Chapter 27 #2
“I called them cheerleaders with style my freshman year, and the next morning, the acre just inside the gate to Starlight Ridge was coated in instant mashed potatoes,” Ciara says.
“I spent an entire week putting up a makeshift fence so the cows didn’t eat them.
My dad almost pressed charges, but not even he’s brave enough to go against Liza Smart and her horde of miniature terrorists. ”
“Are you being serious?” Gabby stares at us, slack-jawed. “You’re messing with me.”
“I joke about a lot of things,” Millie says. “But the Belles are not one of them. You’re leaving soon, so you might make it away unscathed. The rest of us are at their mercy.”
The locker room door swings open and we all jump at the sudden movement.
“Fucking hell, Tate!” Ciara scolds like he could’ve known we were all on edge. “Didn’t Mom teach you not to slam the door?”
“I didn’t mean to.” He looks confused as he takes in our looks of terror. “Are y’all okay?”
I don’t know about everyone else, but now that Tate’s here, I’ve never been better.
“Yeah”—I close the distance between us—“we were just telling Gabby about the Belles and how they are absolutely not cheerleaders.”
He shivers. “Oh god. Please don’t let Liza hear you say that.
” His grip tightens on my hips. “The new booster club board won’t stop harassing me and demanding meetings that should be emails, and Mrs. Conklin reached out this afternoon about having new kitchen cabinets installed.
I don’t have it in me to deal with Liza coming at me too. ”
“Mrs. Conklin?” Millie repeats. “Didn’t she just redo her kitchen last year?”
“Yeah,” Tate says. “So you can see why having Liza strong-arm me into asking Joan to earmark money for new Belles uniforms is the last thing I need.”
Joan Wilson is the athletic director at Celestial High School.
This, according to Tate, is a big deal because when it comes to most high schools in Texas, the athletic director is almost always the football coach.
Taking the position would have earned him an extra fifty to one hundred thousand dollars a year.
He said two million dollars wouldn’t have been worth the stress of dealing with all the other coaches, countless parents, and district politics.
But even though he doesn’t hold the official title, football is still at the top of the athletic food chain. And Liza Smart, who has been working the system for thirty years, knows exactly who to go to when she needs a little extra power on her side.
“We’re in the clear,” Silas says. “I heard one of the moms say they were leaving as soon as the game ended to finish their float for the parade tomorrow.”
“I never thought I’d say this, but thank god for the Belles’ obsession with winning the best float,” Tate says, and all the native Celestial residents share a laugh.
I don’t love not being in on the jokes, but when it comes to the Belles, I’m happy to sit this one out.
“Now that we don’t have to put you in hiding, I have someone for you to meet.” I point to my best friend, who is staring at Tate with the open appreciation of a human with great taste. “Tate, this is my best friend, Gabby. Gabby, this is my…um, Tate. This is Tate.”
I stumble over my words, realizing a little too late that even though Tate feels like my boyfriend, we haven’t had that conversation yet.
“Nice to meet you, Luna’s Tate,” Gabby teases. “I’ve heard so much about you.”
That’s it. Back to Denver she goes. She’s dead to me.
“Nice to finally meet you, Gabby.” Tate extends his hand and drops his voice to a conspiratorial whisper. “You should know that My Luna has done nothing but sing your praises. I hope you like your room. She about killed herself putting up that wallpaper.”
I wish this was hyperbole, but it’s not. I fell off a ladder. It wasn’t great, but thankfully the extremely tall, handsome handyman I’m sleeping with offered to take it over for me.
And by offered, I mean he has banned me from ladders until the end of time and I didn’t argue.
“I’m obsessed,” Gabby says. “I can’t believe it’s the same house she showed me in the pictures.”
“None of us can,” Ciara says beneath her breath, and Millie lands an elbow in her waist.
“Ha ha. Very funny. Let’s all laugh at the girl who had an impeccable vision the rest of you couldn’t muster up.” I try to defend my rash and irresponsible actions, but I don’t know why I bother. They all have a trump card that will always beat my excuses.
“I’m sorry.” Gabby angles her body like she couldn’t hear me. “Was the bathtub falling through the ceiling part of the vision we couldn’t see, or are you talking about something different?”
And there it is.
“That was an added bonus,” I say.
Gabby puts her hand on my forehead. “Are you feeling okay? How are extensive home renovations a bonus?”
“It’s not obvious?” I point at Tate. “How else was I going to trick him into spending time with me?”
“Touché!” Gabby says, but I barely hear her before Tate pulls me into his side and touches his lips to mine.
Since our night at the Whiskey Rose, we haven’t shied away from physical affection.
Whenever he’s around, we find ways to touch each other and sneak a kiss—or more—in.
It’s just that usually, we’re alone in one of our houses or at the track after hours, not out in the crowded parking lot after a football game.
I didn’t take Tate as someone who’d be up for public displays of affection, but I’m into it.
“Trick me? You must’ve missed the part where I was gone the second I spotted you across that crowded bar in July.” His black eyes go soft and his words flow like warm honey into my veins. “I might not have known who you were, but I knew you were mine.”
Kissing me in front of our friends and a declaration of his feelings at the same damn time? I don’t know how to process this. My hands fist around the loose fabric of his shirt, and the ability to speak escapes me, but it doesn’t matter because he keeps talking.
“I’m still pissed Patricia let you buy that death trap, but selfishly, I’m glad you did,” he says, his voice dropping to a whisper.
“I thought my life was over when I moved back home. Now I have a future in front of me that I didn’t even think was possible and a girlfriend by my side who makes me happier than I’ve ever been before.
Even when she makes me wallpaper her bathroom ceiling. ”
“But the ceiling looks really cute.” I choke out the words, refusing to cry no matter how much my previously defunct tear glands want me to. “And just to be sure I heard you right, you did say girlfriend, correct?”
Because if I misheard him, as the kids say, I will crash out.
“I did,” he says, apprehension creeping into his tone. “If that’s what you want. No pressure.”
Confident Tate is hot. Competent football coach is hotter. But nervous, wants-to-be-my-boyfriend Tate is one hundred percent the hottest.
“Yeah.” I nod my head and try to play it cool, but I’m pretty sure the smile about to split my face in two gives me away. “I think I’d be good with that.”
“Girl!” Gabby punches me in the arm with too much force to be considered playful. “Now is not the time to be coy! You better tell this man you want him.”
“You, hush!” I glare at my best friend (for now), too prideful to give her the satisfaction of rubbing my arm that is definitely bruising. “You’re going to scare him away.”
“If that house didn’t scare him away, then there’s no chance I will,” Gabby says. “Plus, I’m a goddamn delight, and he might’ve just met me, but he knows it too. Right, Tate?”
It’s more of a threat than a genuine question, but Tate, forever the good sport, plays along.
“Of course,” he says, and his smile is brighter than I’ve ever seen it.
“Okay,” Ciara cuts in, clearly sick of our bullshit. “This has been adorably disgusting, but Tate’s coaches keep peeking out the door and are too scared of his grumpy ass to interrupt. Plus, if we don’t get to the Whiskey Rose soon, they’re going to be out of dollar shots.”
“Dollar shots?” Gabby’s ears perk up. “Why didn’t you lead with that? Will there also be cowboys?”
“The night before the Starlight Stampede?” Ciara’s laugh lacks any humor. “That’s all that will be there.”
“Alright then! Time to move it!” Gabby claps. “The first person to the car can get the super exclusive story about Luna after prom, and trust me, folks, it’s a doozy.”
Motherfu—
“After prom, huh?” Tate turns me to face him. “I think you’re going to have to tell me about that one.”
I roll up onto my tiptoes, incapable of standing this close to him for this long without kissing him. “Maybe in one to two business years if you’re patient.”
He smiles against my mouth. “I think I can wait that long.”
“Alright, lovebird.” Millie pulls my arm. “Say goodbye to your boyfriend so he can get back to work. You’ll see him soon.”
My boyfriend?
I think I can get used to that.
“Bye, boyfriend.” I wave over my shoulder as Millie—who’s deceptively strong for her size—drags me toward the car. “Call me when you’re finished here.”
“Later, girlfriend,” he says back, and I swear I see a blush graze his cheeks. “Don’t let Ciara and Silas get you into too much trouble.”
“It’s the other way around and you know it,” Silas shouts back, and the poor guy really seems to be regretting his decision to tag along tonight.
But right now, he’s the only one.
Surrounded by all my friends, my boyfriend standing behind me, I can’t bring myself to regret a damn thing.
“Ciara wins!” Gabby shouts when the two of them reach the car. “Now let me tell you, the year was 2014…”
Except maybe I regret letting Gabby spill my secrets.