prologue
EIGHTEEN YEARS AGO
LANDRY
“It’syour job as an older brother to look after your sister, Landry,” my dad says sternly. “Especially now that Loren is …”
“Thirteen?” I offer.
He grunts and nods.
I add a “Yes, sir” to make sure he doesn’t think I’m telling him something he should already know.
He’s right, though. As soon as our older sister, Lilley, moved away for college and left Loren with a bedroom all to herself, Lo wasted no time in plastering the walls with posters of her favorite male actors. I’m afraid my baby sister has officially become boy crazy, and I don’t imagine it’ll get any better after her first coed party tonight.
Although I’m only one grade ahead of Loren, I’ve been tasked with chaperoning her and her best friend, Tenley, and I’ve got my work cut out for me. Every thirteen-year-old boy at that party will be vying for Tenley’s attention since she’s more stacked than any of the girls at my high school, and I can totally see my sister jumping on the first wingman offer she gets. The thing is, Tenley’s always had a crush on me. I mean, I’m decent-looking and pretty good at sports, and having a high school football coach for a dad makes me relatively popular, even though I tend to put my foot in my mouth. But I figure this is one of those “best friend’s older brother” things.
Which brings me to the next problem—I can’t make a move on Tenley without upsetting Loren, since it’s not like my sister has any other close friends. So, despite the fact that Tenley Robin is hot as hell and more than willing to get with me, I’ve been acting like I haven’t noticed the way she follows me around like a lost puppy, mostly because I can’t risk distracting Tenley from her job of keeping Loren occupied.
“She’s young and gullible. But her reputation is as much your responsibility as anyone else’s,” my father continues after a while. It’s probably one of the longest non-football related conversations we’ve ever had, so I know he’s serious. And I need to take advantage of every opportunity I get to show my dad he can depend on me. He’s not easy to impress.
My mom, however, thinks I walk on water. Now that my dad’s named me the starting quarterback, at least for practices, she’s become my biggest fan. I’ve also inherited Lilley’s job of taking care of her when she’s had too much to drink after she brags about me to every person she crosses in town.
Which reminds me—I’ll have to get home at a decent time tonight, or else Mom will be trashed when I return, and it’ll be harder to drag her to bed. At least she can stumble there with my help when she hasn’t completely passed out.
“Yeah, I’ll make sure she’s good, Dad,” I say after a while.
My dad furrows his brow. “Yeah?”
“Oh, sorry. Yes,sir.”
He nods once before he gestures to the door, signaling for me to get out of his truck.
“Thanks for the ride,” I add quietly, but he only glares impatiently, waiting for me to shut the passenger door behind me.
I search the host’s backyard as I walk into the party, scanning the crowd for Loren. She’s supposed to have gotten a lift from Tenley’s older sister, which is concerning in and of itself. I spot her and Tenley beside the pool, a small crowd of eighth-grade boys surrounding them. I roll my eyes when I see the way Loren’s eating up the attention, even though it’s not directed at her.
“Hey, Lo-Lo,” I call out loudly as I approach, causing most of the guys to scatter.
Loren frowns and crosses her arms when I make my way over. “Seriously? Did you have to do that?”
“Uh, yeah, actually, I did. Those kids are all creeps, and I’d have to beat the crap out of any of them if they so much as tried to lay a hand on you.” I glance at Tenley, who’s already giving methe look, and I shoot her a flirty smirk.
Loren lets out an exasperated groan. “Gah, Landry. No one’s even asked me to dance yet,” she protests. “And now they never will.”
“Then I guess I’m doing my job,” I retort, pursing my lips and shrugging. My eyes dart to Tenley again, measuring her reaction. She’s still staring hopefully. “How about you, Ten?”
She bites her lip and shakes her head.
“She’s lying,” Loren says dryly. “She’s just been waiting for you to ask.” Tenley’s eyes widen in embarrassment as she elbows Loren in the arm. Loren yelps, and I can’t help but laugh.
Tenleyispretty cute … and she’s definitely into me.
She licks her lips this time and looks down shyly, making her eyelashes flutter. And for a second, my stomach mimics the action.
I allow my gaze to travel over her. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t interested in being the first guy to claim that territory. Not to mention, the idea of someone actually liking me formeand not just because I’m Coach Reed’s son feels nice.
But what if Tenley’s been using Loren to get to me? Or she’s only showing an interest because she thinks it’ll make her more popular?
