Storm Warning (27 page)

Standing and stepping away from the group, he answered. “Hey, Dad. I probably won’t have service. I’m—”

“Where’s the black notebook, son? The one you keep your bets in,” his father clarified.

The urgent tone and the fact that his father was bringing up their illegal gambling operation made him uneasy. “Um, it’s either under my mattress or in the Nike box in the top of my closet. Why?”

His chest constricted as he waited for his dad to answer.

“What did I tell you about keeping track of this stuff, Hayden? For God’s sakes, do you know what would happen if anyone found out you took bets for me at school?”

Hayden rolled his eyes as he polished off his beer. Probably the same thing that would happen if people found out his dad paid high school and college athletes to shave points and throw games. Summer wasn’t even over and his dad was already sucking him back into his mess. “Yeah, I know. Which is why I didn’t want to do this in the first—”

“Found it. It was in the closet. See you next weekend, son.” And with that, his dad was gone.

When Hayden looked up from tucking his phone back in his pocket, he was startled to see that the party was in full swing. At least a dozen more cars were there. He scanned them. Beamers. Lexuses. Jeeps. Range Rovers. Black. Silver. Gold. All shiny and proud, parked in the expansive field. No faded blue Ford pickup carrying the girl he wanted to see more than anyone else.

But when he turned to head back to his seat, he saw a girl he wasn’t so sure about seeing. And she saw him.

“Hey Cami-girl,” he greeted the statuesque brunette as she pulled a beer from the cooler. “I thought drinking ruined your skin or something?”

She’d always stayed away from drinking, smoking, or anything that would cause premature wrinkles. Pageants were his ex-girlfriend’s life pretty much.

“Yeah, well. It’s been a long summer. I need a drink,” she said, plopping down on a bale of straw positioned slightly away from everyone else. “You said you wanted to talk. Talk,” she said, gesturing with her bottle.

Hayden cleared his throat. “Um, okay. First things first. How was your summer?” Before she could answer, Devon and a few other guys from the lacrosse team let out a few low whistles and catcalls.

“Get you some, Prescott.”

“Shut your mouth, asshole,” he snapped without thinking. The old him would’ve given a thumbs up behind Cami’s back or a nod over her head. The old him was a dick.

“What’s your deal?” Cami asked, leaning away to get a good look at him. “Why are you being so nice?”

“I just called a teammate an asshole. If this is me being nice then I must’ve been a real jerkoff before.”

Cami shrugged. Her long, dark hair fell over one shoulder as she took another drink. She really was beautiful—there was no denying that. But sitting here with her was just…nice. She was more of a friend than anything. Granted, she was a friend he’d had sex with on a regular basis for the past year, but it wasn’t anything like what he’d felt when Ella Jane was anywhere near him.

With Cami he was comfortable. With Ella Jane Mason he was on edge like a long-tailed cat in a door-slamming factory, as Pops would say. But he loved every second of it.

“So I was thinking,” Hayden began just as Cami opened her mouth to speak.

“Go ahead,” they both said at once.

Giving her a tense grin, Hayden ran a hand through his hair. “So I know we talked about just taking a break for the summer, but—”

“But you didn’t miss me, did you?” Cami let out a small laugh and tilted her head, eyeing him knowingly. He didn’t see any traces of hurt in her expression
—
just mutual indifference.

“Um, it’s not like that, Cam. It was just…This summer was…”

“Crazy,” she finished for him. She pulled the red-lidded cooler closer and retrieved another beer. After handing him one, she practically downed her own.

“Whoa. How many of those have you had, sailor?” Hayden smiled but something was seriously off. He knew her parents were shitty people for the most part, but she’d spent the summer at some fancy French resort. So what had her so upset she was downing beers like an old pro?

“Oh-em-gee,” two girls squealed loudly as they approached.

Shit. Dread crept up his shoulders, pulling at the muscles in his neck. He’d forgotten just how obnoxious and irritating Cami’s friends were.

“Hayden and Cami. Cami and Hayden,” her friend Raquel sing-songed before smirking at them. “Guess summer’s really over, huh?”

He raised an eyebrow as the girls exchanged a few words. Raquel gave him a lingering glance as she walked away. “Great party, Hayden. Hopefully, I’ll be seeing you later.”

“Doubtful,” he muttered under his breath.

“Raquel seriously wants you,” Cami informed him. But her voice held no hint of the old, petty, jealous version of herself. He didn’t feel like he was even sitting with the same girl he’d dated off and on throughout most of high school. “She probably spent all summer plotting how to get in your pants behind my back this year.”

Hayden snorted. “If she did, Raquel needs a new hobby.”

“Cheers to that,” Cami said, clinking her bottle against his and dissolving into a fit of giggles. “Wait. Is…is being a massive bitch a hobby?”

Hayden chuckled but gently lifted her bottle from her hands and sat it on the ground next to their feet. “Everything okay, Cam? You seem a little…” He knew the wrong word might set her off. She might have relaxed a little this summer but she was still female. “On edge.”

She let out a deep sigh and stared blankly at the chaos ensuing around them. “You ever just feel like it’s all…pointless? All the crap we do to impress everyone, each other, our parents. I mean, really. I feel like I spend every waking second trying to please other people, and for what? I don’t get anything out of it. Not a single thing.”

Yeah. He felt like that pretty much all of the time. “Maybe you should stop.” He shrugged and surveyed the crowd. He didn’t really care about any of these people anymore. Not since he’d learned what it was like to
really
care about someone. The way he cared about Ella Jane, the way he cared about his grandparents.

A few guys were already arguing, some couples were dry humping in plain sight, and girls were prancing around like they did. Grouping up and giggling at stupid shit. God, he was ready to see
his
girl. The one who was just herself, all of the time. No games and no bullshit. But looking at Cami, he knew he needed to explain before the whole situation was just thrown in her face. She was down about something, and he cared about her enough as a friend not to pour salt in her wound.

“Look, I can tell something’s wrong, and if you want to tell me then that’s cool. But if you don’t then that’s okay too. But I’ve got something to tell you and I’d rather you hear it from me.”

She turned her round wide doe eyes to his. “What’s going on, Hayden?”

“You probably won’t even care. It’s not like you want to get back together or anything. Um, do you?” God, he hoped the answer was no. Otherwise this was about to get extremely awkward.

He watched as her eyebrows dipped in contemplation. Before he could even blink, she grabbed his shirt and yanked him forward. He sputtered and nearly choked on his own tongue when she slammed her mouth down on his.

As soon as she pulled back,
he rubbed the traces of her kiss from his lips. “What the hell was that for?”

“Egh. Just had to see. You’re in the clear. I don’t want to get back together.” She shrugged. “So you can save your breakup speech for the next girl.”

Suddenly uneasy, Hayden took a slow sip of beer. Ella Jane probably wouldn’t have approved of his ex laying one on him like that. “Cami, I’m sorry. I met someone this summer. She’s…she’s not like anyone we know. She’s different…and pretty amazing. And I hope this doesn’t hurt you or make you mad, but I wanted you to hear it from me.”

When she turned to face him, there were tears in her eyes. He felt like a complete and total jerk.

“Shit, Cam. I’m sorry. I thought we were good. You said you didn’t want to get back together.”

She shook her head, causing a few of her tears to fall. “I don’t. This isn’t…” She paused to scrub her hand roughly across her cheeks. “This isn’t about that. I met someone too. Someone…different. And amazing. And I blew him off because…” She was cut off by the sob that left her choking on her words. “Because I’m an idiot.”

“Hey, it’s okay.” Hayden slung an arm over her shoulder. “You’re not an idiot, Cameron Nickelson. Far from it. I’m sure whatever dude you blew off is sitting around crying in his French beer hoping you’ll change your mind soon.”

“You think?” She frowned but then her expression turned hopeful.

“I’d bet my ass on it. And betting is my specialty.”

She grinned, and for the first time since he’d seen her tonight, she looked happy. Excited. “Thanks. And hey, good luck with your girl.” Planting a quick peck of a kiss on his cheek, she hugged him. “I gotta go.”

“See ya, Cam.”

As she hopped up and walked away, Hayden felt like a huge weight had been lifted. Cami had met someone, too. He knew a smile was spreading across his face as he pulled his bottle to his mouth. She understood. No drama necessary. After everything this summer with his gran, he really needed something to actually go his way for once.

But his relief didn’t last long. When he turned back to the party, he saw someone he was absolutely positive he hadn’t invited.

Brantley Cooper was heading his way. And from the looks of it, Cooper was the bull and Hayden was a shiny red flag.

“S
O
where is lover boy?” Lynlee asked, lifting onto her toes to try and see through the crowd. “I’ll give him this much
—
he knows how to throw a decent party. For a city boy.”

Ella Jane laughed. City kids throwing some bales of straw around a fire and calling it a field party made her smile and shake her head. Bless their hearts. They tried.

“His name is Hayden, Lyn. Hayden Prescott. Though he might like being called loverboy. He’ll be around here somewhere. He wasn’t too excited about the whole thing.” Ella Jane shrugged her way through the crowd beside her friend. “He’s really worried about his gran. She’s not doing well.” She bit her lip to keep from saying anything else. Pops had sworn her to secrecy, and she hadn’t even told her mama about Gran’s dementia. Her stomach twisted at the memory of what she’d just seen.

On her way to the party, she’d stopped to drop off the chicken and dumplings her mama had made the Prescotts. She’d hoped to catch Hayden before he left but he was already gone. Pops was sitting on the porch swing with Gran’s feet in his lap when she arrived.

Thankfully, she hadn’t freaked out and called EJ any mean names, but she was singing softly to herself and seemingly unaware of her surroundings.

“Good day or bad day?” she’d asked Pops. He smiled and nodded for her to take the food in the house.

“We’re together. Far as I’m concerned, that makes it a good day.”

Her heart had both swelled and ached from the encounter. Love could be fleeting. She knew that from her parents. But the Prescotts had something she hoped she’d have one day too. The kind of love that never ended. The kind that made it through fights, time apart, illnesses, and whatever storms came their way.

Maybe she and Hayden would have something like that. One day.

The idea she’d just given birth to died a fiery death the minute she laid eyes on Hayden. The crowd had thinned a little over by the fire, and between the bodies and the shadows the flames cast around her, she saw him. He was smiling, looking more carefree than she’d ever seen him. The gorgeous brunette sitting next to him kissed him square on the mouth. EJ’s hand flew to hers.

Her chest felt like it was trying to cave in. She didn’t know if it was trying to protect her heart or crush it. Hurt like hell either way.

Fate must’ve decided she’d had as much as she could take because a group of guys moved in her path, blocking her view. She used the brief reprieve to try and catch the breath that had fled from her lungs.

“Was that him? With the Kardashian wannabe?” Lynlee was actually somewhat subdued as she looked on in the same direction. Ella Jane was thankful her friend didn’t take the opportunity to make some bitchy comment about how that’s what she got for committing to one guy.