Page 11 of Thick & Thin

“I’ll be home later. I love y’all.”

“Love you too. Y’all be safe.”

After I climbed into Josh’s truck, I closed the door behind me before he had a chance to. I didn’t want my dad and Devin thinking this was a date.

It wasn’t.

Josh moved around the front of the truck, saying something to my dad and brother that I couldn’t hear, before he pulled open the driver’s side door and climbed in behind the steering wheel.

“What was that about?” he asked.

“Nothing. They’re just being stupid.”

“Is it ’cause I opened the door for you? Was that weird or something?”

It was.

“No. Like I said, they were just being stupid.”

We pulled out of my driveway and started toward town. The A/C in Josh’s truck wasn’t the greatest, so we rolled the windows down and took in the night air. The radio was on low volume, so I reached down and turned it up when a song I liked came on. We sang it together, riding in comfort like our world wasn’t about to change the second we walked across that stage and got our diploma.

It wasn’t long until the lights of town blinked in front of us, and we were pulling in beside JJ’s brand-new Jeep bought with his daddy’s money.

Player’s Place was in the Heritage Square shopping center just inside the city limits. Its location had once been a Save-A-Lot that closed after being in business for years. They had turned the old store into a bar full of pool tables, cornhole, and old arcade games. It was a place for adults to come and watch the game on the big screens, drink, and get away. And a place for teenagers to feel like they were in a bar, but with wrist bands on that were supposed to keep us from drinking.

The inside smelled like stale cigarettes and beer. They had recently banned smoking inside, but the remnants of the past still lingered. The place was packed mostly with kids from school. Still, there was a small group of old men at the bar staring at the TVs mounted above the liquor case.

“Hey, yo! Over here!” JJ called out across the room, directing the attention of his group our way.

The music was loud, but he was louder.

We moved across the room, stopping to say hi to a few friends as we passed, and once we got to the table where JJ and the rest of the crew were, I sat in the seat closest to the wall. Josh didn’t sit, instead opting to lean against the wall beside me with his arms crossed as if he was my bodyguard.

“Want a beer?” Colton asked from across the table, his eyes dipping over my chest while he took a swig from his own bottle.

“No, I’m good. Where’s everyone at?”

While there was a small group there, I had expected half of the senior class.

“I guess they can’t hang. The river wiped ’em out.”

I nodded in understanding since I was tired as hell, too.

Josh and JJ were talking about something, but I couldn’t hear them since the music was up, and Colton wouldn’t stop talking to me.

He was all right, I guessed, but he gave me a bad feeling. He was attractive with blond hair and green eyes. He wasn’t as tall as the rest of the guys around me, but wider and rounder, which was why he was one hell of a defensive lineman. Still, even though he was easy on the eyes, he had never had a steady girlfriend. Instead opting to sleep with any girl who wanted to bang a football player.

Football in the South was religion. The entire town could be found around the field on game day, the Friday night lights blazing down on the guys while the crowd worshipped them. The players were treated like gods, given free rides all over town. Police looked the other way. Old ladies made excuses for their behavior. And the girls gave anything to find themselves in the sack with one of them.

Not me.

And not Josh.

He was probably the only player not to take advantage, and I appreciated that about him.

“There he is!” JJ called out when Vaughn appeared at the side of the table. “I thought you were going to let a little moonshine and a day on the river kick your ass.”

Vaughn shook his head. “Nah, man. I’m here for the party. Fuck that moonshine, though. My stomach’s been fucked up since.”

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