Page 43 of Saving the Halfback

“Moving?” Had he said he was moving? I knew he lived outside of school boundaries. “Where to?”

“I’ll no longer be an out-of-district transfer, which is good because if we hadn’t moved within school bounds, I could’ve been kicked off the team before our first game. We are moving to a small town not far from here…maybe you’ve heard of it.” He grinned, and just like that, he pulled me out of the darkness and back to the present.

He had mentioned they were looking at places in Cloverton. I started doodling on my drawing while talking to him. “Whereabouts? I know the Donnel place was for sale, but I didn’t think it sold yet.” I tapped the pencil to my lips, thinking, forcing my mind to switch gears.

“Is that how ‘small town’ it is? The houses have names?”

Lachlan chuckled, putting his arm around the back of my chair. I wanted to lean into him, but I wasn’t sure if he would appreciate it. This was okay, though. Even just being this close, I could feel my nerves calming. “Not only do the houses have names, but they have history. You know, like the Montray house that used to be the bank before it was the old butcher shop.”

“Ah.” I added, “The old butcher shop before the good water tower burned down, or the old butcher shopafterit burned down?”

Lachlan leaned in. “Before, of course. The old one after wasn’t really a butcher but the son of the guy that owned the art museum by the creek. He sold his chickens and ducks for meat out the back of his van.”

Nolan laughed, cutting us off before we could continue. “Okay, I get it…it's a small town. We aren’t buying, just renting. Our house is going up for rent in case we end up moving back.”

I wrinkled my nose at him. “You’re one ofthosepeople. The newbies.” Nolan smiled at me in the most adorable way as he gazed at me, like he was really seeing me. I could feel it in my heart, my toes tingling.

“Ew, we hate newbies,” Lachlan mocked. Our eyes met, and we burst out laughing.

Nolan shook his head, crumpled a piece of paper, and tossed it at us. “You two are idiots.”

The bell rang, and my laugh was cut short as I jumped. I hated being on edge, but I was grateful for the distraction the guys gave me. I gathered my stuff, and then we began walking to the cafeteria together.

Lachlan put his arm around my shoulders. “Is this okay?”

I smiled and nodded, happy he’d asked and made the move. Having Lachlan’s arm around me helped ground me a little more, bringing me into the here and now.

We tried to navigate the halls together, but Nolan got pushed into me, causing me to squish into Lachlan. “Sorry,” Nolan said. He placed his hand on the small of my back, guiding me through the crowds. “That’s better. Hey”—he frowned—“you’re still shaking.”

I hadn’t realized it. I was more focused on Lachlan’s arm around me and that scent that made me want to lean into him. “I feel better,” I reassured him.

We got to the cafeteria, and his hand fell away as he got into line, though Lachlan kept his arm around me. “What was wrong?”

I shrugged, then looked up at Lach. I hoped he would read my desire to drop the subject and save me from questions.

“Don’t you know,” Lachlan said, as he raised his eyes from me to Nolan, “our Bailey girl is full of secrets.”

Nolan scoffed. “Starting to realize you’re all full of secrets.”

I suppressed a sigh. He wasn’t wrong.

We grabbed our food. Nolan went for the grilled chicken and salad, and I narrowed my eyes at him. “Speaking of secrets, I dare you to eat the mac and cheese.”

He laughed at me. “And ruin this perfect body?”

“I knew it.”

“What?” Lachlan asked. We settled at the end of the football table.

“Nolan is a total health buff. I mean, do you ever see him eating carbs or sugar?” I asked. “And the protein drinks!”

Lachlan gave a mock gasp. “You do drink protein drinks!”

Nolan laughed.

Lachlan raised his head as Ethan walked by and then whistled at him. Ethan stopped and looked back. “Seat’s not taken,” Lachlan said, pointing to the chair across from us.

Ethan stared at the seat for a moment, at war with himself. And then he brought his eyes to me. I'm not sure what he saw in me, but he sat down. Nolan kept up the conversation. I think he did it to not draw attention to Ethan, which was nice. Ethan hated when attention turned to him.

---