Page 24 of One Little Kiss
I laugh. “Relax, dude. We’ve all got your back. We’re a team, right?”
He lets out a sigh of relief. “Yeah. We’re a team.”
I grin as I head out of the locker room, shoving aside all thoughts of Noelle and our current weirdness. Soon enough, I’m too busy to think about anything but our warmup and the game to come.
The energy is infectious and I swear it fills the stadium as we run out onto the field. I end up playing more than usual thanks to injuries in the starting lineup, and I’m happy to say I hold my own out there.
I’m nothing compared to Ryan, though, who seems to be fueled by the crowd.
When I’m off the field, I glance up at the stands, and grin at the sight of Mara going nuts every time Ryan’s out there in all his glory. She’s holding a sign that hides the rest of our friends but in the last quarter she drops it in lieu of leaning forward, nibbling on her fingernails, caught up in the game.
I kinda wish I could reassure her. In all honesty, I’m not nervous at all. Ryan’s got this. Same with the rest of the guys. We haven’t gotten this far on luck, and what the other team doesn’t realize is that our team thrives on a challenge.
So when the scoreboard is tied, I take that as a win. It’ll light a fire under our guys, and…
Sure enough, Ryan gets the ball, slips through the reaching grasp of two defensive linemen on the opposing team and hauls butt all the way down to the end zone.
The team goes wild, including me.
I see Mara doing the same, her blonde curls bouncing as she cheers and hoots. Without the sign she was holding, I see Celia and Heath cupping their hands around their mouths to shout encouragement to Ryan and the other offensive players.
I see Leah and Ben a couple rows back from them, and Leah looks like she might hurt someone she’s flailing around so much.
I grin, laughter bubbling up. Don’t get me wrong. I’m psyched we may win this game, but I love watching my friends’ excitement even more. Speaking of…
My gaze goes back and forth between the action on the field, as my team decimates our opposition, and our group of friends in the stands.
Where is Noelle?
It’s straight up weird that she’s not next to Mara or Leah, or near Celia and Heath.
She wouldn’t bail, though. Not without a good reason. She’s never missed one of my games. I shake my head. One ofourgames.
And then I see her. Unlike our friends who are jumping up and down, she’s sitting a few rows back from Leah. I didn’t notice her at first because she’s kinda hunched in on herself like she’s cold, and her dark hair and dark jacket don’t exactly pop in this sea of people.
Before I can even question what she’s doing away from the others, I see it. The arm around her shoulders.
The stranger sitting next to her with too-neat, slicked back brown hair and a face I’m itching to punch.
He says something and laughs, and I see Noelle turn in his direction with a smile.
She’s on a date.
Noelle is at my game…with a date.
My emotions flare before logic can intervene. My gut clenches and my jaw snaps shut. Every muscle in my body tenses with this urge to fight.
To hurt.
My gaze goes back to Noelle.To claim.
Wait, no. What?
I blink in horror but it doesn’t change the way I feel.
“Dude, we did it!” Mason’s on top of me, tackling me with a hug, and it’s only then I realize that Ryan’s jogging off the field toward us and he’s wearing a triumphant grin.
Mara and the others are losing it and the sound of cheers is deafening.
