Serves Me Wright

I picked up the destroyed phone and saw that it didn’t even turn on. Great. Now, I couldn’t even get ahold of Jen. Not that I wanted to tell her how much of a failure I was either. She thought the world of me.

Maybe I was thinking too much of myself right now, but this had been my main focus for months. And now, it was gone. There was nothing I could do.

I ground my teeth together. Realizing there was something I could do.

But my phone was dead.

I’d have to go in person.

I ran a hand back through my hair and hated myself for what I was about to do. But Ashleigh Sinclair could make this right.

33

Jennifer

“Hey, Blaire. Have you heard if Julian is still going to the game today?”

Blaire popped her head out of her room, dressed in her red Tacos uniform, her long black hair in a ponytail on the top of her head. “As far as I know. Thank God we do not have to have Chase Sinclair again as his replacement.”

“Bad?”

“I did not know hot boys could be that uncoordinated.”

I laughed. “Didn’t he play football?”

“Oh, he can run. But he cannot dribble or pass or shoot. He kept going offsides. I’m not sure he actually knew the rules.” Blaire shook her head. “A disgrace.”

“Huh. Okay.”

“Why? Problems in paradise?”

“No. I don’t think so. I mean, I hope not.” I flushed, thinking about the worst-case scenario of why Julian hadn’t returned any of my texts for almost twenty-four hours. “He hasn’t responded on his cell. Could you text him?”

“Sure. Sure. Let me shoot one off to the group to see if they’ve heard from him.”

I nodded and headed back into my room. I changed into shorts and a tank top for the game, snagging a Blaire Blush baseball cap. She’d foisted one off on me since I never wore hats. I thought I looked stupid in them, but if Blaire said it looked good, who was I to argue?

I checked my phone again. Nothing. Seriously, I was starting to look desperate. How many unanswered messages were too many? Because I was definitely almost there. Or maybe already there.

“Hollin says he was at work. Should be at the game,” Blaire yelled across the hall.

“Oh. Okay,” I whispered.

So, he’d been at work but not messaged me. That was…odd. Worrisome.

I glanced at my stash of Xanax. Usually, I didn’t need anything like that for games, but my brain was firing overtime, telling me all the ways that Julian was tired of me. Over us. I’d been a fun flirtation, some nice sex, a trip to Mexico. Now, it was time to move on to bigger and better.

But Julian wasn’t like that. At least, the small part of my brain not currently overrun by my anxiety was saying that. We’d kissed in front of his whole family. Things had been looking good…looking up. Why did my brain have to do this?

“Fuck it,” I muttered.

I popped a half-Xanax into my mouth.

Then I did another thing that I’d been waiting on. I pulled up my Instagram. The post was already in Draft. It was the portrait I’d done of Campbell, maybe the best picture of my entire life. And underneath it was the caption: Portrait series #1. I’d been wavering on when to post it, if I should even do it. But it was now or never, right?

I pressed Share and closed my phone.

“Ready?” Blaire asked.

“Yep. Let’s go.”

Piper joined us in the living room, and we piled into her Jeep before we were on our way to the soccer fields. The top and sides were off of the Jeep. Piper and Blaire sang along to the latest Halsey song at the top of their lungs. They both had great voices. I was surprised I’d never really heard them sing before.

We arrived to the fields early, but neither of Julian’s cars was there. Hollin was hopping out of his truck right as Piper parked. He came around to the side to grab his bag, and his hulking bulk got right up in her space.

She cursed under her breath. “Hollin, personal space exists.”

“Oh, don’t act like you don’t like it, Medina.”

“You wish.”

He smirked. A primal thing that made Piper’s back stiffen. “You know, if you ever need to get that stick out of your ass, I could always help.”

She glared at him as she slammed the car door. “Fuck you, Abbey.”

He winked. “We’ll see.”

Steam rose from the top of her head. She was so pissed at him. I thought she might launch herself across the small space and claw his eyes out. Blaire and I were both paralyzed on the other side of the Jeep, waiting to see what she’d do.

But as if realizing that he was getting to her, Piper just slung her purse onto her shoulder and brushed past him without a word. Blaire and I exchanged a look. She shrugged like she didn’t know. I didn’t either. Hollin sure liked pushing her buttons though. And he swaggered away onto the field like his shorts couldn’t contain the junk between his legs.