Looking for Trouble (Nashville U Book 1) (5 page)

I pull out my phone and send my sister a quick text. I don’t want to be here any longer than I have to be. It’s close enough to five that she should be able to cut out of work and come get me.

Kat: Hey. Can u come get me?

Anna: Yeah, sure. Where u at ‘lil homie?

Leave it to Anna to make me laugh even when my heart is crushed.

Kat: Max’s. I’ll b @ the playground. And ps, lil homie? Seriously?

Anna: For realsies. B there in 10 <3

Kat: Thanks <3

Standing, I slip my phone back into my pocket and pick up my backpack. The playground area of the apartment complex is behind the building next to Max and Clay’s, so it won’t take but a minute to get over there. I don’t want either of them to see me sitting out here all pitiful-like. Clay because he’ll make another asinine remark and Max because I don’t want him to know how much he hurt me. I’m sure Clay told him what happened though; hell, he probably burst in on them doing it to break the news. It’s exactly something Clay would do, and I have to smile at the thought of Max being interrupted mid-climax by his brother running into the room yelling at him for forgetting me. He’ll probably offer to take over where Max leaves off too. He’s such a pig.

Surprisingly, the playground is deserted. I guess kids are inside doing homework or eating supper. Dropping my bag in the mulch, I sit on one of the swings and think back on when I was younger. I only had to worry if my sister was going to get in trouble for being mean to me, or if my mom was going to force me to do the unthinkable—eat Brussels Sprouts. Now, I’m older, and even though I’m in that weird place where I’m not a child, but don’t quite feel like an adult either, things are much harder.

I don’t know what to do about Max. He’s my best friend, but I want him to be more. I’ve never come out and told him about my crush, but he has to know. Everyone else does. Surely he’s not that clueless. Does he not know how much it
hurts
to see him with other girls? With the exception of Gavin Doyle, a guy I dated senior year, I’ve been single since we met. Max was dating Kelly Wood and I was so jealous my vision should have been tinged with green. Gavin was just this guy I hung out with sometimes, a guy to go on double dates with where I could pretend I was with Max instead. God, if that doesn’t scream
this girl is pathetic
, I don’t know what does.

“Kat!” a familiar, worried voice yells, bringing me out of my pity party. Max is running towards me, no jacket, just wearing a t-shirt and jeans that aren’t buttoned, his dark hair messy. When he stops in front of me, his chest heaving, and his eyes wide and wary, I notice he’s not even wearing shoes. Leaning over, he braces his hands on his knees as he tries to catch his breath. A movement off to his side catches my attention and I see Clay coming our way. He’s wearing his jacket; hands tucked into his pockets. The Nashville U ball cap on his head makes his eyes impossible to see, even if he didn’t have his head down. It’s a posture I’ve never seen on Clay before. He looks uncomfortable, as if this is the last place he wants to be.

Max drops down on his knees in front of the swing I’m sitting on, his position forcing me to look down on him as he gives me his best puppy dog impression. “Kat, honey,” he starts, his voice cajoling. He takes my hands in his, “I’m so sorry. Please say you’ll forgive me. You know you’re my favorite.” He smiles up at me sheepishly, and I know he’s expecting instant forgiveness.

Ugh
. He doesn’t even try to explain himself, although honestly, that might not be a bad thing. I’m not sure I can handle hearing how sticking it to some girl was more important than picking me up and keeping the plans we had for tonight. Still disgusted with him, I yank my hands out of his, doing it so fast he loses his balance, and almost falls backwards. It makes him drop one hand to the wood chips to stop his momentum.

“C’mon Kat, don’t be that way,” he pleads from his awkward position.

Before I can tell him to go to hell, Clay grabs him by the back of his t-shirt and pulls him up so he’s standing once more. “Jeez, Max,” he grunts, “could you at least try not to be a bigger pussy than the one you were just in?”

Max look away, and his ears turn bright red when his brother shoves that mental picture in my head. Suddenly, I have visions of Max being a life-sized vagina. It’s not a pretty picture either. It makes me feel better to make him a dancing vajayjay though, one with poor grooming habits. Yeah, that’s right … in my head right now, Max is a hairy, dancing vaj. I put a hand over my mouth to try to cover my combination snort-laugh, but when I meet Clay’s eyes and see the smirk on his face, I know he knows exactly what I’m thinking. A two-hour class with him this afternoon was too much. Now I’m thinking like him.

Clay’s eyes dart away from mine, looking over my shoulder. I turn to see my sister coming our way, wearing a candy apple red coat with double black buttons that reaches to about mid-thigh on her. Her chocolate brown hair, so much like mine is tucked up under a black beanie, and she’s wearing black skinny jeans with black ankle boots. Just looking at her makes me feel frumpy and unfashionable in my black leggings and slightly baggy plum-colored top. I watch his eyes skim down her body and weirdly want to punch him. I’ve clearly been spending too much time with Peyton.

“Hey,” she says, whiskey-colored eyes assessing the three of us, trying to figure out why I wanted her to come get me if Max is here. Usually, I jump at the chance to be alone in the car with him. Max looks up at me, sadness in his eyes, knowing I asked her here so I wouldn’t have to rely on him to take me home. “Everything okay, Kat?” she asks, her gaze returning to search mine, silently asking questions I don’t want to answer. Instead, I just nod, and knowing me as well as she does, she lets it drop, for the moment, with a shrug. “O-kay. Well, I’m going to the ‘rents for dinner. Wanna come with?”

Now that Lyric’s moved in with her boyfriend, Anna eats a lot of her dinners at our parents’ house. She says it’s because she got used to not eating alone, and it gives her a reason to leave work on time. It makes sense because her boss is possibly a bigger asshole than Clay is, so I totally get it. “Yes,” I say, a little too enthusiastically, jumping up from where I’d been drawing random designs in the wood chips with the toe of my Chucks. One side of her mouth tips up in a smile, but it’s forced. She knows I’m upset, and I know she wants nothing more than to beat the crap out of both guys, not caring which of them hurt me or how. God knows Clay’s done enough damage to my psyche over the years.

“But, Kat …” Max starts, trailing off when I turn my head and glare at him. His next words come out sounding dejected. “Can we please talk? Just for a minute?”

I hesitate, the sadness in his voice getting to me, but I’m not ready to mend the newest tear in our friendship. Shaking my head, I say quietly, “No, Max. Not tonight.” I sound as tired as I suddenly feel; resigned to the friend zone he’s placed me in for all these years. Maybe I’m finally realizing that Max and Kat? Kax? Mat? Mitten? Yeah, it’s never gonna happen. If he cared about me that way at all, he wouldn’t have blown me off so he could get laid.
Gah, Clay, get out of my head!
Max looks down and away, concentrating on anything but me, Clay and Anna. Seeing him look so lost makes me want to hug him, tell him everything will be okay, but I just can’t right now.

He starts to say something else, but Clay cuts him off. “Max! For fuck’s sake, stop acting like a douche. She said she doesn’t want to talk, so stop trying to make her feel shitty for something you did.” He looks over at Anna, then continues, “She’s going to her mom’s for dinner, so you’re SOL.” His brow furrows, so fast I think I might have imagined it, but then he nudges Max with his shoulder. “Speaking of mom’s, we should go to ours. I bet she’s got some kind of cake or brownies. Something sweet. Plus, you know she makes enough to feed an army every night anyway.” Clay raises a hand to wave dismissively before dragging his brother by the back of his shirt and away from us.

Anna watches them go, one hand on her hip, before turning to me with a look in her eye I’m a little scared of. “Well, isn’t that interesting.” I narrow my eyes at her, but she doesn’t elaborate. I want to ask what she means, but she bends over to grab my bag off the ground and slings it over one shoulder. She hums a popular song as she heads back to her car, and I’m left to stare after her in complete confusion.

Clay

Walking into the house we grew up in always makes me feel like I’m home, much more than the apartment I live in with my brother and cousin. This house always smells like food. There’s always something either on the stove or in the oven. It doesn’t hurt that Mom always sends us home with enough food to tide us over until the next visit. It’s like a reward just for coming over. That’s why I didn’t even hesitate to come here for dinner. Max needs the distraction of our family, and I’m in the mood for cooking that isn’t a sandwich, frozen pizza or fast food. Plus, my mom is the best cook I know.

The scent of homemade chili fills the air, and my mouth immediately begins to water. Chili means there’s more than enough for us to hang out and have dinner with our parents and Linc. Now I don’t feel the least bit bad for not giving Mom a heads up that we were coming. “Oh yeah,” Max says, pumping his fist in the air. “Dinner at Mom’s! This was an awesome idea, bro.” He’s got a huge smile on his face, the drama from not even an hour ago completely forgotten now that he’s going to be stuffing his face.

As we walk through the mudroom into the kitchen, I can see Mom at the stove, steam causing her dark hair to curl around her face. It’s a sight I’ve seen my entire life, and it makes me realize how much I miss coming home every day. I shake my head, wondering what the hell is wrong with me, but before I can dwell on it, she turns, face lighting up when she sees us standing in the doorway.

“My babies!” she shrieks, dropping the spoon into the pot and running over to wrap an arm around each of us. “I’m so glad to see you! Are you eating with us?” she asks, happiness evident in her voice. We both nod, and she smiles wider. “Oh good. There’s plenty to go around. I was going to bring you some tomorrow, so this saves me a trip.” Releasing us, she turns back to the stove but continues speaking. “Your dad and Linc are playing some football game on the Xbox. Go join them, dinner will be ready soon.”

Dad and my youngest brother Lincoln are sprawled out on the huge sectional that sits in the middle of the family room. It’s this big, grey, monstrosity that’s been here since I was in high school. One of those couches that you sink into and never want to leave. My mom’s been trying to get my dad to let her redecorate for a few years now, but he refuses because he loves the thing. It’s not that it’s ugly or an eyesore or anything, it’s just old and comfortable, and not the kind of seating my mom wants in a room people other than us will be in. Max takes a seat next to our father, who’s so intent on the play he’s running on the newest version of
Madden
that he pays no attention to the fact we’ve even entered the room. Linc stares at the screen, assessing the moves the other team is making and proving that even when he’s playing a game he’s thinking like a quarterback. It doesn’t keep him from turning to look at me and grin in acknowledgment.

“Hey, little bro.”

I ruffle his hair with one hand, my own grin wide as I return his greeting. I’ll never admit it, but I miss the ease that came with living here, hanging out with my brothers playing video games or running around outside when we were smaller. My mother is a saint for putting up with our antics. Max and I are only two years apart, with Lincoln following four years later. A junior in high school, he’s already got interest from a few big schools including UT, but he’s holding out for Florida, the traitor. I think dad’s head will explode if he accepts an offer from his alma mater’s rival, but he always encourages us to do our own thing, so he’ll be okay.

When dad’s turn is over, he notices Max and I are in the room. “Hey, boys. Heard your mom was making chili?” he asks, a warm smile on his face at seeing us.

“Nah,” I look over at Max, who’s shaking his head, not wanting me to snitch, but it’s too easy not to. “Max made an ass out of himself with Kat, so I figured he needed a distraction.”

Dad’s attention immediately shifts to my younger brother. His eyes narrow, and he asks with a frown, “What did you do to that poor girl?”

“N-n-n-nothing,” Max stutters with wide eyes before narrowing them on me. “It wouldn’t even be an issue if Clay hadn’t brought her over.”

Oh, how quickly we forget. “If you’d shown to pick her up like you said you would, I wouldn’t have had to step in. Or, you know, maybe you could give someone a heads up. I damn sure wouldn’t have brought her over if I knew you were getting your knob slobbed.” Dad looks between us, trying to figure out just what happened, and I see his eyes go wide at my last statement. But, before he can ask any questions, mom yells that dinner’s ready. Immediately the game is paused, and he’s herding us into the dining room.