MY SCORNED BEST FRIEND (The Greene Family #7)

Chapter 2

I walk into my sister’s bookstore, The Story Shop, trying to ignore the chalkboard sign outside the neighboring brewery, Truth or Dare. Today is the first Sunday game day for football, and the San Francisco Kingsmen are playing. Two years ago, I would’ve had Xavier’s number nine written on my cheeks and been decked out in his red-and-gold jersey.

Now, I’m going to help Presley do inventory for her store.

The shop is quiet when I enter, and I take a moment to admire her display of fall books with pumpkins and leaves scattered around.

I didn’t grow up with Presley. She didn’t come into my life until after both my parents had passed away. This used to be my mom’s sewing store and was left to both of us when she died. That’s when Presley arrived in town and surprised everyone, including me. Lots of people think we’re twins, except for our hair colors. We recently flipped them around though. She’s allowed hers to go back to our original brown while I’ve dyed mine blonde.

“Pres!” I call and venture toward the back of the store.

Ohhh.

God, yes.

Harder.

I close my eyes and my head falls back. It’s nice that my married sister, who recently had a baby, is getting some, but I can’t say I’m overjoyed to hear a play-by-play. Or I’m just a bit envious.

CAAADDEEEE…

I quickly walk toward the door, but it springs open before I can leave. The bell goes off louder than when I entered because Jed Greene is a moose-in-a-library kind of guy.

He stops in his tracks when he sees me and runs his hand through his hair. “Oh… hey, Clara.”

The familiar awkwardness consumes the space we’re sharing because Jed has no idea what happened between Xavier and me and therefore seems to have no idea how to act when I’m around. He constantly treats me as if my dog just died.

“They’re busy.”

His gaze sears a path to the back room. “I figured. We’re working our asses off, and Molly needs to go home. She’s still constantly throwing up. She was only helping today because it’s crazy—” He abruptly stops talking and diverts his attention away from me.

“Because it’s the first game of the season?” I prompt so he knows he can discuss Xavier in front of me.

He shoves his hands in his pockets and nods.

“Busy is good.” I thumb toward the back. “I think they’re done anyway.”

Just then, Cade and Presley come out of the back room with their baby, Leighton, fast asleep in a car seat.

“Seriously? You do it with the baby in the room?” Jed shakes his head and scowls.

Cade and Presley look at one another, my sister’s cheeks reddening as she realizes we heard them.

“Next time we’ll ask you to babysit,” Cade says. “She’s sleeping, dipshit.”

Jed rolls his eyes. “Still not right.”

“Talk to me after Molly delivers.” Cade kisses his wife’s lips. “Have fun.” Then he dips down and kisses Leighton on the forehead and whispers something. “Clara.” Cade winks at me as he passes by, and I can’t help but see his resemblance to Xavier.

As if my life couldn’t be more screwed up, my sister’s husband is Xavier’s oldest brother and Jed is Xavier’s stepbrother. Although in the Greene family, no one thinks of anyone else as a step anything.

“Bye, Clara,” Jed says.

As they leave, Jed rambles on about scarring Leighton for life and how her first word will be harder.

“Can you lock the door?” Presley asks and places Leighton’s car seat carrier on the table in the children’s area.

I lock the door and remove my light jacket and purse, placing them by the cash register. “Where do you want me to start?”

As the words leave my mouth, Jed’s voice sounds through the shared wall of the brewery and the bookstore. It sounds as if he’s on a microphone or a loudspeaker or something.

“I think they’re going extra hard this year because of Hank.” Presley gives me her sorrowful half smile. Otherwise known as a pitiful expression.

Hank Greene has prostate cancer and is currently undergoing treatment. Although the prognosis is good, cancer is a scary thing. I should know—it’s what took our mother. I watched her fade away for months, her once-vibrant body turning frail, all while she kept her biggest secret from me.

Sometimes I’m still not sure I’ve forgiven her for never telling me I had an older sister that she and my dad had given up for adoption. But how does one make peace with a dead person?

“What are they doing?” I walk over to join Presley in the children’s area.

“Raffles. If you guess the right score at the end of each quarter, you get free food or drinks.” She shrugs as if it’s nothing big, but the fact that there’s a microphone and the place is packed says that’s not the case.

I remember Hank’s face when Xavier was drafted. Xavier invited Hank, Marla, and me to the draft, and when Xavier’s name was called first and he walked up to that podium, Hank put his arm around my shoulders and whispered, “Can you believe it? Our boy is going to be a household name.”

Chills rack my body as the words “our boy” repeat in my head. Well, he’s not our boy. He’s just Hank’s boy now.

“Let’s start with the kids’ section.” Presley has her laptop and a stack of inventory papers in hand, and I distract myself from my memories and join her.

I sit on the floor. I’m always Presley’s helper for inventory. Once, Cade tried to take my place, but they didn’t get much done. I’m positive that’s when Leighton was conceived.

Before we can begin, she starts up with me. “So?” She doesn’t look up from her computer.

“What?” I feign ignorance even though I know what she’s inquiring about.

“Did you return Xavier’s text?”

I sigh and shake my head. “No. What do I say and what the hell does it even mean? Just ‘you looked good’… like the demise of our friendship is of little consequence. Or is it ‘you looked good’ and maybe I shouldn’t have done what I did? Or is it my friend wanted your number so maybe you’re worth a try?” Even I hear the hurt and anger that still lives in my tone whenever we talk about this.

“Maybe he really realizes how crappy what he did was. Cade said Hank told him he talked to Xavier that night.”

I put up my hand. “I don’t want to know.”

“From what I understand, he misses you.” She bites the inside of her lip. “And I know you miss him.”

“Pres, what happened to us is what happens to every girl and boy best friend where one person’s feelings change. There’s no going back to how it was.”

Presley is the only Greene who knows anything that went on, but the story isn’t unique—two childhood best friends allowed the lines to blur one night, only for one friend to regret what happened. Let’s just say I wasn’t the one who regretted our night together. Add on what he did the next night, and it’s going to be hard to come back from that.

“You guys had such a close friendship. He helped you through Mom and Dad’s deaths. I don’t care what he says, he has deep feelings for you.” She punches away on the keyboard.

“Yeah, friendship feelings. I saw him through his own mother’s death, so of course he saw me through both my parents passing. I’m not denying that he loves me, it’s just a different love. Not the kind of love that was just happening with you and Cade in the back room.”

A sigh falls from her lips. This is Presley, the optimistic girl who found love and sees everything with rose-colored glasses now.

I’ve witnessed Xavier’s way with women over the years. I could’ve predicted his and Giulia’s breakup. He’ll never be all in with someone. He won’t let himself grow that close to someone else.

“That wasn’t love. That was I’m horny and that rarely happens now that my n*****s are raw from breastfeeding and I’m still carrying twenty extra pounds. I should’ve known when I put on the overalls. They get him every time.” The smile that slowly lights up her face is one of pure love.

My heart pricks. I do want that. “Well, it’s not something I have.”

“Which is why you’re going to continue talking to that Ben guy.” Seems Presley’s on to round two. When she can’t get me to agree on Xavier, she moves on to Ben, Xavier’s teammate who’s been texting me nonstop. So much so that I feel like I’m running out of things to say to him. “He’s hot.”

He’s big. A lineman who, yeah, has the usual arrogance of a professional football player. That adds to his s*x appeal, but he has a reputation. Maybe I’m just a conquest, get the librarian in bed. Or worse, what if he’s playing mind games with Xavier? I don’t think he’d do that, but I don’t know Ben or their friendship well enough to really know.

“Did you make plans to see one another?” Presley’s typing in the numbers from the sheet I just handed her, and I fill in the next one as I account for each of the books.

“He wants me to go down for the Seahawks game.”

“Fun. I bet he’ll give you great seats.”

“I wish you could come.”

We both look at Leighton, and Presley frowns. “Sorry. What about Mandi or Chevelle?”

I look up from the sheet. “Because it’s harder to be around them. They’re his sister and stepsister.”

“But if you take them, they can hang with Xavier while you go on a date with Ben.”

She has a point, but I shrug. “It’s weird.”

A roar from the brewery echoes into the quiet shop and Leighton squirms for a second before Presley rocks the car seat to soothe her. “I think they scored.”

I nod and write down how many When the Sidewalk Ends books she has—trying not to think about whether it was a pass or handoff by Xavier and wonder how many yards and whether the announcers are singing his praises.

“I’m happy for him. I really am. Xavier’s got everything he ever wanted in life. The fame, the recognition, the money. It’s every dream he’s ever told me he had. I guess I was naive to think that he’d look at me in a different way after… that he wouldn’t see the Clara Harrison in pigtails who built forts with him in the woods and competed over who could ride their bike to the square faster.”

Presley abandons her computer and puts her arm around my shoulders. “He’s stupid for not knowing that you’re the best woman he could ever hope to find.” She rocks me back and forth.

“Pres?”

“Yeah?”

“I’m nauseous.”

She laughs and stops rocking us. “Force of habit, sorry.” I lay my head on her shoulder. “It’s time to move on though. It’s been two years, and if anything, he spit in your face with that whole show when he paraded Giulia around Sunrise Bay. If you have even a small bit of interest in Ben, I say you go for it. Give the guy a chance.”

With a nod, I pull out my phone before I can change my mind. My thumbs hover over the screen. He won’t get the message until after the game. The crowd groans next door, so I assume that something didn’t go the Kingsmen’s way.

I read his text one more time.

Ben: I’ll pay for your flight. Let me show you the San Francisco I love.

Presley is reading the screen over my shoulder. “That’s cute.”

“I know San Francisco like Sunrise Bay because Xavier and I have done everything there over the years.”

She knocks her shoulder with mine. “Clara, open mind. Give the poor guy a chance.”

With a sigh, I stare at the blinking cursor and finally type out my message.

Me: I’d love to. Let me check my schedule at work and get back to you.

There’s some relief that he can’t answer me right away.

Presley raises her eyebrows.

“What?”

“Nice way to give yourself a possible out with work. But I’m proud of you.”

Leighton stirs, so Presley rises off the floor and unstraps her from the carrier. Leighton slowly peers at me with the same eyes a lot of the Greene family has. Yeah, I can’t deny that I want a family.

Presley’s right—I need to move on. I’m just not sure Ben is the one I need to move on with. I guess that’s why I need to get to know him.