Page 104 of The Longshot

“Say no more,” Green smirks as he settles back in his chair. “Your silence tells me everything I need to know.”

I chew on the inside of my cheek as I reach for my phone in my back pocket, smiling wide when I see a text message from Chelsie waiting for me:

720

720?

What does 720 mean?

“Oh, and to answer your question.” Green’s voice draws my eyes away from the screen before she can respond. “It’s not the fact that you have a girlfriend that makes everyone jealous. It’s the fact that anytime any of us sees you, all we can see is just how smothered in love you are.”

I laugh at his weird analogy. “Smothered in love?”

“You heard me.” He shakes his head in disgust. “You’re protruding love like it’s contagious, but the worst part? None of us seem to be able to catch it, except well, Coach, of course.”

“You talking shit, Green?” Coach, who just so happens to be conveniently sat to our left, darts his attention in our direction.

“Nah, just singing your praises.” Green smirks, forcing Coach to shake his head and peer out the window.

“Hey?” I command his gaze once more after I notice that two familiar faces are missing. “Where’s Delaney and Alf?”

Coach sighs. This seems like a touchy subject. “Delaney said she didn’t want to come because she’s too pregnant to do anything other than exist at this point, and Alf? Well, Alfs come down with the flu. So, guess what, lads? It’s your lucky day. You’re all stuck with me. Happy?”

Chelsie’s response to my message beats me to a response to Coach’s question as I bite down on my bottom lip to suppress a smile.

It means minutes till I get to see you again <3.

“Like I said,” Green groans out in playful disgust, catching wind of my face and the text. “Smothered in love.”

CHELSIE

“Is there a reason why we couldn’t have just driven?” I glare over at Ruby as we both lug our suitcases up the staircase, making our way towards the train tracks.

“Because,” she grunts, pulling it up step by step.“I wanted to sleep on the train, and it’s not like you were going to drive, were you?”

“Whatever.” I struggle to reach the top but somehow manage to despite being completely out of breath.

“My word, Chelsie.” Ruby coyly remarks, leaning against her suitcase for support. “I thought your cardio might’ve been a bit better considering all that practice you’ve been getting lately.”

I flash her a look. “Practice?”

“Yeah, you know, ‘oh God, Gary, that’s it. That’s the spot. Go faster, go slower. Go?—”

“Ruby!” I shout, cutting off her little spectacle that has seemingly caught the attention of other passengers waiting to board the train.

“What?” Ruby shrugs without a care. “I had to suffer, so now it’s everyone else’s turn.”

“We thought you were asleep!” I refer to the fact that Gary slept over last week. All last week…

Apparently, we both failed to follow Ruby’s strict rule of “I don’t care what you do as long as I don’t hear it”.

I’ll take the blame for that one.

“You’re so embarrassing.” I storm towards the benches and take a seat, Ruby following closely behind.

“And you’re loud. What other obvious things should we point out?”

I huff my arms into my chest. “I’m sorry, okay?” I apologize after a moment of silence. “I guess I didn’t realize I was being so loud. I suppose we were both just caught up in the moment and got carried away?—”

---