Page 175 of Out of Left Field

“Eh,” Charley shrugged. “My parents haven’t spoken to me since I was twenty-one. You can live without them if you need to.”

Charley kept a lot of herself to herself, so getting this much—voluntarily—out of her was a shock.

“Why?” Phoebe asked the question the rest of us were too afraid to ask.

Charley sucked her teeth. “They thought it was foolish to pursue soccer. Cut me off when I decided to play in college. Of course when we won the national championship they suddenly couldn’t stop calling. I was dumb enough to let them back in. As soon as I went pro it was right back to judgment and second guessing.” She looked at her drink like she wished it was something harder. “I don’t have room in my life for people who only support me when the sun is shining, you know? So,” she clucked her tongue and thumbed over her shoulder, “they had to go. No regrets.”

“But I bet it gets lonely,” Nan said quietly.

Charley and I shared a look. Yeah, it got lonely when you had to take care of yourself. But she plastered on her signature smile. “That’s why I have you guys.”

“Well isn’t this quite the party!” Willa Cooper stepped through the glass door and onto the pool deck.

“That’s her?” Jeri asked.

“Yep. So be cool, guys.” We still didn’t know if Willa got the job, but after she confessed that she didn’t have a lot of female friends, I decided she needed to meet mine. I had a feeling she’d fit right in. “Come on in. The water’s hot!”

She smiled brightly, all that curly hair piled up on the top of her head. She dropped a pool bag on one of the loungers and whipped off her sundress. “Is there room for one more?”

“Come right on in,” Jeri waved to the spot beside her. “I’m Jeri, team captain extraordinaire.”

“And ever so modest,” Charley rolled her eyes. “Charley.” She held up a hand.

“And this is Phoebe and Nan,” I introduced the rest.

“You’re all Tangerines?”

“Yep. Everyone. I hope you like pizza. Charley has become a bit of an aficionado and she’s making everyone their own tonight.”

“Just don’t ask for pineapple. I refuse to put that on a pizza.”

Willa’s lip curled. “No worries. I’m more of a vegetable delight kind of person. And meats from time to time. Usually when Seth and Everett are doing the ordering.”

“That’s right…” Jeri purred. “You’re friends with Butler.” Her eyes slid my way.

And suddenly I knew I had made a grave mistake.

“You know I live to torment him. Give me all his secrets.”

Willa threw back her head and laughed. “But there are so many! I need to dole them out slowly.”

“Give me a good one,” Jeri begged. “Did he ever lose a bet? Streak across the quad? Skinny-dip in the fountain?” Jeri’s eyes danced with so much hope.

But I held my breath.

“Well, sophomore year he did pass out after Super Regionals and the team shaved his head.”

Jeri clapped. “More! Give me more!”

“Hmmm,” Willa smiled at me. “There was also the time Everett bet him he couldn’t pick up a slightly older woman at the bar we were at. So Seth, of course, went all out.”

“And?” Jeri practically salivated.

“And not only did he get turned down, but the next week he ran into her again…she was his new economics professor.”

“No!”

Willa nodded furiously. “She teased him about it all semester. No one got the digs, but we did. We so did.”