Tabitha’s shoulders slumped, because she couldn’t deny the white-hot rush of jealousy that surged through her at the thought. How could she compete with all those pretty and pressed girls Garnet churned out so easily?
Now that they were in high school, Wyatt was finally going to get himself a real girlfriend. Tabitha tried to tell herself it was a good thing, because Wyatt hadn’t dated in middle school. He focused on sports and pestering her…relentlessly.
She understood why Clay gave in and just started calling Wyatt his friend. He was a hard fella to say no to, but she knew falling for him was a bad idea for all the reasons Terry had stated. More so, she had gotten over her childish hero worship of Wyatt Conner.
While she wished she hadn’t rashly burned her stories, especially when she saw the lengths he’d gone to make up with Clay after that fight, she was glad for the sharp wake-up call that Wyatt was just as normal as anyone else. He bled the same and made the same dumb mistakes as other boys did. He was bold and cocky, a total show-off, and sometimes he said the dumbest things she’d ever heard in her life, but she was still inexplicably drawn to him.
Wyatt just had less fear than other boys, and it made him captivating. That was what had everyone, even Tabitha, staring at him when he thought they weren’t looking. He was always competing in some hazardous sport that left him more than a little bruised, but he didn’t seem to mind. In fact, Tabitha was fairly certain he loved it. She watched him practice with Clay after classes. The meaner Clay got, the happier Wyatt was, and Clay was capable of being terribly mean. That was what made Wyatt seem bigger than life, that wild fearlessness that had him facing down anything dangerous with a grin on his face.
He was taller than other boys—well over six feet since the start of eighth grade. More than that, it seemed out of the blue his arms had gotten big and muscley. His chest was thick and cut. His shoulders broad. He was as tall as Clay now, who had always had a few inches on him.
“God,” she mumbled under her breath when she saw where her thoughts were heading. She actually turned her palm up, staring at the scars for a more solid reminder as she said solemnly, “I do not like Wyatt Conner.”
“Why the heck not?” Terry countered, and Tabitha turned to see him arching an eyebrow at her. When she didn’t have a response to the odd question, he leaned down and looked at her open palm. “What happened to your hands?”
“I hurt myself when I was eleven.”
“How?”
Tabitha looked down to her hand, thinking of the million different answers to the question, and finally settled on, “I was burning my dreams. It left a mark. A reminder.”
“Okay,” Terry said slowly. “You’re definitely weird, Tabitha.”
Tabitha nodded and whispered quietly, “I know.”
“We should be friends,” Terry surprised her by saying. “I think it’s in the unspoken book of rules.”
Tabitha turned to him and came to a startling realization she hadn’t noticed behind Terry’s wealth and good looks that had made him popular by default. “You’re weird too.”
“I’m weirder than you, darlin’.” Terry stood because the bus had come to a stop in front of the high school. “If Garnet were a movie, we’d be the two most intriguing supporting characters.”
Tabitha grabbed her bag and followed after him like a freshman puppy, feeling a strange bolt of excitement at finally finding someone who understood her.
“Who’d be the main characters?” she asked curiously, enjoying Terry’s riddles.
Terry sent her a grin as he stepped off the bus. “Two guesses.”
Tabitha jumped down after him, following his gaze to see Jules Conner crawling from the front seat of the sheriff’s jeep.
“Bye, Daddy.”
Jules’s voice carried all the way across the parking lot, but that wasn’t what held her attention. Tabitha just gaped as Wyatt and Clay slid out from the back. With the two boys standing shoulder to shoulder, she took a moment to really notice how big they’d both gotten. How powerful and intimidating. They were freshmen too, but there was no sign of the nervousness Tabitha had been dealing with for weeks now.
Who the heck would give either of them a bad time? They were taller than most seniors and black belts to boot.
“Oh my God,” Tabitha mumbled, having this very strange moment when she realized Wyatt might not be a real hero, but he certainly had the résumé of one.
“Tab!” Wyatt called out when he spotted her standing there dumbstruck next to Terry Dower.
Tabitha waved back, unable to help smiling in relief. She felt decidedly lighter knowing she was going to walk into the halls of Garnet high school for the first time next to Wyatt and Clay. More than being her only real friends, they were also a shield—the perfect protectors from anything terrible life could throw at her.
She sighed and found herself admitting out loud to her new friend, “I’m in so much trouble, Terry.”
“That ain’t a lie.” Terry patted her shoulder and left her standing there waiting for Wyatt. “You let me know when you need help with that problem.”
Tabitha knew heroes weren’t real. She’d learned that when she was eleven. She was almost certain it was nothing but a childish illusion.
Almost.
Chapter Twelve
“This year is my year. I’m gonna get Tabitha to go out with me.”
“You say that every year.” Clay grunted from his spot on the mat next to Wyatt. The two of them were still breathing hard from wrestling as they lay there looking at the ceiling lights in the rec center. “You think I got a chance for a spot on the varsity wrestling team?”
“You kicked my ass,” Wyatt told him helpfully. “Badly.”
“Yeah, but you ain’t all that good at wrestling.”
“Hey, buddy, I’m better than most,” Wyatt said with absolute confidence. “Just ’cause I don’t spent four hours a day rolling around working on it don’t mean I suck.”
“It does, actually.”
“I hate wrestling. Can’t stand having someone suffocating me and crawling all over me like that. It’s a horrible sport. Jujitsu ain’t far behind. The only reason I take it is ’cause you do,” Wyatt complained. “You’re getting into your ground game a little too much to be normal. I think you need a girlfriend too.”
“Probably,” Clay said grudgingly. “But I can’t even get a family to keep me for more than two months. You think I’m gonna find a girl to put up with me? Wrestling works off frustration.”
“That ain’t a lie,” Wyatt had to reluctantly agree. “No wonder I’m always stuck at the rec center with you. I’m way better at this sport than I wanna be.”
“Try out for the wrestling team.”
“Won’t have time for wrestling. The season’s gonna bleed into football for sure.”
“You don’t know that. They sucked last year. That season ended pretty fucking fast.”
“Yeah, but I wasn’t on the team last year. I’m gonna make damn sure we go to the championships if I have to take down every quarterback in this state.”
Clay snorted. “That’s probably true.”
Wyatt turned his head and gave Clay a cocky grin. “You wait and see. I’m gonna annihilate the other teams. It’s gonna be bloody.”
“What makes you think I’m gonna spend my Friday nights watching you strut round that football field?”
“What the heck else have you got to do?”
“Sit in my room jerking off.”
Wyatt let out a loud bark of laughter. “That’s the reason you can’t get a family to keep ya more than five minutes. You just say whatever rude shit comes to mind.”