brilliant.” I pat his arm. “Except DC had a girlfriend when I moved here. Did you forget the Barbie swimsuit model? There was never anything going on with us. Jace is just obnoxious.”
“Well, yeah, but he was right about you. You broke whatever spell that witch had over Danny. She was on her way out the door for months. It’s a wonder she could walk with the broomstick up her …”
“Sam!” I warn.
“She was a first-class bii—”
“EHHH.” I put my hand up and make a buzzer sound. “Donotuse that word.”
“I’m just sayin’!” He giggles like a little girl. “Ashley jerked him around for years. He’d cut her loose then feel bad and take her back. And she hated us. She thought music was a hobby hecould do on his own time, except he didn’thavehis own time. There was so much business to handle after his dad passed. He was always distracted and like, I don’t know, empty? Her mom still lives here. There was no reason she couldn’t move back after she graduated, but I’m glad she stayed in Knoxville. He just kept driving there once a week so he didn’t have to deal with a breakup. It was rough,until…” He drums his hands on a table for an overly dramatic buildup.
“This cute little rocker girl with pink hair moves in blastin’ The Ramones, wearing Poison T-shirts, and won’t let us swear even though she knows every word to all the dirty songs. She feeds us, watches violent TV shows, and loves baseball. Do you know that’s every guy’s dream? Like, really, do you know?” He shakes my shoulders like I’m delirious.
“Stop. STAHPP!” I laugh. “I hang out with guys because I basically am one. I like food, avoid emotions, and hate the Phillies.”
“Amen! Hate the Phillies! Except you’redefinitely not a guy.” He raises an eyebrow at me. “You know Ashley was gone right after you got here? That one time you met her was the last time he saw her. He met you and he was done.”
“That had nothing to do with me, but fine. Let’s say it did. Why didn’t he do anything about it?”And why does this conversation keep happening?
“I guess he thought y’all would happen naturally. We all did. Jace is the one who told me I had to come over and meet you last year. He thought you were so bad-aa—I mean, y’know,fun. He loves to mess with you because Danny gets crazy-protective.”
That’s true. Not long after we met, Jace scammed me into cooking a huge meal for all of us—bought the groceries and claimed he’d do it all. Then he texted absurd questions like “How long should I bake cantaloupe?” or “How much milk do I add tospaghetti?” until I was so annoyed that I went over to help him, which was his obvious intention.
DC was beyond irritated until he detected Jace’s endgame. Annie brought cookies, then Sam picked up a guitar and got us all singing while we watched baseball. It was the birth of a near-weekly ritual.
Jace drives me insane, but he’s got three key motivators: Annie, our family, and annoying me to force DC’s attention. He’s not as sly as he thinks.
Fine by me since I didn’t pay for it or clean it up. Three days later, I filled Jace’s shoes with purple glitter, and they’re still finding bits of shiny craft-store herpes to this day.
I love these lug nuts, and I don’t understand how DC was ever with someone who didn’t. They’re a package deal.
“You rattled him. Like, jumpin’ into his arms woke him up.”
“I didNOTjump into his arms!”
He cackles his contagious pitchy laugh that cracks me up and probably saves his life on a regular basis.
“Whatever you say,” he says, still giggling as I smack his ridiculously hard abs. I should try drums for the core workout. “When he broke up with Ashley, we all had bets on you. We asked, and he never denied it. He just went allno comment.”
“You what?!” I gasp.
He steps back to avoid another swat. “Maybe I should’ve left y’all alone that time it snowed. I don’t know. But then you met Nathan, and he lost his chance. He was impossible to be around for a long time.” I never noticed that. “Now you’re the one stuck in a bad relationship. Like—y’all just switched.”
“I didn’t date anyone for eight months. We were both single for at least six of them, and he never acted any differently. If he was interested, he had plenty of time to let me know.”
“Look, you’re not wrong. I don’t have an answer for that. Maybe he wasn’t sure how you felt. I just know what I know now. Everyone knows but you.”
