Page 54 of A Game as Old as Time

It was clear that he was the leader of this group. He always seemed in control of the situation. As she watched him move, she realized Ms. Summers was right: He was not afraid of the spotlight.

Amazing.

“Boys?” He twisted around to them, his palms outstretched.

The other football players nodded in unison.

“Coach W. would have wanted us to do this.” Juliana’s brother had stepped to the middle, and Hailey thought that she saw Bridgette twitch. “So, we’re going to do this.”

“See!” Gunner chuckled and put his hand on Bridgette’s shoulder. The tug from the night before returned, and Hailey had to look away.

Get over it, Hailey!

“We can’t do this without your help.” He lowered his voice. “Bridgette, I have listened to you sing for the last three years. You’re extremely talented.”

Oh man, he is good.

“We may be just a bunch of dumb jocks…” Gunner smirked at Hailey, and her cheeks grew red. “But we know what it means to work hard. With your help, I think we can make this musical something special.”

So good at this.

The group went quiet. The sound of patrons shuffling by suddenly seemed very loud.

“I’m in!” Brad screamed, raising his hand and bringing a laugh from Gunner.

God, he has a great laugh.

“That’s the spirit, Brad!”

Bridgette seemed less convinced, but she appeared to be done with this topic.

“Whatever,” she said, flipping her black hair.

“It’s a start!” Gunner clapped.

I hate that he’s so likeable.

“Well, right now,” Juliana started pushing the boys away, “we need to work on this fundraiser before we start losing customers!”

Brad’s face was glowing as he shook Gunner’s hand; however, while Bridgette may have initially agreed with Hailey, the new glare Bridgette sent her way was more in line with what the typical interaction had been since her arrival.

She still hates me.

“Hailey.” Gunner’s voice snapped her around. “I have your books from the other night. If you want to grab them? My car is right over here.”

My books!

He pointed toward the parking lot, and her eyes widened.

“I am so sorry about that!” She clasped her hands to her face. “I, I totally forgot about them.”

He laughed and waved her toward the car.

“Don’t worry about it.”

They maneuvered through the crowd of people, everyone congratulating him on the game the night before like he was some type of celebrity.

“I just figured you would need them for class. It’s not easy to get your hands on a copy ofTroilus and Cressidain this town.”

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