Now Clarissa turns all the way toward us. She widens her eyes like she’s sharing a secret. “Do you know who did it? Was it one of the hot ones?”
“Whoa,” TJ says, putting a hand to his chest. “Are you saying I’m not one of the hot soccer players?”
“No, but…” She stumbles over her words and I’m ninety-nine percent sure she’s lying. “My friends think it’s that super hot guy on the team, because he seems like a rule breaker.” She shrugs. “I don’t really care, but they’d freak out if it was him.”
“Who exactly is this really hot guy?” I ask, both because I think she’s lying in an effort to find out who ruined the greenhouse, and because up until now, I’ve always felt like I’m on the more attractive side when it comes to my teammates.
Hey, I’m not trying to be an arrogant asshole here. It just is what it is.
“I don’t know his name,” she says, not meeting my eyes. “He’s tall. Brown hair, I think.”
“Dude, she’s describing you,” Beau says, smacking me on the arm.
Clarissa turns bright red, which is probably the cutest thing ever. She covers it by rolling her eyes. “I said super hot, not super cocky.”
I lean back in my chair, fixing her with my favorite smirk. “I see how it is.”
Beau and TJ go back to looking at Snapchat and Clarissa turns back around. I spend the rest of homeroom trying to think of something to talk about, but I’m speechless. This has never happened with girls before.
Maybe I’m just out of practice. I stopped dating midway through last school year because my home life was just too crazy. Between soccer games and working at Magic Mark’s and dealing with my embarrassment of a father, it’s hard trying to keep up with a girl.
And I know from experience that they get pissed if you’re not able to hang out with them all the time. So why the hell am I sitting here thinking about this girl in front of me? Why can’t I let it go? Just dismiss her as another pretty girl I don’t have time for?
When the bell rings, Clarissa is out of her chair and instantly walking to the door. I rush to catch up to her, not giving the guys time to start talking to me.
“Hey,” I say.
She looks startled. “What?”
I shrug. It’s completely stupid but I can’t help myself. “You want to hang out tonight?”
