“Did you just quote Daisy Foxhorn?”
Another shrug. “Out of context. That’s the only way I’d quote her on anything.” He cuffed my shoulder. “Terrible instincts, bro. Just terrible.”
But that’s where he was wrong. I had great instincts, apparently. But instincts don’t do you a lick of good if you don’t listen to them.
I walked out of the room and sat back on the couch. As much as it pained me to do it—and it pained me a lot—I opened TikTok to begin my humble pie apology video for the whole world to see. It wouldn’t take back what had happened today, but it would take the heat off of Anna. I pressed record.
CHAPTER 16
blue
Iglanced over at the ridiculously tall sucker who swore he was my best friend. I was beginning to believe it. He’d scrambled, helping me set everything up for tonight. Now he sat there with me in the open Seddledowne air, on the bleachers where my family and Anna had watched me play a lifetime ago, six hours from Knoxville simply because he was my friend.
The intercom crackled to life. “Tonight we’d like to give a shout-out to a former Seddledowne alum, Blue Bishop, for paying admission for everyone to enjoy this game.” The crowd went wild.
“I love you, Blue!” A lady I didn’t know yelled off to my right. She blew me a juicy kiss. I gave her a smile and a wave.
I glanced at Stilts. “This better be worth it.” Not only had I paid for every single person’s admission, I’d paid another fat sum to Janica Bolden for pretending like she had COVID. And fifteen thousand to have the high school gym repainted. That’s the only way I could get Silas to promise that Anna would be the one handing over the crown. The man was enjoying watching me squirm.
Stilts chuckled. “It might not pay off tonight. Anna’s a classy girl. You might have to put in the work for a while.”
I clicked my tongue. “If you’re so wise, why don’t you have a girlfriend?”
He tossed a piece of popcorn in his mouth. “Waiting for the right one.”
Just then someone plopped down on the bleacher right in front of me. Crap. Brooklyn. Tally sat on the other side of her in front of Stilts. I heard his breath hitch.
“How’s our resident douchebag tonight?” Brooklyn asked. “Been enjoying dating yourself?”
“Suck it,” I snorted. I felt okay doing that. In the last few days, I’d started remembering more. One thing I remembered was that I had liked Tally and Brooklyn. Brooklyn was cool because not only could she dish it, but she took it right back.
“Get your own line, Dory.” She flicked my kneecap. “Well, we just stopped by to say hi and point you up to our girl who is looking particularly gorg tonight.” And then she pointed to Anna, who looked otherworldly in her Stallions blue dress, her hair in an updo. Her makeup must’ve been done by a voodoo doctor because I felt a stab right in the middle of my heart just looking at her. She was that beautiful.
She was sitting halfway up the bleachers in the middle, with a dark-haired toddler on her lap. She was smiling up at a really attractive blond guy, who was standing off to the side talking to her. I normally wouldn’t call a guy attractive but he was ridiculously so. Like cologne-model nice-looking. I would’ve felt a pang of jealousy but he looked older, and he had his hand around the waist of a tiny, beautiful blonde. His other arm was holding a baby girl on his hip. It took a second, but then I realized I totally knew them. Holden and Christy. Wow. They had kids now.
My eyes landed back on Anna. Gorgeous Anna whose smile, I realized, appeared as forced as the one I’d been giving everyone all night.
“Yeah. That’s right, Déjà Blue,” Brooklyn said. “You coulda had that. If you weren’t an idiot.” Another flick to the kneecap. “Oh, and just so you know, Anna calls you Blucifer in her sleep.”
Blucifer?
Tally confirmed it with a pity nod. “We recorded it a couple of times for evidence purposes if you really want to hear.”
Wow. “No. I think I’m good.”
Brooklyn hopped up. “See ya. Wouldn’t wanna be ya.”
“Hi,” Tally said but not to me. She was talking to Stilts. Then she gave him a little wave before following Brooklyn back up the bleachers.
“Blucifer?” Stilts and I said at the same time.
Stilts chuckled for the fiftieth time tonight. “She’s really pretty.”
“Tally? Yeah. She’s nice too. You should get her number.”
“Yeah. I should do that,” he said, but he just sat there, staring at the field, waiting for play to start back up.
I held up my hands. “There’s no time like the present.”
