Page 9 of Strong Side
“I’m sorry, Casey. Are your hands broken? Did you forget how to make food? I think not. Yes, a new schedule will be made.”
Bo clears his throat. “Um, can I ask what family meals are? Like, y’all just have dinner together or what?”
“We sit together as a house one night each week, and we rotate the cooking duties,” Beck answers before taking a larger than normal bite of chicken.
“Okay, cool, cool. Problem for me is … I don’t know how to cook.” Bo looks over at my sister and winces, then gives her a smile.
Now, I know my sister as well as I know myself, and while we have a lot of similarities, she’s much … bossier than I am. She doesn’t have nearly as much patience as I do either.
“Okay, silver spoon, we’ll have to fix that real quick. Just because you’re the superstar on campus doesn’t mean you’re getting out of pulling your weight in this house. Got it?” She’s pointing her fork at him, but returns his smile.
Bo nods. “Totally get it. You just might have to tell me what to do. I can always look up videos, too, but I’m not great at picking food for other people. I can be pretty picky.”
“Oh, Bo Callaway, I’m gonna have fun teaching you how to be a responsible big boy.” She laughs.
“Shit,” Beck mumbles and rolls his eyes.
Silas raises his hand. “Um, so I know how to make a few things, but you might have to teach me too.”
“Oh, for fuck’s sake. Are you both mama’s boys or what?” She sets her fork on her plate and crosses her arms over her chest.
Beck and I both start laughing, knowing how much this is irritating her.
“Well, I mean I was the baby in the family.” Silas shrugs.
She turns and looks at Bo.
“No matter what I say here, you’ll probably tease me, so let’s just go with, I didn’t have the opportunity to learn. I can’t help it that my parents had chefs and nutritionists for me.”
“Okay, buddy.” She shoots an okay gesture at him. “I’ll be fixing that right away. Tomorrow, after practice, we’ll start with some basics, like breakfast foods. In the meantime, we’ll work on the calendar after we eat. We’ll let Casey and Beck take the next few weeks, so I can teach you both a few things.”
They both nod and smile at her. “Yes, ma’am.”
“Case, when does Noelle get to campus? Did she find a new apartment yet?” Beck asks.
“She found a place and a new roommate. It’s a girl she met in the dorms our freshman year. Wants to be a lawyer or something. I think they’ll be a much better match than fuckin’ Zoey. What a bitch.” I shake my head.
“Ew. I can’t even. I’m still flabbergasted by that whole thing. She’s not still talking to him, is she?” my sister asks. “She seemed okay the last time we saw her.”
“She’s good, but I think she downplays how much she’s hurt because she knows that I hate Trey. He never deserved her.” I clench my jaw.
I seriously hate that guy. Not only because he hurt my best friend either. I know he was messing around on her probably the whole time they were together, but I never had any actual evidence, and when I would even allude to it, she would shut me down.
“What happened, and who’s Noelle?” Silas asks.
Beck speaks up this time. “Noelle went to school with us back in Troy. She and Casey are attached at the hip. It borderlines on obsession. I’m sure you’ll see her around here a lot. Even when she had a boyfriend, they were together all the time.”
“Especially now. She came home to find her boyfriend fucking her roommate,” my sister explains. “He’s a total asshole.And not just because of the cheating. He thinks he’s God’s gift to women around here. He’s on the Walker baseball team.”
“Damn, that sucks. So, she’s single now. Is she hot?”
“Hands off, Arbuckle,” I warn, and he flinches.
“Wow. Okay. I see there’s a bit more to the story. Girl’s a perfect ten and clearly spoken for. You gonna make your move or what, King?” Silas asks.
I shake my head and look up to meet my sister’s eyes. She knows the extent of my feelings for Noelle. I’ve told her everything. Not even Beck knows how far gone I am for this girl.
“I’m not sure it’s worth ruining my friendship with her if she doesn’t feel the same.”
