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“English lit,” Bridget chimed in.

“Well, whatever is going on, just don’t get caught by Mama. Or Everleigh.”

“We’re not doing anything, Ellie,” Brayden groaned. “Gosh, stop being my third mom.”

Ellie held up her hands in surrender. “Hey, I’m on your team here. I’m trying to protect you from getting caught.”

“We won’t get caught unless you tell Mama.”

Brayden arched his eyebrow at her, silently asking her to not rat him out. Which Ellie wouldn’t. She was a better sister than that. They all had the safe sex talk, even Everleigh, and she knew Brayden knew not to mess things up by getting Bridget pregnant.

“Fine.” Ellie held her head high as she walked over to the door. She dramatically opened it all the way as she stood in the doorway and faced them. “Dinner at the bar at six. Bridget, you can come too.”

“Sounds great.”

Brayden nearly pushed her out of the room as he shut the door behind her. But this time, she noticed how he left it halfway open. She was proud of her brother. He was a good kid, even if sometimes he didn’t always think before he did something.

Pushing open her bedroom door, Ellie found their dog, Holly, asleep on her bed. She often slept in Ellie’s room, as it was the one over the furnace and always the warmest. Holly wagged her tail at Ellie as she lifted her head. Ellie lay down beside her, cuddling with the dog as Holly licked her face.

“Hey, sweet girl.”

It wasn’t until she laid down that Ellie realized how sleepy she was. Maybe a nap before dinner would be good.

Chapter 4

Sadie

Softball practice had gone better than expected, and Sadie was eager to get the season started. Although her teammates might not like her, they at least played well together. With any luck, they had a shot at making it to the state final again—maybe more.

Sadie usually took her time in the locker room, not wanting her teammates to see her leave with Charlie. It didn’t matter, though. They all knew their coach was her stepmom; Sadie didn’t want to give them more ammunition to use against her. Thankfully, Charlie always patiently waited for Sadie to come out and join her at the truck.

As she walked out of the girls’ locker room, she ran into Trevor, who was also walking out of the boys’ locker room. He smiled at her, seemingly happy to see her. His wavy hair was damp from baseball practice, and even a few feet away, she could smell his very strong cologne.

“Hey.”

“Hey.”

Déjà vu conversation here.

“I’m glad I ran into you.”

“You—you are?” Sadie nervously adjusted the bat bag on her shoulder. “Why?” she blurted out.

Trevor laughed. “Because I wanted to ask you something.”

“Oh?”

“Would you want to,” he ran his hand through his hair and smiled, “go to prom with me?”

What? Prom? With Trevor? This has to be a joke.

There was no way that Trevor Mariano had just asked her to prom. It had to be a joke. There was no way around it. He couldn’t possibly be interested in her. Trevor was the first baseman for the baseball team, goalie for the hockey team, and second-string quarterback on the football team. Any girl in school would say yes to his prom proposal. So why was he asking her?

“Hello?” Trevor waved a hand in front of her face as he laughed. “Did you hear me?”

“Um, yeah. Sorry.” Sadie shook her head to clear her mind. “You want to go to prom withme?”

“Well, yeah.” He shrugged. “You’re pretty.”