Page 18 of Stay Toxic

“Y’all don’t do tournaments,” I pointed out.

“Not usually, no,” he agreed. “But we do when all the bigwigs of Dallas want you to go.”

“You gonna show them up with your fishing skills?” I teased.

“I’m not going there to piss them off. We’ll keep the smaller ones and release the rest back,” Ryler grumbled.

My brothers were good at fishing.

They knew the lakes around here like the backs of their hands.

They’d grown up on the lakes because Dad was always gone, and they had nothing better to do but to tear it up on the lake every weekend.

But they hadn’t fished in a while, and they may be rusty.

I, on the other hand, was still just as good as ever.

“Isn’t it a little cold to have a fishing tournament?” I asked.

“Yes,” Bronc said. “But that is one of the points of this tournament. To see who can stay out in the freezing cold and fish without bitching. Or whatever. I’m not sure. But they know it’s cold. And they might catch less fish.”

“I’ll go, but only if you let me choose the music,” I teased. “And you don’t complain when I start stealing your body heat.”

“Deal,” Tibbs said. “We need at least one girl for the team.”

“Then I’m your girl,” I said as I looked at my watch. “I gotta go, or I’m going to be late for school. This family meeting was fun. We should do it more often.”

My brother patted me on the back. “Love ya.”

I reluctantly left, feeling the gurgle of my stomach the entire way to school.

You see your calls not going through? Very blocked. Very Peaceful. Very dead to me.

—Brecken’s secret thoughts

BRECKEN

I flushed the toilet, prayed that my tampon would tide me over until third period, and made a mad dash out of the bathroom after washing my hands.

I’d been in and out of the freakin’ bathroom all morning, and I could just hear the students now.

They all knew I had a dairy intolerance.

They also knew why I left, and what I did when I left.

They were all assholes, too.

Every last one of them.

Of course, because my stomach hurt so bad already, I hadn’t been prepared for my period to start today as well.

It just figured.

The first day back at school, where I had to deal with Jolessa and Rupert, and my period had to start. Oh, and let’s not forget the lactose intolerance rearing its ugly head.

I made it to the classroom, barely glancing into Rupert’s open door as I passed when the bell rang.

I huffed out a breath and said, “Made it!”

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