Page 52 of Never His Girl
A girl healsoclaims to have once had mutual feelings for, before deciding to end it.
At the thought of it, I glare up at him over the dry-ass turkey that’s just been brought out on a platter.
Lucky for me, my douche of a father’s been following Pandora’s updates super close. Ever since first catching wind of my involvement with Southside. So, naturally, he’s kept up with what Joss has now dubbedMission: Lobster.Apparently, that’s some lame-assFriendsreference I don’t even pretend to understand, but it’s how she sums up everything I’ve done to show Southside I’m not giving up.
Meanwhile, my father’s had a front row seat of me trying to earn Southside’s forgiveness. Which, by the way, is pretty fucking hard when I’m limited in what I can and can’t say to her right now.
When hedoesspeak, it’s to let me know what a pussy he thinks I’ve become, pissing away my reputation, turning soft.
Fuck him.
Not gonna lie, though. Getting the silent treatment from his toxic ass has been well worth the emasculation and shit-talking. Being honest, I’ve considered it more of a vacation than anything. It’s been so effective, Dane and Sterling are seriously considering getting on his bad side just so he’ll stop talking to them, too.
Highly recommended.
But this dinner was unavoidable. Apparently, we owe Headmaster Harrison for the favor he did Vin, which consisted of him keeping me off the team’s suspension list. In a way, I suppose I’m grateful for that, too, but it’s not lost on me that it’s kind of shitty to appreciate being given a pass. Especially when I know Southside wasn’t afforded that same luxury.
Anyway, here we sit. Stuck at a table with Headmaster Harrison, his stalker wife, and about eight empty chairs.
“Bon appetit!” wifey says with a smile.
For a woman her age, she isn’t bad to look at. She definitely has a little help, though—fake tits, and she lives in the tanning salon. She keeps highlights in her dark hair, and it’s cut a bit shorter than usual, hitting just above her shoulder now.
Her eyes shift around the table to each of us, but I don’t miss that her stare lingers on Sterling a bit longer than anyone else.
Hence the whole‘stalker’comment.
I started noticing she has a thing for him around the time we turned fifteen. First incident I picked up on was during the weekend our parents went away for their anniversary and left us here. It was small shit at first—giving Sterling the bigger guest room, letting him choose what movie we went to see. Those things were petty, of course, things that could’ve been passed off as coincidence.
But then, shit just got weird.
Like, how on our last night with them, she claimed to have “accidentally” walked in on Sterling after he showered. According to him, though, she didn’t leave his room all that quickly and she sure ashellchecked out his junk.
Since then, she’s gotten much bolder, shamelessly flirting with him when our folks and her husband aren’t within earshot. It’s sick, really, but the one time Sterling mentioned it to Vin, the advice he gave was that Sterling should‘lean into her fascination’.With Mrs. Harrison being provost at North Cypress U, he thought it might come in handy down the road to have a‘deeper connection’with her.
Whatever the hell that means.
Yup, father-of-the-year is completely fine pimping out his son to this chick, all because it could benefit one or all of us down the road.
No surprise there.
Headmaster Harrison starts carving the bird while the missus sits idly by, eye-banging Sterling while he shoots a text. It isn’t until my phone buzzes in my pocket that I realize he was sending it to me and Dane.
Sterling:‘She wants the D sooooooo bad. I feel kinda dirty. And also a little tempted to introduce her to The Legend.’
Dane:‘The Legend?’
Sterling:‘The one in my pants.’
I hold in a laugh reading his dumb-ass message.
Dane:‘Mom thinks she and Harrison are on their last leg. As soon as the ink dries on the divorce papers, just put her out of her misery. Do her good enough and we’llallhave it easy next year.’
West:‘Screwing older chicks is supposed to up your sex game. Hit that. Get some tips. Move on.’
West:‘Actually, I take that back. Forgot the stalker factor. Any other girl you date after that will mysteriously come up missing. True shit.’
I’m only half kidding.