Page 36 of Faking It with the Forward

“Today was the day Nadia was supposed to get my New Kings tickets. She never texted.”

“Okay,” he says slowly. “I’m sure it’s fine. She probably just forgot to text after she got them.”

Panic thrums in my veins. “She was still asleep when I left, but I texted her around 8:30 and she replied that everything was a go.”

“Then why are you worried?”

“She’s always doing stuff like this. Forgetting things or getting distracted. She knows how important this concert is to me.”

I send her a text:Did you get the tix?

“See?” I say after there’s no reply. “She flaked. I knew it. I knew this would happen.”

Going back to the phone, I pull up Chattysnap and search New Kings. A series of posts shows up. All about how quickly the show sold out. “See?” I hold up the phone so he can see the screen. “They sold out! Just like I knew they would.”

“Sunshine,” Reese says, his big hand capturing mine, “You’ve got to chill. She could be in the shower. At the gym. Fucking Brent Reynolds.”

“The quarterback?”

He shrugs, but I see the small smile on his mouth. “You never know.”

I take a deep breath and look down to where our hands are clasped. Then crane my neck to see if Coach Green, who is seated across from us, has noticed. His head is back against the seat, eyes closed, headphones in. Exhaling, I detangle our fingers and shift closer to the window.

“You know the rules,” I say quietly.

“I do.” He nods, plucking the phone from my fingers and tucking it into his jacket pocket. “But I still wanted to check up with my girl after a big win.”

I smile, not because he called me his girl, although… “You had a kick ass game. Two goals!”

He grins eagerly. “You saw them?”

I wince. “The first one, but I missed the penalty—you know, when Kirby came out with a bloody nose.”

It’d been a gusher.

“Right.”

“But I’m sure I can catch it on a replay.”

“How about I give you a play-by-play?”

Before I can argue, he launches into it, drawing in the guys behind us with his overexaggerated and animated retelling. Soon half the bus is leaning over us, and I listen as they recreate the entire game; every slapshot, every crash into the boards, every penalty and goal. Halfway through, when Reese leans back in his seat and winks at me, I suspect he’s just trying to distract me from harassing Nadia.Successfullydistract me.

He’s right though, she could be doing anything, and she knew how important it is to me. I’m sure everything’s fine.

Coach Bryant finally yells at the guys to get their asses in their seats and the bus quiets down. Reese doesn’t leave, but he closes his eyes and keeps to his side of the seat. Resting my head against the window, I drift off to the rocky vibration of the bus barreling down the highway. I don’t wake until the brakes hiss and the vehicle jerks to a stop.

“Wake up, Sunshine.”

My face is plastered against something hard—and it’s not the window. Jolting up, I blink at the realization that I was asleep on Reese’s shoulder. I sit up, putting distance between us. That’s when I see it. “Oh my god.”

“What?” he asks, stretching his arms over his head.

I grab his jacket sleeve, heat licking at my cheeks. “I drooled on you.”

He peers at the spot and laughs. “You must’ve been comfortable.”

That’s the thing. Iwascomfortable. I completely passed out, and totally forgot about— “Give me my phone.”

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