Page 86 of Forever Mine
“My wicked stepmother arriving here on her broomstick. Does that ring any bells?”
Hoping to avoid being stuck at a stoplight, I gun it when it turns from green to yellow.
“Who told you she was here?” Because I sure as hell hadn’t.
“I overheard you and Julien. The walls are thin.”
She folds her lips under and raises her eyebrows, letting me know that’s not all she heard.Road open up and swallow me whole. Hearing your sibling getting it on is as bad as walking in on your parents doing it. My face goes up in tattletale flames.
“I didn’t see her.”
I was having a panic attack in the men’s restroom. April doesn’t know about that and hopefully never will.
“Don’t be obtuse.”
Swinging into an available space, I kill the engine and turn in my seat. “I’m not being obtuse. I’m telling the truth. I really didn’t see her. She showed up at the condo, wanting to talk to Julien. He told her to fuck off.”
April bursts out laughing. “I wish I could’ve seen that. So, you have no idea what she wanted?”
“Nope. And I don’t care to. She walked away and made it clear it was for good.”
I can’t be the little boy waiting for his mommy to come back and love him. I’ve worked hard to get to the place where I can move on with my life without that hopeless expectation hanging over my head. That being said, I am curious why now.
I get out and wait for April to do the same. She skips around the hood of the car and tucks a pom-pommed hand under my arm.
“She keeps calling me. And being nice. It’s creeping me out.”
“How about a change of subject?”
Making it to the sidewalk, I guide us down the pathway that will take us to Brant Street. Stanton Field is two blocks south from there.
“Real subtle,” April says.
She looks around, taking everything in as we walk. CU isn’t as fancy as Duke with its Gothic architecture, but it has a lot of history, similar to UNC-Chapel Hill. The one thing the campus has going for it is the scenery and lush landscaping. The grounds are full of greenery, statuesque trees dripping with Spanish moss, and beautiful pops of color from flowering shrubs and plants.
We pass a group of guys playing a game of two-on-two touch football in one of the open spaces.
“Yum,” April says, unhooking her hand from my arm.
I grab her forearm and pull her back, my brotherly protective instincts kicking into gear when the blond Adonis grins openly at her.
“No, yum. The guy looks like a stalker.”
“With abs like that, he can stalk me anytime,” she quips.
I make a fake gagging noise.
After crossing the street, we join the stream of people entering the front of the stadium, and for a split second, I think I spot David in the crowd. He hasn’t tried to text or call anymore, and the way we left things isn’t sitting well with me.
Stopping at Will Call to pick up our tickets, April cat-call whistles when we walk through the front gates, and she sees Julien’s banner hanging front and center.
“You weren’t kidding. I’m stealing that, too, along with the pom-poms. Julien is H-O-T, all caps.”
“Stop skeeving on my boyfriend.”
“Not a chance,” she replies, taking a selfie of us with Julien’s image in the background.
“Elijah!” Ash’s dark head of hair bobs up and down as he waves a hand overhead from his place in line at the food and drink kiosk.
