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Taking the seat safely diagonal to her, I place my food down, releasing my backpack to the floor. She glimpses up, sending a jolt through me with her ocean eyes. She smiles tentatively. Kenna steps up, and I force my eyes away from Harley to greet her.
“Hey, Kenna.”
She’s nervously shifting on her feet, looking from me back to Harley.
“Uh…hi,” she begins, her eyes a little wide.
Harley looks at her, shrugging. “I told Adam we should just move on and be friends. Do you care if they sit with us today?” Her tone is casual.
She’s tossing a salad while eating a chocolate chip cookie. I can’t help but smile, remembering her affinity for always having dessert first. I relax a little, taking a bite of the greasy burger on my plate.
Kenna slowly takes the seat by Harley, whispering in her ear. Harley shrugs, poking at her food. I’d give anything to read her thoughts.
Dan and Silas are approaching, warily observing the occupants of the table. My brother’s face is frowning in disapproval, but I ignore it.
“So, what are you up to this weekend, Adam?” Kenna asks, taking a bite of a disgusting-looking mountain of strawberries and lettuce sprinkled with pecans.
“I don’t have any plans other than work at the nursery Saturday,” I say, noticing Harley perks up at my words. My heart sinks a little at the memory of our would-be date.
“You should come to our dorm party Friday night,” she says as Levi approaches our table.
He stumbles a bit before setting his tray down at the opposite end of where Kenna sits.
“You guys are all invited,” she says again, a little louder, before shoving a bite into her mouth.
I look over at Harley, attempting to judge her opinion on the issue. Her head is dipped down, one elbow on the table, her hair a black curtain, blocking her face from me.
“Yeah, maybe,” I respond noncommittally.
If Harley’s at work, I’ll need to get there by one to trail her home, like I have been all week. Sometimes, she gets off by one fifteen, and other times, it’s not till two thirty.
Leaning both my elbows on the table, I look down and blow out a breath. Being near her is harder than I thought it would be with her ignoring me.
She doesn’t look at me for the rest of the meal.
“I just don’t get what your plan is. Why would you even go tonight?” Dan questions as he dips his finger in a little tin, rubbing it in his hands and then through his hair.
It’s longer than I’ve ever seen it. When he’s done, he looks like a city boy.
“What are you doing? Since when do you fix your hair?”
My hands are on my hips, eyes surveying him. I don’t give a shit what he does to his hair, but I’m sick of him questioning my every move.
He laughs. “What, I can’t fix my hair? You’re sneaking around with some—”
I take a step toward him, my menacing glare causing him to step back.
“I would watch whatever it is about to come out of your mouth.” I seethe.
His face hardens. “I was gonna say, some girl—that’s it.” He turns his back to me, finding a shirt to wear. “Even though you won’t believe it, I actually don’t have a problem with Harley. I just know she will never, ever be accepted by them.” He walks back out of our tiny shared closet. “So, you’re either going to have to choose your family, the farm, everything you've ever known or her. And I hate to see you walking down a road that’s either going to separate you from everyone in your life or hurt the girl you’re starting to really care about.” He’s pulling a collared shirt that looks new over his head.
“We’re just friends,” I murmur, the heavy truth of his words an impossible burden. Why do I feel such an unquenchable thirst for someone I can’t have?
Silas joins us to walk to the dorm party, but Levi, unsurprisingly, bows out.
“Man’s insane. Kenna Davis is, like, the girl almost every guy on the team is after,” Silas says, shaking his head as we emerge from the dorms.
“Ha, he wouldn’t have a single clue what to even begin to do with a girl like that,” Dan scoffs.
