Page 79 of Cougar

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“I saw your sister at the grocery store today.” I smirk.

It’s true. I tagged along with Grace to the Fresh Market because I had nothing better to do. As I rounded the corner of the wine aisle I nearly collided with Elizabeth. She looked me up and down, then sidestepped me and kept on going.

“Yeah?” He chuckles. “How’d that go?”

“She pretended she didn’t see me.” I laugh. “When did she become one of those uppity women we used to make fun of?”We always swore we’d never be like those women.

“She’s got that whole resting bitch face down like a boss.” Cam snorts. “Liz and I aren’t close like you and Liam. She’s my sister, and I love her, but she’s not the easiest person to get along with.”

“Like Max and me?”

Cam shrugs. “Yeah, kind of. Are you ever going to tell me why you hate her?”

“I don’t hate your sister, Cam, and I’m sorry if I’ve made you feel that way. I don’t like talking about Elizabeth because I’m afraid I’ll say something out of anger that I’ll later regret. Especially now that Jay is dating Zach. And if you want to know the truth, it’s your sister who hates me.”

“That’s not true. I was little but I remember she cried a lot after you left.”

“Probably because she knew she’d overreacted when she slapped me.”Fuck.

Cam’s eyes go wide. “She slapped you?” he asks in disbelief. “And she lived?”

I snort. “Funny.”

My phone beeps from inside my purse. “Sorry, it’s probably Jay.” I look at the screen to see it’s a text from her letting me know her dance class is over and that she and Lexi are heading to Mac’s for their girls’ night.

“Jay?”

“Yes. She takes a dance class at this adorable little studio next to Lisa’s Salon.”

He nods. “I know where it is.”

Cam and I clean up together, then head into the living room and settle on the sofa. I toss my phone into my purse on the coffee table.

“What are the chances Liam will stick with the ‘naughty nurse’? What’s her name?”

Cam shrugs. “I thought Naughty Nurse was her name.” He smirks and I laugh. “And the chances are zero. Which is sad because she seems like a nice girl.”

“She works for my father,” I tell him.

“And get this, Liam told me her father is the baseball coach at Gulf Coast University.”

I frown. “That’s an odd coincidence. Wasn’t Vanessa’s father your baseball coach?”

Cam nods slowly. “I had lunch with him a few weeks ago.”

“How’s Vanessa?” I actually loved her for Liam. Our whole family did. They dated for years. Then Liam went and fucked it up, and Vanessa left him. Liam was devastated and came close to ending his career. It was awful.

“Coach says she’s happy.”

My phone rings from inside my purse and I frown. Reaching over, I fish it out and see it’s Jay calling.That’s odd.

I swipe the screen and bring the phone to my ear. “Hey.”

“Hey, Mom. Umm… so I was just talking to Harper, and she was telling me that her dad went out of town for work and she’s staying by herself. I was thinking she could come stay with us until he gets back?”

“When is he coming back?”