A Whole New Crowd (A Whole New Crowd 1)

She stopped and fixed me with a dark look. “Why do you care?”

“I don’t.” I told her the truth. “I’m trying to figure out the dynamics because no one seems surprised that you and Dylan are all touchy-feely.”

“Oh.” She shrugged. “Dylan makes out with whatever girl is single when he comes. If I get back with Devon, Dylan will be macking on a different girl next time. He doesn’t care.”

We heard car doors shut at that moment and Mandy froze, staring out the window for a moment. She muttered, “Yeah, well, a lot of things are messed up.” Then the door to the kitchen opened, and she fixed a bright smile on her face. “Welcome back, Mom!”

Shelly came in first. Like Mandy, she was petite with blonde hair, and today she wore Capri pants and a white, light-weight sweater with a floral tank top underneath. She was a soccer mom. She had called herself that the first time I met her with a bright smile and a cute pixie-like face. She hugged Mandy, letting go of the luggage behind her. The two of them looked so much alike, they could’ve been twins.

I did not fit in with them.

That feeling doubled as Shelly ran a loving hand down Mandy’s hair, smoothing it out, hugging her tight one last time before letting go. “Oh, honey. I’ve missed you so much.”

Mandy pulled back, then burst into tears. “Devon and I broke up.”

“Oh my god. Oh no.” Shelly glanced at me, graced me with a kind smile. “Taryn. It’s so good to see you too.” She held a hand out for me to squeeze and as I did, she turned back to Mandy. “What happened, darling?”

The story was then unfolded. They turned to go upstairs as one unit. Shelly reached for her luggage and Mandy took the other carry-on that was on the floor beside it. I heard Mandy say as they went up the stairs, “He cheated on me, Mom.”

“Oh no.” When they were at the top, “With who?”

“Jennica.”

“Her? I never liked her, you know.” Then they were in the master bedroom and the door shut. I couldn’t hear anymore.

“Taryn.”

I’d been gazing towards the stairs, but turned at Kevin’s voice. He was in the doorway. While Shelly was petite and cute, Kevin was tall and handsome. He was six feet, had broad shoulders, and a trim waist, and greying specks in his hair that gave him a refined appearance. When I took in his threads, I shouldn’t have been surprised, but I always was. Shelly dressed rich, so did he. His khaki golf pants and vest over his short-sleeve shirt were custom tailored. Even his shoes screamed they were expensive.

“Kevin.” I didn’t go to him. Mandy’s dad had always made me nervous. He never did anything. He’d always been polite and kind to me, but he wasn’t a loving man. I had never witnessed a hug between him and Shelly, or Mandy either as I thought about it.

“Dad!” Austin came barreling up from the basement. He threw himself at Kevin and a genuine laugh came from my adopted father as he hugged him back.

I had to correct myself. Kevin was loving with Austin. He hugged him tight again. “Oh, man.” Pulling back, he ruffled his hair. “Two weeks I’ve been gone and you shot up a good three inches. You’re getting as tall as me.”

The fourteen-year-old grinned from ear to ear, but he ducked away from his dad’s hand, then smoothed his hair back down. “Whatever, Dad. You’re back, right? You’re staying a while this time?”

“You know it.”

“I gotta show you my score on the game downstairs.”

“What were your stats for the basketball game last weekend?”

Austin stiffened, then shrugged. “They were okay.”

“Austin.”

“I missed my top by two points.”

Kevin shook his head, but still smiled at him. “It’s my fault. You and I need to throw the basketball around some more. We’ll do that tonight.”

Austin lit up. His eyes flooded with warmth and his smile stretched even wider. “That’d be great. Can I show you my score on the game now?”

“Sure.” Kevin laughed and draped an arm around Austin’s shoulders. The two went downstairs and continued talking about some game.

My phone buzzed and I pulled it out. It was a text message from Tray: Afternoon party at my place if you and Mandy want to head over?

I replied: You couldn’t have picked a better time. I’m on my way.