Sidelined (Game On 3)

I squealed and threw my arms around him. “You are the only person for her.”

“Thanks, Bree,” Will said, returning my hug. “Now. Let’s get this unpacking done. I’m on a promise tonight!”

We did all we could do in a few hours. All we left were Will’s personal belongings; he didn’t want us rummaging through his old yearbooks so we began to file out of Freya’s apartment.

Jesse, Leah, Radleigh, and I were the first to make our way outside. Freya came down to say goodbye, and while everyone around me chatted, I stopped to do a double take as an unwelcome presence walked towards us. Seriously? Now she shows up?

Leah and Freya followed my gaze, and Leah was the first to speak. “Are you kidding me? Taylor?”

Taylor’s eyes fell on me, and when she spotted Leah, they widened for a second. It wasn’t like she didn’t know Leah would be back soon. She and Radleigh had been splashed all over the news right after my party, the first time they were seen out together in L.A. Was that why she’d been calling me so persistently? To get the gossip? And how did she even figure out where we were?

“Well, well, well,” she said as she approached. “Look at you all back together again. Good to see you, Leah.”

To her credit, Leah kept her mouth shut but I couldn’t. “Taylor, please. Give her a break.”

She held up her hands. “Did I do anything? Actually, I want to talk to you. Since we spoke earlier, I think we should arrange to go out sometime.”

My friends’ stares scorched my skin. I hardly blamed them for shooting puzzled glances my way. But, really. As if I’d associate with that skank again.

Jesse was the person I worried about the most. Taylor hadn’t even acknowledged his presence even though she couldn’t have missed him with a massive cast on his leg, and holding crutches. His gaze turned cold as he stared at her.

“We didn’t speak earlier,” I said. “I told you to leave me alone.”

“Whatevs, I still think we should get together soon.”

“I disagree,” I told her, and Radleigh stepped in front of me.

“What the hell are you doing here?”

“I… I was in the area.”

Radleigh glared at her and she ducked her head and left without another word, smart enough not to test him. My shoulders sagged with the relief she’d gone but she obviously hadn’t taken my hints. She must have followed one of us. How else would she have found us so easily? I suppose it might have been a coincidence, I mean, the beach was right there but… God, if she started stalking Radleigh again I’d kill her myself.

Radleigh turned to me in full-on protective mode. “Have you been talking to her?”

Like Jude, he assumed me too weak to make my own responsible decisions, and being treated like a mentally deficient loser was getting old.

“No! She keeps calling me. The only times I’ve spoken to her have been to tell her to stop.”

“Bree, can I talk to you?” Jesse asked, his eyes still icy, and I nodded.

I hadn’t done anything wrong, yet everyone judged me. I heard their thoughts as if they were being screamed out loud. There goes Bree, the gullible idiot, making friends with Taylor again.

I picked up my purse and we walked back towards Freya’s apartment, down the short alleyway leading to the beach. The whole way, I rummaged through my bag, checking I had everything I came with. Phone, wallet, keys, make-up. All good.

“Jesse, I’m not going to hang out with her, I swear. I wouldn’t.”

I zipped up my purse and when I looked up at him, he nodded. “I know.”

“You do?”

“Bree, you’ve been there for me more than anyone since I had the operation. You’d never go out of your way to talk to her.”

“Then why-?”

Jesse wriggled one of his arms free from his crutch and took my hand. “If Taylor’s bothering you, you can talk to me. If she gets too much I’ll… I don’t know, I’ll help you get a restraining order to keep her away. But you need to tell me if she crosses too many lines.”

I really thought he’d bitch me out. Instead, he’d given me reassurance and offered to help me when the last thing he wanted was to have anything to do with her. No matter how rough things got for him he’d still risk making himself uncomfortable if it meant helping someone else.