Page 34 of The Friend Game

That sneaky little minx.

“But I can tell by your facial expression that you knew nothing about this,” he adds.

“Well…” I hedge. “No, I didn’t.”

“Hey, then don’t worry about it,” he hurries to assure me. “It’s only ten kids. I can handle them by myself for today.”

“Oh, okay.” Disappointment flattens my smile. He’s giving me an easy out, when I would’ve loved for him to insist I stay.

“Although,” he taps his chin in thought, “I do usually like to give them a little bit of one-on-one attention on the first day, just to help them out with some basic ball handling. That’ll be hard to do without an assistant.”

I bite back a new smile. “So you want me to stay? Is that what you’re saying?”

Luke does a one shoulder shrug, all fakely casual like. “I suppose I would appreciate it if you did.” His voice has taken on a bit of southern twang. I’m not sure where it came from, but I am here for it. It’s giving him a cowboy vibe I very much like.

“Okay, I’ll stay.” I toss my keys in my cup holder (because at a school this rich, no one is going to steal my 2015 Ford Fusion) and step out of the car. “Hope it’s okay that I’m not really dressed in athletic wear,” I say, self-consciously moving my braid to one side and smoothing my hand over my overalls.

Luke gives me a quick once over. “What you’re wearing is fine.” He clears his throat and looks away.

“I know, I look like a farmer,” I say lightly, because clearly he finds me hideous in my overalls and black tank top.

Luke rubs his brow. “Not what I was thinking at all.”

“Painter then? Plumber?” I’m not sure why I’m pushing this, other than the fact that I hate not looking my best in front of a guy I’m interested in. Call me vain, but there you have it. “Mechanic?”

Luke chuckles, then lets out a long breath. “How about this, check back with me in four months, and I’ll let you know what I think about your overalls.”

Oh. That shuts me up. And now I have to bite the inside of my cheek to keep from smiling like an idiot. He likes my overalls! Wonders never cease.

“Okay, I’ll check back,” I jump up, emboldened by this revelation, and grab the hat offhis head, placing it on my own, “but I get to keep your hat until then.”

Luke swallows, and I suddenly realize I’m doing it again, flirting. I don’t want to make things harder for Luke. I need to be just his friend.

“I’m sorry,” I say quickly, removing the hat and offering it back to him. “I’m crossing lines I shouldn’t even be standing near. So, I’m just going to give you this hat back, then walk on over to the fields to report for duty, Coach Abbott.”

Luke studies the hand holding my hat for a long while. “You know what, keep the hat,” he finally says. “I’ve got another one in my car. I’ll get that one back from you in four months.” He shrugs, then yanks the hat out of my hand and sets it back on my head. “After all, friends can loan friends their hats on a sunny day.”

I beam up at him under the brim. “Certainly sounds friendly to me,” I agree.

Luke smiles back at me, but as we walk towards the field we’re both careful to leave a wide gap between us. I don’t mind though, because being here with Luke has already quieted some of the angst I’ve been feeling. He still wants to date me. Still wants to hang out with me.

I sneak a glance at his tall, handsome profile and let myself hope for just a minute. Maybe I won’t go home smushed onto the bottom of his shoe. Maybe I’m just the right apple for Luke.

Bruises and all.

Chapter 13

BY THE END OF practice I’m no longer thinking about my emotional bruises because I’ve obtained too many physical bruises that are stealing my attention. For a game that’s supposed to have no tackling, there sure as heck was a lot of tackling. The six boys and four girls that make up the team went along with the ‘just grab the flags’ rule for a while, but then one boy got excited and charged Luke. After that all of the kids took turns trying to take him down, even joining forces to achieve their goal, but apparently Luke is a tank, because they couldn’t knock him down no matter how hard they tried.

When they realized this, they switched over to me, who went down faster than an unstable Jenga tower. Did I squeal on my way down?

Yes, yes I did.

Luckily Luke stepped in and called the kids off, but my butt and my elbow suffered injuriesnonetheless. Which is why I’m now sitting in a kind parent’s lawn chair with one bag of the ice Luke got me under my booty and the other against my elbow. Luke is in a huddle with the kids wrapping up practice. Every now and then a cheer erupts from the group.

“Sorry again,” Sheila, the woman whose lawn chair I’m sitting in, says as she adjusts the brim of her sun hat. “Zach and his dad wrestle a lot, so he can be a bit rough.”

Zach was the kid who first cried, “Get Miss Garza!” then led the stampede to where I stood. As soon as they headed towards me I took off running, but I swear these kids’ parents must put steroids in their cereal, because they caught me in five seconds flat.

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