Page 147 of Saving the Halfback

“You’ve never been to the dance before,” Beth accused. “Actually, doll, I don’t think I’ve seen you at any school dances.”

“I suck at dancing—did you see me at the last party?” There was a round of chuckles that made me realize most of the team, and girlfriends, were watching me. “Plus, no one has asked mebefore,” I mumbled, shoving another forkful of eggs into my mouth in a very unladylike fashion.

Ethan was doing his best not to look at me. Chase was frowning, and I could almost sense an argument on the tip of his tongue. Lachlan had a smirk on his face, and I couldn’t quite decipher the meaning. Nolan seemed to be looking between the three of them.

“Has anyone asked you yet?” Kell asked me, but he was side-eyeing Chase. Everyone thought Chase and I had hooked up after he broke things off with Hadley.

“No. Like I said, I might not go.”

The bell rang, and I quickly finished my plate. Nolan had guiltily eaten his toast, but he’d seemed happy while he was eating it. He drank down his protein drink, shivering like he didn’t like the flavor.

“Bailey!” Sam ran up behind us, pushing between Nolan and me. Lachlan glared at him, but I didn’t think he noticed. “I don’t have a date to homecoming yet. How about I take you? We can check it out, and if you don’t like it, we can ditch and do something else.”

“I, uh.” This was a very awkward situation.

“We’re going as a group,” Chase said with a bit of an edge to his voice.

“I thought—” Sam started, but Chase cut him off.

“You thought wrong. This is our class.” Chase grabbed my hand a practically yanked me into the classroom, not stopping until we got to our seats at the back. “You could have told him no.”

I held my breath and lowered my head. “Sorry.”

“Don’t.” He reached out and put his finger under my chin, tilting my head back up. “I didn’t mean it like that. I meant, if you don’t want to go with Sam, you can say no. You don’t have to be a people pleaser.”

I had just had this conversation with Nolan. “I wasn’t being a people pleaser.” I frowned. “I didn’t want to hurt his feelings. What if he had no one to go with? I didn’t want him to be left out. Sam is nice, he’s my friend.”

“Samhas turned down three girls. He will have someone to go with. Maybe not his first choice, but he will have someone. If someone asks and you don’t want to go with them, just tell them you’re going with us as a group.”

“So, we are going? As a group…Ethan as well?”

“I doubt Ethan will miss you in a dress.”

“I wear skirts all the time,” I pointed out.

“Yep. And I promise he doesn’t miss out on that, either. Apparently, neither does Lachlan.” I bit my lip, my cheeks burning. Chase smiled and turned his head to face the class as the teacher called everyone to attention.

Chase’s advice worked. In art class, a guy that wasn’t even on the team asked me to homecoming. I gave a polite smile, said thanks for the offer, and told him I was going with my group of friends. Lachlan and Nolan just stared at me. I asked if I was too mean, but they both shook their heads and told me no before returning to the project at hand.

Throughout the day, it got easier to turn down the offers to homecoming. Especially when Thomas made a show out of asking me right in the middle of the hall. I hid as much as I could behind Ethan, hating having attention on me. Ethan said a very easy, “She’s busy,” and guided me toward history class.

By the end of the day, I was absolutely exhausted. We all piled into the truck, and I turned on them. “Did I miss something? Is there a bet going around to see who can get me to go to homecoming? Why did no one ask you guys?” I asked.

“Two,” Ethan said.

“Six.” Chase was indifferent about it. “Seven, if you count Mrs. Turner asking if I’m going to be at the dance.”

“Thaaaat’s wrong.” I wrinkled my nose.

I turned around so I could see Lachlan. He shrugged. “None.”

“Okay, now tell her how many walked away after you glared at them without saying a word.” Nolan elbowed him.

“Don’t care.” He grinned at me.

“And you? How many asked the hot-shot quarterback out?”’ I asked, although I was nervous to know.

Nolan’s eyes ran over my face for a moment, searching for what, I wasn’t sure.

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