Page 38 of Changing the Play

He shakes his head, standing up quickly. “Trust me, Darcy. It’s not about what I want. Let me go grab it,” he says, taking off before I even have a chance to respond to his cryptic statement.

I stand, hovering awkwardly by the door, my stomach in absolute knots over everything going on. I’m not sure how I managed to mess things up so badly. Would he still have reacted this way if wehadkissed? Would it have made it better or worse? Ugh. I need to call Parker.

West walks out of the bedroom and comes to me, handing over his jersey. I take it and our fingers brush. He hesitates for a second, the warmth of his skin seeping into mine, before he swallows hard and lets go.

“I’ll see you after the game?” I ask. What I really want to know is if we’re still on for dinner or if he’d rather not do that anymore, but I’m too afraid to ask in case the answer is no.

“Yeah. I’ll see you then.”

I nod and turn, heading out the door before I can let my emotions get the best of me. I knew this crush would end up with me being hurt.

Parker and I walk into the stadium side by side. I’m a nervous wreck. “I shouldn’t be here, Park.”

Parker shakes their head. “Nah, fuck that, Darce. He invited you. Just because he got his panties in a twist over almost kissing a boy doesn’t mean he gets to be a dick.”

No, I know that. He wasn’t even mean about it, but also… ugh. At the very least, I shouldn’t have worn this. But here I am, West’s black and red jersey almost swallowing me, even though he’s not much bigger than I am—his number and Hale broadcasting to everyone around me.

“You’re overthinking things,” Parker says, looping their arm through mine as we walk up the stairs to our seats. “You look hot in his jersey, by the way. So that’s good at any rate.”

I can’t help but laugh. “Thanks, Park. I appreciate the ego boost.”

They shrug. “Always here for that. You know that.”

We find our seats and sit down. I don’t think I fully realized how big the field was until now. It looks so small on the TV. My eyes sweep the field, confusion settling in. “How do they get the first down lines on the grass?” I ask Parker.

Their eyebrows almost touch their hairline. They’re feeling more femme today, it seems, since they’re wearing a full face of makeup and a flowy sundress, showing off smooth, hairless legs. “Darcy. Please tell me you don’t believe there are actuallylines on the grass.”

I freeze, scanning the field again. “There are, though. In all the games I’ve watched with West, they have a line on the line of scrimmage and then another where they need to get for a first down.”

I turn to Parker to find them blinking at me. “I love you, Darce. But you have got to be the stupidest smart person I’ve ever met.”

Wow. Rude. “But…”

Parker rolls their eyes. “The lines are just on the TV. They don’t actually have those on the field.”

Panic washes over me. You’d think that would have been something West would have told me in our many football lessons. “So how are you supposed to tell when they’ve made it ten yards, then?”

Parker laughs. “They have people who stand on the sidelines and hold up markers.”

Oh my God. And here I thought I actually had a pretty good grasp of football. “If you tell West I didn’t know that, I’m never going to speak to you again.”

“Yeah, I don’t believe that for a second, but I’ll keep your secret anyway.”

The crowd erupts as the team rushes onto the field. My heart almost stops dead when I catch sight of West. Holy. Freaking. Football pants. I’m not a religious guy by any means, but I’m thanking God for Weston Hale in those pants.

Parker laughs loudly beside me. “Put your tongue away.”

I elbow them. “Shut up. He looks…”

Parker hums. “Good enough to eat.”

“Stop.”

They nudge my side. “You’re no fun.”

West steps to the sideline and pulls his helmet off. His hair’s a little damp with sweat, and it’s already clinging to his forehead. That should be against at least ten laws. He scans the crowd quickly, and when he finds me, I wave. His eyes light up in surprise, and he waves back, making everyone around us scream and cheer. I glance behind me, taking in the way everyone is cheering and losing their collective minds that West just waved in their direction.

Is he some kind of celebrity or something? What in the world?

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