Page 33 of You Found Me (The Meadow Springs #1)

Emmaline

It’s the morning of the game day and I slept in longer than I meant to, which of course means my hair is being an unruly pain in the butt.

My waves can be a total nuisance sometimes, but after messing with them for forty-five minutes, I’ve got it how I want it.

The top half is pulled back into two braids, while the rest sits perfectly styled at my back.

I even got Mia to help me add in red and blue ribbons—the colors of Sebastian’s team.

Putting on a white flowy top, my favorite dark ripped jeans, and sneakers, I can’t contain the excitement that pours out of me.

I haven’t been this pumped to go to a game in ages.

After getting dressed, I go into the living room to see Mia already waiting out there. She is wearing a lighter pair of ripped flare jeans, a low-cut tight red shirt, and sneakers. Her short hair is loosely curled, one side braided back with glitter woven into the braid.

“Beckett is going to blush so hard when he sees you.”

“I know. It’s kinda cute on him. But I swear I’ll be on my best behavior. ”

“You know he just got out of a relationship, and I know you know what happened.” I hold my hand up when she tries to interrupt. “Save it. That little button nose never lies.”

“Shit. I hate having a tell.”

“I know you do, but it sure is convenient for the rest of us. I won’t ask what happened because it’s none of my business. Even Spencer said Beckett’s been really hush-hush about the why and only said he’s worried about him.”

“It’s not my place to tell either,” Mia says. “I promise I’m not trying to get into his pants. We started texting more after they broke up. He’s actually really funny—in a dry humor kind of way—and sweet. Beckett’s become a friend, that’s all. I won’t do anything to hurt him.”

I nod, believing what she’s telling me. “Thank you. I know it’ll mean a lot to Spence knowing that Beckett has someone in his corner looking out for him.”

“Yeah yeah, I’m a real treat,” Mia says with a smirk.

We’re making sure we have all of the essentials we might need for the game and put them into our cute little clear bags when there’s a knock on the door.

“It’s unlocked,” Mia calls out. “Come on in.”

Beckett walks in first and comes to such an abrupt stop at seeing Mia, that Spencer runs into him. Which knocks Beckett back into moving further into the apartment.

“You two look great,” Spencer says, filling in the obvious silence. He nudges his brother, “Right Beckett?”

“Huh? Oh right. You guys look . . . ready.”

I can’t hold back my laugh and neither can Spencer. Shaking his head, he starts to walk toward me, and suddenly I’m nervous. I’m talking full on butterflies taking flight.

“You look gorgeous, Emmy,” he tells me in a low voice before kissing me.

I mean, last night, him sucking the caramel off my bottom lip, was so unbelievably hot. But I had to open my idiotic face hole and mention our impending breakup.

To which he very quickly agreed.

Another reason I don’t deepen our kiss is Mia and Beckett are watching, and I honestly don’t want to hear her wolf whistle .

He pulls back, with a half-smile. “Are we all ready to leave?”

Mia is the one to answer, seeing as I’m momentarily stunned, “I mean, Clark said we looked ready. So we must be.” She winks at him, pulling a chuckle and an eye roll from Beckett.

“So, I’m not the smoothest when it comes to women. Sue me,” he says, cheeks once again blossoming bright red as he tries to shrug us off.

“It must be a familial trait because this dork said ‘howdy ’ when we met again this summer,” I joke, taking some of the heat off of Beckett.

“Oh my gosh, you’re right,” Mia exclaims. She looks between the guys. “Please tell me your dad is the same way.”

They chuckle and Beckett nods. “Actually, yeah. I think Mom’s talked about his lack of swagger back when they first met. Apparently, she found it endearing.”

I mutter, “I definitely see the appeal of it.”

Mia chuckles, making me realize I said it loud enough for her to hear.

Which means Spencer, who’s right beside me, heard it even better. When I take a peek at him, his dimple is out, and instead of his usual smirk, a big smile is in its place.

“So, we should probably get going, yeah?” I ask.

Spencer checks his watch. “Probably for the best. Do you ladies have everything?”

Mia nods. “We were double checking that when you knocked on the door.”

***

We get to downtown Charleston, and I’m surprised to see a lot of people decked out in Tennessee’s colors.

Which means no one gives the guys a hard time for wearing Sebastian’s jersey. We grab a drink at some hole in the wall bar before heading to the Cougars’ stadium.

When we make it inside, instead of going to our seats, we take our time, walking around to explore the facilities because none of us have been here before.

Naturally, I locate the dessert stands right away.

We’re talking loaded funnel cakes, mini donuts, hot fudge sundaes, anything you could think of!

Plus, the traditional bags of popcorn and cotton candy.

I hang back when Mia pulls Beckett with her into one of the lines with actual food and notice how easy it seems between them. I glance over at Spencer and find him watching them as well.

I bump my shoulder into him. “I talked to her about Beckett, and she said they’ve been talking quite a bit. She also knows why Aria broke up with him, even though she lied. But Mia enjoys being around him. I don’t think she’ll hurt him.”

“I know she wouldn’t hurt him on purpose. I’m just protective when it comes to Beckett. He changed and went into a dark place after his first girlfriend. To me, ever since then he seems to be missing something . As if when they broke up, she took the light from him. If that makes sense.”

“It does. I think I get that more than you know. But for what it’s worth, Mia is probably the one person you’d want in your brother’s corner. She’s fiercely protective over us. I mean you saw her last week.”

“You’re right.” Spencer nods. “He could use more friends like that.”

Before I can comment, they come back over, and I cackle at the sheer amount of food they’ve brought back.

Spencer huffs out a laugh before playfully asking, “Did you leave anything for the rest of the like 80,000 people here?”

“If they wanted any of this,” she says gesturing at the trays and smirks, “they should’ve checked the forecast to see Hurricane Mia coming.”

Beckett laughs, then gestures to Spencer with a head nod to the left, where our seats are. Luckily for us, Tennessee has a decent following with fans who like to travel, so we’re surrounded by a sea of red and blue.

Spencer told me last week that Sebastian had offered to put us up in a private section, but he and Beckett told him absolutely not.

They wanted to watch him like they did in high school and college.

And I’m glad they did because I like our seats.

We’re at the fifty-yard line at the top of the lower bowl and should be able to see every play from this vantage point.

The first quarter is pretty much at a stalemate.

Neither team scores. But in the second quarter, Sebastian catches a pass and runs thirty-seven yards, scoring the first touchdown of the game.

Getting to see someone that Spencer loves, doing what they love, is really something else.

The excitement and pride both he and Beckett have for their cousin is amazing.

I don’t think they’ve stopped smiling this entire time.

Right before halftime starts, Mia and I go to the bathroom while the guys go to get more drinks and try to beat the rush.

As we’re drying off our hands, I notice someone come in and then stand behind us.

When I turn around, I see it’s Kari, aka the woman Chance was cheating on me with.

I try to grab Mia and leave, but Kari has other plans.

“Emmaline, is that you?” Kari asks with a sickly-sweet voice.

After taking a cleansing breath, I turn back in her direction. “Hello, Kari.”

“You know, I wasn’t sure that was you. You’re looking a little rough. The split must have been hard on you, huh?”

I can’t even process the dig because I didn’t think I’d ever see her again. I feel myself start to panic and when I look at Mia, it clicks for her that this is the woman.

She steps toward Kari. “You really want to talk about someone looking rough? Honey, you look like someone rode you hard and dragged you behind their car in the rain. A true haggard bitch.”

Kari gasps. “Excuse me? Who even are you?”

I tighten my grip on Mia’s arm and take a deep breath.

“It’s fair to think I look ‘a little rough,’ I mean being cheated on is never easy.

” Taking a step in front of Mia, I pull my shoulders back.

“While we’re on the topic of cheating, how did Grayson take the news that his girlfriend cheated on him with his new teammate? ”

She makes a sound, brushing me off. “Grayson doesn’t matter anymore. I broke up with him after Chance called off your engagement. You need to leave Chance alone though. He’s mine now and I don’t appreciate you asking him to meet you out for lunch. ”

I can’t stop the choked cackle that comes out of me, she is unbelievable.

“Kari, you cannot be serious. There are pictures everywhere of how that ‘lunch’ went. I didn’t ask him to meet me, nor did I ask to be kissed.

I was meeting someone else when he blindsided me, with not only his presence, but the photographers he obviously paid to be there. ”

Her face becomes red with anger or embarrassment—I’m not sure—and she sputters, “I don’t know what you’re talking about. We’re still together and very happy. He told me you initiated the kiss with him and made sure someone was there to capture it.”