“No. I mean I’m a little nervous about seeing Jack, but he told me he doesn’t care. I know my mom’s going to be all over you with questions and stuff though.”
“Fantastic.” His mom was my high school biology teacher, and she was one of my all-time favorite teachers.
“I thought you liked my mom.”
“I do, but what if she’s more upset about us than you think?” She’d always seemed happy to see me with Jack, and she’d been nice enough to me after the breakup, but would she flip out about me dating another one of her sons?
“She isn’t. She always thought we made a better match. Besides, she adores you and is just glad you’re dating one of her sons. Of course, if you decide you want George, she might flip.”
I smacked his arm. “George is fourteen. I think your little brother is safe.”
“Sorry. I’ll stop.”
“Good. I still can’t believe Jack’s going to be in town. He hasn’t come back for one of these in a while.”
“Mom says he is. But maybe she’s wrong. We haven’t talked at all since I left for school.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. You’re not the reason. He barely talks to anyone in our family anymore.”
“Maybe he won’t come.” I really didn’t want to face my ex-boyfriend, although a part of me thought it might give me some much needed closure. Besides, he was Colt’s brother. Keeping them apart was unrealistic. “Sorry. I shouldn’t have said that.” Colt seemed comfortable dating his brother’s ex, but would that change when they came face to face?
“Don’t worry. I also wouldn’t worry about your friends. They’re going to have fun.”
“I hope so.”
“They invited themselves, remember?”
“Yeah, but that doesn’t mean they won’t blame me if they’re bored.”
“Has anyone ever told you how judgmental and hard you are on people?”
“Hey!” I pushed his arm.
“It’s true. I’m sorry, but Juliet and Cara care about you. At least give them the benefit of the doubt.”
“You’re right. Sorry.” He was right. I just hated the thought of embarrassing myself even more than I already had that semester. I knew they weren’t coming to make fun of my town, but I hoped it was what they expected.
“What do you want to do tonight?”
“I told Annie we’d stop by to see her.” We’d finally caught up on the phone, and she was dying to see us together as a couple. She’d always encouraged me to go after him, and I was readying myself to hear ‘I told you so’ a lot.”
“And then there’s the game…”
“Yes, the game. Think they’re up for it?” I pointed behind us.
“Oh yeah. Who wouldn’t be up for a football game?”
I laughed. “It’s high school football.”
“Yeah? That just makes it better.”
“I obviously need to go. I want to watch Davie start.”
“He’s gotten really good.”
“I know. He’s even thinking about playing college. I don’t know how I feel about it.”
He gave me a look. “Lucky for you, it’s not your decision.”
“Do you want to come in and see my parents first?” I wasn’t sure what answer I hoped for.
“Absolutely.” He picked up my hand. “I’m going to freak out Rob by calling him Dad.”
“Colton!”
“What? It would be priceless.”
“And he’ll flip out.”
“Yeah. He seemed pretty chill when we talked.” Colton kept his eyes glued straight ahead as he drove down the country road leading into town.
“When you talked to him?” My jaw probably dropped. “When were you talking to Rob? Why?”
“A few weeks ago, and he called me.”
“How’d he even get your number? And why’d he call?”
“He got it from my parents, and isn’t the why obvious? He wanted to make sure my intentions were pure.”
“And are your intentions pure?” I teased, still not sure how the news of our relationship had traveled back to Gasden so quickly.
“Mostly. Of course, he wasn’t thrilled about how sexually active we were, but—”
“Please tell me you’re joking.” My heart sped up. I thought it might beat out of my chest.
“Do you think I have a death wish?”
“Phew.” My heart returned to normal. “But why didn’t you tell me you talked?”
“I knew you’d have this reaction.”
“So, in other words, you’re only telling me because you’re afraid I’d get mad if Rob let it slip?”
“Pretty much.” He grinned. “Just covering my bases.”
“I guess it’s a good thing. Maybe he won’t question me too much.”
“Because that’s likely.”
I leaned my head back against the seat. “Don’t feed me to the lions, okay? Help me out with him.”
“Of course. I know how he is.” Colton knew how ridiculously strict Rob was. He was the exact opposite of my dad. Instead of absentee, he was overly involved.
“Thanks.”
“Anytime, love.”
Love? Did that mean anything, or had he just used the word by accident? I forced the thought from my head as we drove into the center of town.
The town square was decorated with strings of white lights for the festival, and we had to take a detour around Main Street. I looked out the window as we passed the Miller’s farm, surprised that I was feeling more excitement about being back than I expected. I didn’t even mind the manure smell that only seemed noticeable when you’d been away from town awhile.
Colton pulled into the steep driveway of my modest two story house. Aaron parked out front by the curb.
Mom was halfway down the front porch by the time I’d hopped down. Dressed in a pair of jeans and a t-shirt, she looked younger than usual.
“Mallory!” She pulled me into a bear hug. I enjoyed her warmth before reluctantly pulling back. Colton pulled out my bags.
“Hi, Colton. Nice to see you.” She hugged him before turning her attention to the rest of the guests.
“Mom, you remember Juliet and Cara, right? These are their boyfriends, Reed and Aaron.” Mom and Rob had taken all three of us out to dinner a few times freshman year.