“I love their tacos.” She bites into one.
“Finish what you were saying. Why does Braden hate Jackson? Besides the football thing?”
“A lot of reasons.”
“Like what?”
“Well, for one, Braden claims Jackson stole his girlfriend.”
“Who was the girl?”
“You wouldn’t know her.” Shayla rips open a hot sauce packet and drizzles it over her taco. “But you’ll meet her next week. She goes to Twisted Pine. Major snob. Worth millions, maybe more.”
“Are you talking about Kristen?”
Her brows draw together. “You know Kristen?”
“She was at Jackson’s house. I’ve seen her there more than once. Sometimes she stays there.”
“Seriously?” Shayla whispers, leaning toward me. “So the rumors are true? He’s dating Kristen?”
“I don’t know. He keeps telling me he’s not but . . .” I stop, not sure I should tell her this.
“But what? What do you know?”
Do I tell her? What if I can’t trust her? What if she’s spying on me for Braden? Or Trystan? It’s kind of strange that she was so eager to be friends with me. Then again, I was eager to be friends with her, too.
“Rumor, what did you see?”
I decide to tell her. If she tells Braden, what difference would it make? He already assumes Jackson and Kristen are dating.
“I saw them together.”
“What does that mean?” She takes a bite of her taco. “You saw them on a date?”
“No. Like together, in his house.” I look around, paranoid someone’s listening in, but the only people around us are construction workers talking on their phones. I don’t know why I’m worried about someone hearing me. Is this really a secret?
“You actually saw them . . .” Shayla raises her brows, waiting for me to say it.
“They weren’t having sex. But they looked like they were about to.”
“How did you see this?”
“I was walking on the beach behind his house. It was at night, so it was dark, but the blinds were open. I couldn’t really see them. Just their outline. But they were definitely making out.”
“Maybe it wasn’t her. Maybe it was someone else.” She finishes her taco and grabs a napkin from the stack on the table.
“Could be, but he said she stays over there sometimes. Doesn’t that sound like a girlfriend?”
“Or a friend with benefits.”
“Why would she agree to that? She’s gorgeous. She’d have no problem getting a boyfriend.”
“Maybe that’s not what she wants. I really don’t know that much about her other than that she’s loaded, or her family is.”
“Whose her family? Are they famous?”
“Not like Hollywood famous. Her grandfather started a company years ago and it took off. Her mother didn’t want it, so she sold it. Got like a billion dollars for it.”
