Page 23 of Never the Best

I looked around at the long stretches of green lawn dotted with picnic tables and tents. The live oaks gave the whole scene a quintessentially Southern feel. A section of the park had been set up for softball, complete with bases marked out in chalk and a small set of bleachers that were already half-filled with laughing Savannah Lace employees, their partners, and families, holding plastic cups of beer, lemonade, and sweet tea. There was a food truck servingtacos parked near the edge of the field and another one doling out ice cream that already had a long line. It was relaxed and easy, tempting even Savannah’s elite to loosen their ties and trade their summer linen suits for casual button-ups and sneakers.

I stood near the first baseline, sipping an iced tea and watching the game in progress. My team had just finished a close one—too close for my liking—and I was grateful for a break to catch my breath and observe.

As I'd gotten used to doing in the past months since Pearl came back to Savannah, I sought her out. She was leaning against the outfield fence. Her hair was pulled back into a loose ponytail, and she was wearing shorts and a tank top. She looked good. There had been many changes in Pearl since I used to know her—but hadn't we all grown up since we were teenagers?

Pearl carried herself with more confidence. Was it because she'd lost all that weight? I never had a problem with her curves. I liked them. Even when I was a stupid teenager, I thought she was beautiful. How different would our lives have been if I'd had the courage and conviction to tell the world that Pearl was my girlfriend all those years ago by the pool?

“You know, it’s rude to stare,” a voice said from behind me, cutting through my thoughts.

I dragged my eyes away from Pearl. I had been caught staring, lingering over her beautiful face, the curve of her generous lips.

I turned to find the owner of the voice. Luna Steele was takinga sip from her water bottle. I couldn’t tell if she was annoyed—her aviator sunglasses, reflecting the park in miniature, hid her eyes and any hint of emotion behind them.

Luna was usually impossible to miss—her biker-babe chic style always stood out, even among Savannah’s polished elite. Today, she wore tight black shorts, a fitted tank top that showed off her intricate tattoos and sculpted shoulders, and a pair of well-worn sneakers. She had that kind of effortless cool that drew people in, even though she had no hesitation telling you exactly what she thought, whether you liked it or not.

“I wasn’t staring,” I defended myself, but the way she grinned told me she didn’t believe me for a second. It also told me she wasn’t angry with me, just amused.

“Sure, you weren’t.” She took another long sip of her water before glancing back toward the field.

I shrugged.

"My brother speaks highly of you," she told me.

I nodded, smiling stiffly. I knew Lev Steele well—he was part of Royal's friend circle, and I'd recently started to spend time with Lev, his friend Dominic Calder, and a few others. "I have a lot of respect for Lev."

Lev was a few years older than me, so we didn't interact much in high school and went to different colleges after.

"You know I have no filter, right?" Luna tilted her head as she studied me.

"It may have been mentioned." I was unable to keep a smile from tugging at my lips.

Luna smirked. “Yeah, I’m not much for sugarcoating. But I’ll admit, you’re a bit of a surprise.”

“How?” I was genuinely curious.

She set the water bottle at her feet and stretched her arms over her head. “You’re not what I expected.”

"What did you expect?"

"An asshole, based on your reputation."

"That was many years ago." I wasn't being defensive but rather explaining where I was coming from. Hadn't we all done things we regretted when we were young and foolish? “I’m not proud of who I was back then.”

Luna looked at me speculatively as if trying to gauge the sincerity of my words, just as Nina had done a few weeks ago when I took her to lunch. Finally, she nodded. “Not many of us are.”

We stood in silence for a moment, watching the game as one of the players hit a grounder to second base. The crowd cheered, and someone yelled for the runner to slide. My attention drifted to Pearl. She was cheering, too, her voice bright over the crowd's noise. Or maybe I could hear her because I wanted to.

"You're engaged to Josie Vance."

"Yes."

"Then I suggest you stop watching Pearl like she's a tasty morsel and you haven't eaten in a while."

I was too stunned for a moment to say anything.

"I told you, no filter," Luna informed me cheerfully.

I hesitated, unsure how much I wanted to admit to a friend of Pearl's, but then threw caution to the winds. “Iregret hurting Pearl. I know there is no way to change the past, and I'm not seeking her forgiveness. What I did was the worst kind of bullying. In any case, it looks like she got over it.”

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