Page 26 of Hell or High Water

“Family friend,” I replied.

He nodded slowly, then let out a short laugh. “Okay, cool.”

“Get in the truck,” Than demanded.

Apparently, he’d rolled down the window on my side so he could bark orders at me.

“He’s an asshole,” I told Crew.

He smiled, but it was a nervous one, like he was afraid to agree. “I gotta get back to the field. I’m working with the freshmen who are moving up to varsity in the fall. But I’ll call you tonight, if that’s okay.”

I wished I had some excuse on hand, but with Than rushing me and listening to us, I was frazzled. I just nodded, and with one last grin, he turned and jogged back toward the field. Annoyed with the entire situation but mostly Than, I jerked open the truck door and tossed my backpack inside before climbing in.

“Making friends with Governor Baskin’s nephew.” Than chuckled. “Maybe he’ll invite you over to meet the family.”

I paled and slowly turned my head to look at him. “What?”

Than gave me a fake sympathetic smile. “Does that ruin your plans to be the quarterback’s girlfriend and go to prom with him?”

I fell back on the seat and sighed heavily. “Jesus,” I muttered.

Not that I was into Crew and wanted to date him, but still. This was convoluted.

“Yep, Baskin’s wife and the quarterback’s dad are siblings,” he told me as he backed out of the parking space. “What a twisted tale of woe and the forbidden. It’s a love story in the making.”

“Shut up,” I groaned. “Why don’t you go back to theignoring mething? I liked it.”

“No female likes it when I ignore them, Montana. That’s not even a believable lie,” he replied.

I glared at him, but said nothing.

After a few moments of silence, he reached over and turned up the volume on the sound system. George Strait was singing “Amarillo by Morning.” At least his taste in music didn’t suck.

I rested my head against the seat and stared out the window as we drove away.

The sound of a phone ringing came over the sound system, startling me.

Than pressed a button on his steering wheel before saying, “Hello?”

“How did her first day go?” Linc’s voice came over the line.

Than glanced at me with a wicked glint in his eyes. “Great. She made friends already. In fact, Crew Owen chased her down after school to get her number. He’s got stars in his eyes.”

“Fuck,” Linc muttered. “You told her who he is, didn’t you?”

“Yes, sir,” Than replied.

“All right, I’ll call Baskin. He needs to know about this. Can she hear me?”

“Yep.” Than smirked at me.

I shot daggers at him.

“Don’t tell Crew Owen anything,” Linc warned.

“I wasn’t planning on it,” I replied.

“He’s not to be a pawn in your game. Do you understand?”

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