“I’m not pouting.I’m frustrated,” I finally said as I climbed down from Seth’s monster truck.Paxon was there in case I fell.
Seth grabbed my bag and held it out to Bryan.“Bring her home after school?”he asked.
Bryan grabbed my bag.“Of course.”
“And now you know why I’m frustrated,” I mumbled.
Toby chuckled.“If that’s our only problem, then I think today is a win in my books.I imagine by the time you get home today, your car will be as good as new.”
“Are you calling Lucas?”Bryan asked.
“Yeah, I think he doesn’t have work today.”
“Who’s Lucas?”I asked.
“One of Aunt Peyton’s husbands.He’s a mechanic.”
I perked up at that.I really liked Peyton.She was confidently beautiful and had a wealth of knowledge.I remembered when I first met her, she was coming out of Seth’s house with Bebe and I thought Seth had been dating her.I was so embarrassed when I found out who she was.She had two husbands and her outlook on love was refreshing to hear about.
I wondered what her husbands were like.
While they talked about my car, I slipped over to Justin.He looked like he was practically sleeping on his feet.
With swim season going strong, I understood what the others had meant about him exhausting himself.From what I knew, he trained in the mornings and evenings for swim practice.Plus, it felt like he was scheduled to have a swim match or meet or whatever every other day.He had two back to back last week.They had both been away, so I’d only gone to one.
They had felt a lot calmer to watch than soccer by a mile.It was a bit more fascinating to watch him swim though.The way his body practically flew through the water, his muscles flexing and his head bobbing up and down.I had never been so fascinated by the male body until I saw him swim for the first time.
“How are you feeling?”I asked.
“Tired,” Justin mumbled and leaned into me.
“Want to sneak away with me while they talk about my car?”I asked.“I need food.”
He perked up.“I’ll never say no to food.”He wrapped his arm around me and we went inside.I wasn’t sure the others noticed.Somehow, my poor broken car became a huge discussion as the others huddled together to figure out what they could do to either get my car running or what to do while it was getting fixed.
Some students glanced our way as we headed to the cafeteria, but it was vastly different than before Halloween.Toby and Paxon had called out one of the students about his attitude toward me to act as a warning about what they’d do to others if they dared to continue to bully me.It worked, because people kept their comments to themselves and stayed away.
Justin and I grabbed food and claimed a table.It wasn’t long until the others joined us.I was sitting next to Justin, his arm still wrapped around my shoulders as he stuffed an egg and cheese croissant into his mouth.I mostly just wanted the fresh fruit, so I gave him my croissant.He smiled and continued to eat as I picked at my strawberries.
Toby sat next to me and eyed Justin’s arm briefly.
“Busy morning, apparently?”
“Apparently,” I said.“But getting better and better now that I’m here.”
“Perfect.Now tell Justin to stop hogging you.”
“I’m not hogging her,” Justin said, letting his arm drop down from my shoulders.I missed the weight and warmth of it, but only briefly before Toby had his arm there, pulling me closer to him.
“This is better.”He sighed and relaxed against me.
“Are you okay?”I asked.
“Busy morning,” he replied simply as he picked at his hashbrowns.
“Seems we all had busy mornings,” I mumbled.
“Not all of us,” Paxon said.
