Friend Zoned (Barnett Bulldogs #2) by Jennifer Sucevic Read Free Book Online Page B

football players.
    Maybe some twenty-two year olds would chafe and feel resentful about that kind of pressure heaped upon them at such a young age.  The pressure to conduct himself like he’s in his thirties rather than early twenties.  But Sam handles it well.
    Most people at Barnett, even those who know him well, don’t realize that he’s related to Senator Derek Harper.  And that’s exactly the way Sam likes it. 
    “We’ll see what happens.  I haven’t decided where I want to go just yet.  My dad attended Columbia.”  He flashes a brief smile.  “He’s hoping I’ll end up there.”
    “Nothing wrong with that,” my grandfather says, “as long as that’s where you want to be.”
    His words are a sudden reminder as to the inevitable changes next year will bring.  I can’t help but think about just how different everything will be when Sam heads off in one direction and I go in another.  We’ve been entangled in each other’s lives for so long now.  Not a single day goes by that I don’t see or talk to him.
    The thought of Sam being somewhere else, living a life without me, sends a little pang of sadness sliding its way through me.  We’ve been at each other’s side for the last eight years. But I suppose I’ll have to get used to it, because I can’t see Sam sticking around here for another three years.
    Something in his eyes shifts as they hold mine.  It’s like he knows exactly what’s churning inside my head.  Shaking off the sudden melancholy, I tug the corners of my lips up into a brief smile before finishing the chips on my plate.
    “Well, I should probably head over and say hi to my parents.”  With that, Sam makes his way to his feet.  For someone so big, he’s quite agile.  “Thank you for lunch, Mrs. Winterfield.”
    “I should be the one thanking you for coming all the way over here on a Sunday afternoon to fix that toilet.  I’m sure you have better things to do with your time.”
    Sam’s smile softens before he leans down, planting a gentle kiss on my grandmother’s cheek.  “It’s no problem.  I can stop by anytime.”
    “You don’t mind if I just hang out here, do you?”
    He shakes his head as if he expected no less.  “Nope.  I won’t be long.  Then we can head back to school.”
    Even though I love Sam’s family, I’d rather spend a little more time with my grandparents.
    And just like everything else, he gets that as well.
     
    Chapter Four
     
    Sam
    I head over to the Victorian that looks, from the outside, very similar to the Winterfield one.  There’s a wide lawn that separates our houses.  I’m pretty sure my dad would love to move into something newer, grander, and in a more upscale neighborhood but my mom fell in love with this house twenty years ago and refuses to uproot the family.
    As I let myself in through the beveled glass front door, I find my mom in the kitchen pouring over an old book of family recipes.  My dad’s silver SUV is parked in the driveway, but he’s conspicuously absent.  My guess is that he’s holed up in the downstairs sunroom that he’s taken over as an office so he can work from home on the weekends.
    Not that he spends much of his time here.
    More often than not, he’s traveling to the state capital or Washington DC when the senate is in session.  Because my dad has been in politics for the last fifteen years, my mom decided it would be easier to give up her nursing job at the hospital so she can be here for me, my younger brother, Gavin, and sister, Arianna.  Or Ari, as we affectionately call her.
    Spotting me, my mom does a double take as a big smile spreads across her pretty face.  “Sam!  I didn’t know you were stopping by today. I would have prepared lunch.”  Hands going to her slender hips, she gives me a mock frown.  “You should have texted.”
    I nod my head towards the Winterfield house. “Violet asked if I could stop by and fix something for her grandparents.”
    My mother’s