Page 24 of Third and Ten

Well, I may have accidentally let a slight caveman grunt escape. Blake looks more than amused.

“What are you going to do with that cash?” he asks.

“Tenley suggested we use it to buy a few items that most people don’t think to donate,” I explain, trying to calm myself.

“Gotcha. And what time are they coming to collect all the supplies?”

“Around one.”

“Then y’all should probably go ahead and get to shopping,” Blake replies, coming around to sit behind the table with us.

Tenley looks over at me. “That’s not a bad idea. I could run out and grab what we need while you finish up here,” she offers.

I open my mouth to reply, thinking about how much I want to punch my brother again, but he interrupts. “Well, JD, aren’t you going to offer to help the lady? You can’t just leave her to do all the heavy lifting on her own.” He leans back in a chair, making himself comfortable. “Don’t worry. I’ll stay behind and look after everything.”

“I’m sure I’ll be fine.” She shakes her head as she rises from her seat.

I stand with her, almost knocking over the folding chair in the process. “No, Blake’s right. I wouldn’t want you to have to load everything up yourself. I’ll take you in my truck.”

She shrugs, fidgeting with her ponytail again. “Okay, then.”

I feel Blake’s foot nudging me in the butt as soon as she turns to look for her purse, and I swat him away and glare at him again. He mouths a “you owe me,” to which I return a “fine.”

“Ready?” she asks.

“Yep,” I answer too quickly.

I lead her toward the door, stopping when we pass Ethan. “Hey, we’re, uh, making a quick run to the store for more supplies,” I explain, gesturing to Tenley beside me.

“Oh, should I…come with you…to help?” he asks, his eyes darting back and forth between us.

I shake my head, desperately trying to send him a telepathic signal. “I’m sure we’ll be fine, right?”

“Sure,” Tenley answers politely. She sounds less than enthusiastic, but I’m so desperate to spend time with her that I push ahead.

“We’ll be right back,” I say, winking at Ethan. He smirks, and a few of the other football players give me the nod or make Coach Thirsty comments as we walk past. I plow straight into the locked side of the double doors before successfully opening the other side, making Tenley snort, but none of it dampens my mood as we walk toward the parking lot together.

CHAPTER 9

JD

I’ve never been more nervous as I hurry over to open the passenger door for Tenley, and she thanks me quietly before climbing inside my pickup. I reach for the ball cap sitting on my dash and put it on backward before settling in the driver’s seat, praying it will activate some semblance of swagger.

Then I crank the truck, and Tenley’s eyes widen when the Jonas Brothers song I’d been listening to blares over the sound system.

“Sorry,” I mumble as I lower the volume. But as soon as I hear her giggling, I’m ready to throw my pride out the window just to amuse her. “Don’t tell anyone that you caught me in my Jonas era.”

Technically, it’s her fault I was bingeing their Happiness Begins album in the first place. I’ve been trying to channel all my feelings for her into wholesome outlets, and there’s only so much time I can spend working out and revising my playbook before my mind wanders back to her.

“You mean, Ethan doesn’t know about your secret playlists by now?” she asks, smirking. “I know you’re younger than me, but if you like this stuff, I imagine you’ve got some other boy bands lurking in your rotation.”

“Yeah, he doesn’t seem to mind singing along to *NSYNC when he needs a ride badly enough. And, for the record, you can’t be more than a year or two older than I am,” I remark, glancing over as I pull out of the parking lot. Her lips are moving as she quietly mouths the words. I can’t help it as my smile spreads even wider, but she stops once she notices I’m watching her, biting her lip as her cheeks turn a few shades darker.

“Weren’t you a football trainer in high school?” I ask, changing the subject.

“I was.”

“I thought you looked familiar when I first saw you picking up Ethan, then I remembered you from my brother’s class.”

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