Traitor by Megan Curd Page A

alight with excitement, contentment. I’d put that there. It was right before she and her Irish idiot got back together. Liam. What she saw in him I’d never know. Sure, he had the accent girls seemed to go nuts over. Yeah, he had the height and he wasn’t ugly. Still, I kicked myself internally for not going after her earlier. Maybe if I’d made a move before she went to Ireland and the world went nuts, we’d be together.
    I glanced across the room to where my grass-stained football gear was thrown in the corner. I had practice later today, and I couldn’t wait. It’d take my mind off of wondering what Ashlyn was up to.
    Today was the first day with full pads. It’d be nice to hit a few guys. I’d take out the annoyance with everything else by knocking a few of the underclassmen around. The thought brought a slight smile to my face, and my mood improved.
    Dad startled me by putting a hand on my shoulder. “Hey bud, what are your plans for the day?”
    “Nothing but practice later, why?”
    “You think you could mow the lawn for me before it turns into a jungle? I swear we’re gonna have the Discovery Channel people out here trying to document their next African safari trip if you don’t cut it soon.”
    I locked my phone and the screen went black once more as I pushed away from the countertop. “Sure, Dad. I’m on it.”
    “Good, good,” he said, clapping me on the back once more. “Say, have you heard from Ashlyn lately?” A smile played across his face.
    “Nah, I haven’t,” I conceded.
    “I see. Well, you know Mary’s been calling, wondering what you’re up to. Maybe you should call her back.”
    I rolled my eyes. Of course Mary had been calling. She always called. When I didn’t answer my cell phone, the home phone would ring not too long after. She just didn’t get that I wasn’t interested. Not that she wasn’t cute, it was just, well, I didn’t see her like that. “I’ll text her later. Thanks for letting me know,” I slipped from under his embrace and gestured to the garage. “I’m gonna go mow and get it done with.”
    Dad smiled and nodded. “Good man.”
    When I escaped Dad and got to the garage, I turned on my phone once more. There she was, the constant reminder of my stupidity. I opened up the email icon, just to make sure something hadn’t slipped past without my noticing. I deleted the hoards of spam and shot her a quick email.
    Ash, just thinking of you. Ohio’s kinda boring when there’s no nutso faeries trying to kidnap my best friend. Wish I could help. Hope you’re all right in Ireland. Miss you. —Reese
    I stuffed the phone in the pocket of my dirty jeans and pushed the lawnmower out to the backyard. Dad wasn’t kidding about the grass; it was up to my shins. I’d kind of slacked off lately. The football guys said I was whipped. Could be. If it was true, I didn’t know how to fix it. Didn’t know if I wanted to fix it.
    As I started to push, a girl appeared out of literally nowhere and stood on top of the lawnmower. “Hey there, big guy.”
    I totally freaked. I fell backward, landing in one of our dog’s “gifts,” as Mom would call them. It was disgusting. The girl laughed and hopped off the lawnmower. “You need some help? I’m Roslin.”
    She stretched out her arm and pulled me up off the ground with way too much strength for a chick. Of course, it was obvious she wasn’t normal since she’d just shown up out of nowhere. I took her in. She looked like a rocker. Cool. “You’re a faerie, aren’t you?”
    She laughed. “How’d you guess?”
    I rolled my eyes. “Your pink hair gave it away. No normal person runs around with that mop on their head.”
    Roslin punched me and laughed. “Ash said you were quick. I already like you.”
    My stomach did a flip at Ashlyn’s name. “You’ve talked to Ashlyn lately?”
    Her face turned down a hair and the left side of her lips puckered. She put her hands on her hips as she spoke. “Well, not for a