“No,” she said. “But I’ll ask him. He’ll tell me.”

‘Him’ being Graham, the guy that tried really, really hard to appear that he wanted nothing at all to do with her.

Graham and Rebel definitely had something going on. Something that neither one of them was willing to test.

Why, I didn’t know.

“Let me see what Banner tells me,” I said. “If I don’t think it’s a good enough explanation, I’ll text you.”

She gave me a thumb up and went back to the pizza she was shoveling down her throat.

Throughout the rest of lunch, I’d wanted to know what in the hell his problem was.

I spent the rest of the school day wondering what had happened.

But when I finally had the chance to confront him, to ask him what had happened to make the day ‘long’ I didn’t get the chance. Mostly because he wasn’t alone when I made my way toward him after school.

He had his parents with him.

I blinked at them standing next to his car and wondered if I should approach.

When I moved, all eyes trained on me.

One still pissed off pair. And two curious pairs.

“Ummm,” I said. “Hi.”

The woman beamed, and the older man’s lips twitched.

“Hello,” he said. “You’re Perry?”

I melted inside.

I was happy that he knew my name. That meant that Banner had talked about me.

“Yes, sir, that’s me.” I grinned. “You’re Banner’s parents? Obviously.”

The man chuckled, while the woman smirked. “What gave it away?”

I looked at Banner, then I looked at Banner’s mom.

“Y’all look exactly alike.”

I licked my lips and looked over at Banner, thinking that the man in front of him looked more like an older version of his older brother, Ford, than he did a dad.

He’d definitely aged well.

Then again, so did his mother.

She looked like a knock-out.

I could only hope that I looked that good at her age.

I bit the inside of my lip, not sure what to say.

I’d never done the meet the parent thing.

I’d only met friends’ parents, and even then, it was on the rare occasion.

“Is Trance your real name?” I asked as I eyed his motorcycle vest. “That’s odd. Then again, my parents named me Perry. My mom was in love with Luke Perry off of 90210. She loved him so much that she convinced my father to name me that. Though, at the time, my father didn’t know that’s why she wanted to name me that. It was just a name. He liked it and agreed. It only came out later when my mom was telling someone about my name that he realized why she’d wanted it. I…”

Banner grabbed my hand and tugged me to him, making me forget what I was saying for a few moments.

With the chance to get a word in, Trance smiled. “It’s actually Killian. I just don’t go by that name very often.”

“Killian.” I looked at him. “Isn’t that a beer?”

Banner burst out laughing, the tension in his shoulders releasing for the first time since I’d arrived.

His father grinned, letting me know exactly how hot Banner would be when he was his father’s age.

Whew, the Spurlock men aged well.

Between Ford and Trance, Banner won the genetic lottery.

And Viddy was right. I didn’t see a single hint of her in Ford. Not at all.

“It is a beer,” Viddy said. “Their parents” —she gestured at Trance with her thumb— “named all of their children after beer. There’s Killian, Miller Genuine, and Foster Lager.” She paused. “Then there’s the kids of Miller. Samuel Adams, Blue Moon, and Sierra Nevada.”

I grinned then. “That’s great.”

I honestly hadn’t ever had the thought to ask Blue how her name came to be. Maybe I should have.

That made me a bad friend, didn’t it?

Then again, I hadn’t any idea that they were named after beers.

“Y’all kids ready to go grab a bite before the game?” Trance asked.

Banner sighed. “I can’t. Coach wants us to have a team meeting. He’s already ordered us sandwiches from a sandwich shop in town. I’m sorry. I tried calling you when I knew, but y’all were already pulling into the parking lot.”

Trance’s eyes turned to me. “What about you? What are you doing?”

I scrunched up my nose. “I have a volleyball game. I’m actually supposed to head to the gym now. I just wanted to say hi to him.”

Banner’s fingers tightened on my hip.

Viddy’s eyes lit. “Oh, can we go?”

I opened my mouth and then closed it. “I… I guess. I mean, I don’t think it’s anywhere near as exciting as football, but I’d love to have you come watch my game.”

I loved having people that were there to cheer me on.

Especially since both my mother and father would be at a work function tonight for my father’s job.

They hated that they were missing my game, but since it was pretty much mandatory to go to, they didn’t have much choice.

Tags: Lani Lynn Vale Romance
Source: readsnovelonline.net