Jayden left campus and raced across town to reach the highway before rush hour started at three. His trip home was all of ten minutes once he hit the freeway, and he drove slowly through the affluent neighborhood and the gate around his father’s property, parking in back.
Jayden went in the side entrance of the garden, not surprised to see his stepsisters trying to catch the last direct rays of sun before autumn. Tara’s half-sister, Chelsea, was short and a little on the chubby side. She was eight with light mocha skin.
With them was his sister, Isabelle. Also eight, she was tall, dark-skinned and skinny, an indication she’d end up close to six feet tall like their mother.
“Hi, Jay,” Isabelle called with a wave.
“Hey, Izzy,” he replied. He crossed to hug his sister. “Don’t you have cheer practice, Tara?”
“I skipped,” she replied lifting her sunglasses to squint at him. “Did Kimmie badmouth me for it?”
“I have no idea,” he said, not about to get caught up in any drama. “I just saw them teaching a new girl –”
“New girl?” Tara shot up. “That bitch better not be replacing me!”
“Oooooohhhhhh,” Chelsea and Isabelle said simultaneously.
Tara ignored them. She snatched her phone and started towards the house.
Aware he’d caused enough drama with Kimmie, Jayden intercepted his stepsister and plucked her phone free. One sister was bad enough. Three? There were full weeks when he had no peace.
Tara looked up at him, frowning.
“I broke up with Kimmie, so don’t call her and yell,” he said quickly. “Okay? She’s already pissed at me.”
“Finally. What took you so long?”
“To break up with her?”
“She’s a bitch!”
“Ooooooohhhhhh!” went the girls again.
“Shut up, Chels, Izzy!” Tara snapped.
“I’m telling mom you’re saying bad words!” Chelsea retorted.
“If you dare, I’ll tell her you both were in her chocolate stash!”
Chelsea took a deep breath, preparing to squeal at the top of her lungs in a form of angry hissy fit. Isabelle recently took up the habit, too, and Jayden was in no mood for screaming girls.
“Don’t start,” he chided the two younger girls.
“Jayden!” Chelsea objected.
“No whining, no screaming, no cussing,” he said firmly. “Y’all got it?”
Tara snatched her phone and stormed inside. The two younger girls nodded.
Jayden shook his head. His father married the girls’ mother seven years ago, soon after Izzy was born. He’d spent more time babysitting and raising the two little ones than their parents had. They listened to him.
Most days, Tara ignored him but helped out where she was willing. He was certain his stepsister and ex-girlfriend would soon be on the phone together, comparing notes about how bad of a person he was.
Did he really want a new girlfriend when he was constantly surrounded by women?
His phone dinged, indicating he had a new email. Jayden glanced at his phone as he took the stairs to the second floor two at a time. He paused at the top of the grand staircase.
The email was from Adrienne. Any thought he had of not wanting anything to do with another girl in his life faded. He opened it instantly.
Hi Jayden,
I don’t think I can go. Thank you for asking.
Adrienne
Jayden frowned. How did she say no? Had Kimmie said something to her during cheer practice?
Let her go, Jay, he told himself again.
But he couldn’t. He hadn’t been able to stop thinking about her all day, and he hated the idea of putting aside something that interested him before he’d satisfied his curiosity.
“Tara!” he called, striding down the hallway lined with the rooms of all four kids.
“What?” she shouted from inside her room.
“Hey, can I ask you something?”
“Fine.”
Jayden opened the door to her room. Like his, the massive space was filled with a four-poster bed, heavy furniture and paintings chosen by his stepmother. All similarities ended there. Tara’s marble floors were covered in pink and teal rugs, the mantle above her hearth decorated with awards won by the cheer squad. Her bedspread was fuchsia and the rest of her room adorned by girly colors and objects.
Slung across her bed in her bikini, Tara was on the phone. She held up her finger for him to wait.
Jayden did so impatiently and checked his phone, reading Adrienne’s email again.
They had chemistry. He felt it. Didn’t she?
“Okay what?” Tara asked, lowering the cell.
“What’s the deal with the new girl on the cheer squad?” he asked casually.
“You had to ask.” She rolled her eyes. “They’re not replacing me.”
She was quiet, content.
“Yeah and … ?” he prodded. “She’s replacing Darla?”
“Not really. Darla got pissed, but she’ll be back next week. She did this like, five times last year.”
“So Adrienne is just subbing for the week?”
“Why do you care about the cheer squad?” Tara pinned him with a glare. “Kimmie told me you broke up with her right before Homecoming. You’re an ass, Jay.”
“So she’s a bitch and I’m an ass?” he asked, crossing his arms. “Which is it?”
“Both!”
“Just tell me about Adrienne.”
Tara’s brow furrowed. She gazed at him for a minute then sat up, interested.
“You like her,” she accused.
“I don’t like her,” he retorted. “I heard her sing. She seems too nice to hang out with Kimmie.”
“And I’m not?”
“That’s not what I meant,” he said with tried patience.
“I can’t stand Kimmie. I’m glad you broke up with her.” Tara pushed herself off her bed and crossed to her cavernous walk-in closet. “I haven’t met Adrienne. What’s she like?”
“Small, blonde. She sings real good. She got a scholarship to –”
“Scholarship?” Tara poked her head out from the closet. “You’re serious?”
“Yeah.”
“You better not tell Daddy.” Tara considered for a moment, then ducked back into her closet. “Then there’s no way Kimmie will let her on the team. She’s probably just pranking her.”
Jayden frowned. “Kimmie would do that?”
“Duh. You remember how last year, she wouldn’t let Lori Jenkinson try out, because her parents mortgaged their house to send her to school there for her senior year?”
“I don’t even know who Lori Jenkinson is,” he replied.
“Well she did. Her parents almost had no money. Kimmie won’t let a scholarship student on the team,” Tara said. “If she knows you like this girl, she’ll prank her even worse.”
That much Jayden didn’t doubt.
“You want me to find out tomorrow?” Tara asked.
“Would you?”
“Only if you admit you like her.” Tara emerged from her closet in jeans and a t-shirt.
“I’m just curious about her,” he hedged.
“Then I won’t.”
“Tara!”
She grinned.
“Fine. I think she’s pretty,” he admitted. “If you tell Kimmie, I’ll tell dad to shut down your credit card.”
“Whatever.” Tara rolled her eyes. “I’ll find out tomorrow.”
“Thank you.” Jesus! Why is everything so hard?
“I’m glad her voodoo spell didn’t work,” Tara added. “I don’t want you to marry her.”
“I have no intention of marrying Kimmie,” he said with a sigh.
“Because you like the new girl.”
“I’m not marrying anyone!”
“Don’t fight!” Chelsea shouted from the doorway. She was trailed by Izzy, who clutched a stuffed animal.