Somethin' About That Boy

She was bent over almost in half, stretching her calves and glutes.

I looked over at Titus and said, “You should take a picture.”

“He already did,” Slone said as he bounced his kid on his lap.

I reached over and touched her toe, causing her to giggle.

Slone grinned but didn’t take his eyes off the court.

And when I looked in the direction that he was staring, I found him staring at Tempy, who was trying to look anywhere but at him. She was on the sideline passing out bottles of water.

I rolled my eyes and returned my gaze to Perry to see her staring at me.

I grinned at her and gave her a chin tilt, causing her to smile.

That was when Vance plopped his happy ass down across the gym from me, close enough that he was able to talk to Perry if he wanted.

When he said something, Perry didn’t even acknowledge him. She turned away and gave him her back before returning the ball she was using to the ball cart.

“This is a district game,” Abbott murmured. “If they win this one, they’ve cinched their spot in the playoffs.”

“It’s a little early for that, isn’t it?” I asked curiously.

“It would be if they weren’t playing the second-place team,” Titus murmured.

Before anything else could be said, the band started up, and the high school’s fight song started to play.

I stood along with the rest of the students, standing shoulder to shoulder with Titus as we watched the girls sing with the band.

“Fuck, she’s hot,” I muttered to myself.

Titus snorted with amusement. “I never really saw it before because she’s always hiding behind that bad attitude and her baggy clothes. I’ve seen a different side of her this last week, and I gotta admit, I like what I see.”

I narrowed my eyes. “You just pay attention to Blue.”

“I think it’s really weird that you’re telling me to pay attention to your cousin,” he murmured.

I shrugged. “As long as it keeps you away from my girl, I’m doing okay.”

Titus rolled his eyes. “I grew up around Perry. I’m sorry, man, but just because I can see her beauty, doesn’t mean I can get over the fact that she’s so grouchy all the time.”

I snorted. Perry wasn’t grouchy.

She was prickly, sure. But grouchy? No.

It was hard to be friendly when people made fun of her so much.

Not that she would ever admit that it was affecting her.

Hell, with Symphony, it was bad enough.

But then you added all of Symphony’s bandwagon? Well, then I didn’t fuckin’ blame her. I’d be defensive and prickly, too.

“How well do you know Symphony?” I asked curiously.

“Biblically,” Slone muttered under his breath.

My brows rose. “You know her biblically, or Titus does?”

My gaze went from one to the other.

“Everyone knows Symphony biblically. If you have a dick, you know her,” Abbott said. “Though, none of us knew that we were fucking the queen whore of the school at the same time. We thought we were all special. Then suddenly we weren’t.”

I gagged. “That’s just fucking bad.”

“Needless to say, Symphony acts like she’s special, but she’s not. You can’t be special when everyone has had a piece of you,” Titus murmured. “Didn’t realize it at the time, but shit if I had, I would’ve done the exact opposite.” He paused. “I think that’s why Blue won’t give me the time of day.”

“Fuckin’ same,” Graham muttered. “Rebel looks at me like I’m infected sometimes.”

There were chuckles all around, but before I could comment on it, the band started up again, and the girls started to line up for the national anthem.

I stood and placed my hand over my heart as the drumline came out with the American and Texas flags.

The anthem played, and I took note of Vance glaring at me from across the court.

I gritted my teeth and looked away, staring this time at Perry who was nervously shifting from foot to foot. Each time that she moved, her ass muscles would flex in her shorts, and I became transfixed.

Hell, the anthem had been over for at least thirty seconds before I realized I was the only dumbass still standing there with his hand over his heart.

The only reason I realized it when I did was because Titus punched me in the leg.

“Sit down, man, you’re embarrassing me,” Titus muttered.

I felt my ears get red as I sat, glancing sideways to see Dawson glaring at me.

I shrugged as if I couldn’t help myself, and he rolled his eyes.

“I swear to God,” I said when the other team started to be announced. “Dawson is like the weirdest, coolest girl’s father I’ve ever met,” I murmured to the group at large. “He doesn’t care that I stay at my own place. He doesn’t give a shit that I’m there with her alone. He doesn’t care that I’m giving her a ride to school on my bike. No dad is that cool. Right?”