Page 125 of The Way the Heart Breaks: Jade’s Story

I stare at the floor of the truck; there are condoms everywhere.

For a second, nobody says a fucking word.

Phoebe's eyes go wide; Becca immediately turns away, face blooming red.

And then Phoebe gives him some sort of a salute, “Stay safe, soldier.” Alex chuckles, and she blurts out. “Don’t be a fool; cover your tool.”

I throw an arm around her and join in, to make it less awkward, and because I got jokes. “Sock that wang before you bang.”

“You all need a little Jesus,” Becca says as she turns and walks away.

I laugh. “Love is cleaner with a packaged wiener.”

“All of you, go away.” Ryan growls.

Chuckling, Alex steps back and taps the top of the truck’s cab. “We’re here, just sayin’.”

I glance back at Lucas, who’s doing his best not to laugh, as Phoebe says to Becca, “I didn’t know what else to say.”

“So, you kept going?” Becca laughs.

“I know! What is wrong with me?” Phoebe giggles

“Nothing wrong with reminding your brother to keep safe,” I say as Lucas, Alex and me catch up.

“Can we please talk about something else?” Alex grumbles.

“Why?”

“You’re trying to date my cousin, and this one’s trying to date my sister, and I’m trying not to want to cut both your dicks off in your sleep.”

I laugh, and Lucas asks, “How ’bout them Saints?”

“Here we go again,” Becca mumbles.

It’s obvious the girls don’t want to talk about football, but right now we’re still on a high from a win. That high is keeping me from sprinting like a love sick puppy past them all, grabbing up that girl, and selfishly taking her away from this just so I can get to know her better.

Hand on the doorknob to what I now know is the Ross family hunting cabin, Becca looks back at us. “Enough with this football chat. We heard about this the entire way here from Ryan,” she grumbles and open the door.

“But they won,” Phoebe says. “Let them have at least one more minute before we shut them down.”

Tessa laughs. “I swear, I like you more every day.”

Phoebe puts her hands in the air. “Don’t worry, Jade. I know where I stand.”

Jade scowls and crosses her arms, “That’s good.” The girls laugh at her attempt to be a bad ass. “What can I say? I suck at mean.”

Phoebe gives me a little smirk, basically telling me this is a day for Tessa, not football, or boys, apparently. Which kind of sucks, but it doesn’t matter because I’m still here.

The football chat continues anyway, and I love that most of it is Alex. Then suddenly, one of the girls clears her throat.

We all turn and see Tessa standing behind a propped-up cardboard box with the words DOE CAMP written across it.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Alex asks.

“My dearest brother, today we watched an almost three-hour game. I have suffered having to be chaperoned by someone who is not even a year and some change older than me.” She gestures toward the sign. “It’s Doe Camp. No testosterone-driven kill stories. No farting. No burping. Absolutely no more football today.”

Alex chuckles and shakes his head. “Is that so?”