Page 5 of Saving the Halfback

Turning around, I tossed the paper towel into the garbage. Just as I thought I could handle this new flirting thing, Nolan removed his bloodied shirt, and my mouth went dry. Holy shit. Nolan was ripped—everywhere. His body was sculpted and tight, those delicious V lines disappearing into the waist of his jeans. Surely, it wasn’t normal for a high schooler to be this…fit.

He turned around and began washing his hands and face in the sink, getting rid of the now-drying blood. “So, you’re new here?” I asked, remembering his comment about this being his first day at the school.

Nolan glanced in the mirror just as he reached for his shirt, giving me a wink before drying his hands and face with it. I just got caught checking him out, again. I looked down.Don’t throw up, don’t throw up. You got caught—so what? Own it.I raised my chin.

“Yeah, transferred this year to be part of the football team,” he said.

Ah, no wonder he was in such good shape. “What position do you play?” I asked.

“Quarterback.”

He pulled a black shirt from his bag and began pulling it on just as Hadley and her crew came through the bathroom door. All three girls slowed their walk as they spotted Nolan, giving him a slow perusal with their eyes while I suppressed the urge to roll mine.

“Nolan!” Hadley gushed with her fake smile, and I wanted to vomit. Note to self: eat a smaller breakfast tomorrow. “I’ve been looking for you everywhere.”

Hadley had ignored me completely when she came in, which I was fine with; I was used to it. But with all her attention on Nolan, I could see him becoming uncomfortable. He reached for his backpack and slung it over his shoulder. “Uh, yeah, I was just looking for my class.”

“That’s why I’m here for you, duh. You haven’t given me your schedule yet.” She stepped up to him, as if she were going to touch him, but Nolan sidestepped her, placing his arm around my shoulders.

“I’m good now. My friend here… Bailey, she was just about to help me.” He gave me a pleading squeeze with his hand onmy shoulder, and I looked up, watching as he turned his anxious eyes on me. Anxiety was something Hadley gave me too.

I nodded. “Yep, we should go. The bell will ring soon.”

“Farm girl?” Hadley scoffed and Katie laughed.

“She’s not part of the group, you’ll get lost,” Katie said.

“I think we can find our way.” Nolan turned us toward the door.

“I’ll save a seat for you at lunch,” Hadley called out. “The table is for players and cheerleaders only.”

Nolan groaned as we left the bathroom, dropping his arm from my shoulder. “So, know anywhere I can hide at lunch to avoid her?”

“Not a fan of Hadley?”

“She was assigned to be my guide through the school, but she’s so handsy.”

Hadley was handsy? Did Nolan know she had a boyfriend? Oh well, not my place.

“What class do you have next? The least I can do for nearly breaking your nose is show you where it is.”

He smiled and pulled out a piece of paper from his pocket. “Art, room four thirty-five.”

I shook my head, go figure. “Follow me, it’s my next class too.”

Nolan tried to keep up with me as I weaved through the throng of students. I was used to dodging and ducking my way through these halls, but for a quarterback, he didn’t move as fluidly. “You like art?” he asked.

“Oh, yes. My specialty is putting sunglasses on the sun in the corner of my pictures.”

Nolan chuckled. “Well, I hate to brag, but I can even put squiggles in the sky for birds in the distance.”

“Squiggles? That's advanced stuff right there.”

The bell rang as we walked to class, so when we reached the room, most of the tables already had occupants. Nolan scanned the room and nodded to Lachlan. They did a quick hand slap as Nolan sat in the chair next to him. The tables were round, with four chairs around them. Since most already contained groups of four or two, I kept walking to the back and found myself a table on my own.

Wanting to save myself the humiliation of Lachlan having the same reaction as Chase, I tried hard not to look at his and Nolan’s table. Was this whole plan really something I wanted to do, after all?

Lachlan was forgotten friend number two, and though I’d never had any favorites or best friends in our group—because we were all best friends—the loss of him had stung a little more than the others.

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