Page 100 of Playing Games

But when I meet familiar blue eyes, I have to blink several times to try to make the fucking mirage disappear.

It doesn’t work, though.

Instead, Lexi is still there, dressed in a Dragons’ cheerleader uniform with a shy but adorable smile on her lips. Her mouth is painted red just like the rest of the squad normally sports on game days, and her blond hair is in this high ponytail with a big gold bow at the top.

What the fuck is happening right now?

“Hi, Blake,” she says, and I just stare at her, my voice mute and my eyes practically wider than my face. “Mind escorting me out onto the field?” she asks, tucking her arm into my still-outstretched one.

If it weren’t for a chick with a headset and wild eyes waving me toward the center of the field, I don’t know if I’d even move.

But somehow, I do. Though, my legs feel like they’re made of a terrible combination of lead and wood. Each step I take is stiff and heavy.

And by the time we make it to the center of the field, the entire stadium is on their feet, clapping their hands with excitement as the announcer encourages their applause. But my eyes are now fixated on Lexi’s face. At first, she’s looking out toward the crowd, but eventually, she locks her gaze with mine.

“What is going on right now?” I whisper toward her. “Am I dreaming, or are you really dressed in a Dragons’ cheerleader uniform?”

“No, Blake, you’re not dreaming.” She smiles. Shakes her head. “I am, in fact, wearing a cheerleader uniform.”

“H-how? Why?”

“It was a combination of help from Scottie and a Double C invite to McKenzie.”

“McKenzie?”

“The captain of the squad,” she explains with a shrug.

“Okay…” I blink several times, my brain trying to process this insane situation. “But why are you here?”

“Isn’t it obvious?” she asks, but just before I can tell her, no, it’s not fucking obvious, the announcer tells the crowd to quiet down for the national anthem.

Some chick with auburn hair steps up to the microphone that sits right in front of us and starts to give her best Whitney Houston impression of our country’s most famous song.

She’s good, truthfully, but all I care about right now is trying to understand why Lexi is even here.

“Lexi,” I whisper toward her, and she meets my eyes again. “Seriously. What is going on?”

“Oh, you mean you want to know why I’m here?”

I nod. “That’d be nice.”

She searches my eyes for a long moment before averting them completely to stare at her feet. And the chick at the microphone is halfway through the song before Lexi locks her gaze with mine again, a hard swallow making her throat vibrate at her neck. “Blake, I’m sorry for everything,” she whispers. “I’m sorry for the way I treated you. I’m sorry for hurting you. And mostly, I’m sorry that I was so scared to let myself feel what you make me feel that I chose to destroy us instead of face my feelings for you head on.”

She pauses and digs her teeth into her bottom lip, and I just stand there, her arm still tucked within mine.

“I love you,” she says, but it’s so quiet, and the girl singing the national anthem is starting to really bring it home, hitting some seriously high notes, that I almost think my ears make it up entirely. But then, she says it again, this time turning her body toward mine and grabbing both of my hands into hers. “Blake, I love you. And I know I was slow on the uptake in letting myself realize that, but in my defense, I’ve never been good at emotional stuff. It’s a serious weak point for me and, clearly, a learning curve. This whole summer, I tried to convince myself that you and I were just playing games, just having fun. But in the end, it wasn’t a game at all to me because I fell in love with you. Iamin love with you. And I’m here, standing in the middle of this packed stadium, wearing a freaking cheerleader uniform,because I wanted to show you that I’m ready to be together. Out in the open. No secrets anymore.”

“You want to be with me?” I ask her, my gaze searching hers for any sign of fear or hesitancy or doubt, but all I see are determination and confidence and her heart.

“I want to be with you. More than anything. Because I love you.”

“I love you too,” I tell her just as the national anthem comes to a close, and the crowd claps their hands reverently. But I hardly notice any of it because the girl of my dreams is standing in front of me and she’s saying words I only dreamed of hearing her say.

Words I thought I’d never hear her say.

She loves me. She wants to be with me.

I don’t hesitate. I don’t hold back. And between one breath and the next, I pull Lexi into my arms, lift her up so that we’re face-to-face, and kiss her.

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