Ihadn’t expected to hear from Leo that night after he’d kissed me. Not really. Yes, I’d kept my phone in my pocket and then on my nightstand, and yes, I’d checked the volume and made sure the ringer was turned on about every fifteen minutes or so. But it hadn’t surprised me when the phone stayed silent.
It hadn’t surprised me, but it had hurt.
I’d already planned to go to the football game the next day. I went to every game, and I knew my parents wouldn’t think twice about me heading there today. I’d texted with Sheri that morning and learned that the doctors wanted to keep Nate one more day, because he was still in a great deal of pain. I could almost feel her anxiety through the phone, even though she assured me that it was nothing to worry about.
Go have fun today at the game. Give Leo a hug from me and scream for him like I do, LOL. I’ll tell Nate you’ll see him later.
It felt weird to climb to the upper bleachers on my own, since usually I stuck to the first row, to make it easier on Nate. Quite a few people stopped me to ask about Nate; I guessed word of his accident had made it around the school. Gia Capri, one of the girls who worked on the paper with me, grabbed my arm as I passed.
“Hey, Quinn. I heard what happened to your friend. What’re you going to do?” She glanced down at the field, where the players were just finishing warm-up. “You’re not going to let them get away with what they did, are you?”
I hesitated. Clearly the truth about what had happened with Nate wasn’t much of a secret around the school. I lowered my voice. “What did you hear, exactly?”
Gia stepped around two of her friends who stood between us, flashing a smile of apology to them. “Sorry, newspaper business!” She dragged me out of the way of the people climbing the steps until we stood against the side railing.
“I thought you were there when it happened.”
I shook my head. “No, I got there a few minutes later. After Nate was already at the bottom of the steps.”
“Ah, okay.” She nodded. “What I heard was that Brent started picking on him, things got out of hand, and Nate ended up falling. But someone else said Tim pushed him.”
I closed my eyes. “Shit.”
“Yeah, exactly. The kind of bullshit that goes on around here and no one does a damn thing about.” She cocked her head. “You should write about it.”
“I can’t.” I sighed. “I promised Nate that I wouldn’t. I think he doesn’t want to be the one responsible for getting them kicked off the team.”
Gia growled and tugged on the ends of her short blonde hair. “I get that. I really do. But how’s it going to change if no one talks about it? What happened to fighting the bullies?”
“I don’t know. Leo ... he said he’d take care of it.”
She snorted. “Yeah, I’m sure. Leo Taylor’s going to stick up for someone like Nate.”
“They’re friends. We’re all three friends. Leo’s the one who got to Nate first yesterday, and he drove me to the hospital.”And kissed me until I forgot my own first name. Yeah, I thought I’d better leave that part out.
“Yeah?” Gia didn’t look convinced. “Let’s just say he doesn’t strike me as someone who’s going to stick his neck out for anyone but himself. Or maybe his football buds.” She lifted up her hands. “But hey, I’ve been wrong before.” She looked over her shoulder at her friends. “I need to go sit down before I lose my seat.”
“Yeah, I need to find one before it’s standing room only.” I pointed up higher.
“I’d invite you to join us, but it’s pretty tight here. But hey, next time, right? My friends and I come to games ironically.” She quirked an eyebrow. “Meaning that we make fun of the players, the cheerleaders ... you know, the whole school spirit deal.”
If it wasn’t for Leo, I could see myself feeling the same way. “Sounds like fun. Thanks, Gia. See you Monday.”
I’d just started to move away when she called my name again. “Hey, Quinn, we’re going over to the diner after. If you want to come? I know you usually hang with Nate, so ...” She let her voice trail off, but somehow, being Gia, she didn’t make the invitation sound like a pity offer. I considered for a minute before I nodded.
“That sounds like fun. Meet you there?”
“Yep. We’ll save you a seat, and if you get there first, get a booth for four.”
I waved and began the climb again. There was a little space at the very top, just below the press box, and I murmured my excuses as I sidled in front of people and sat down.
Franklin Township wasn’t exactly Eatonboro’s arch rival, but they were a strong opponent, I knew. Township was a regional school, and a lot of the kids came from area farms. They were big guys, probably outweighing our boys by a good forty pounds each. I watched Matt Lampert on the sidelines, bouncing on the balls of his feet, helmet in his hand as he scanned the field where the opposition was taking their warm-up. His face was impassive, and I wondered if he got nervous before games. I knew Leo had a routine he stuck to every time they played. He was definitely superstitious about it.
As if I’d summoned him by my thoughts, Leo wandered into my line of vision, coming up to stand next to Matt. A rush of longing flooded through me, my eyes hungrily taking in his shoulders under the wide pads and the way they accented his narrow hips, his tight rear end ... God, I wished I’d taken the opportunity to cop a feel of that backside yesterday when I’d had the chance. The pants of his uniform clung to the muscles of his legs, and I remembered the feel of those legs pushing into mine yesterday, the touch of his hands all over me.
“Hey, Q! What’re you doing here?”
I swiveled on my seat just as Jake gripped my shoulder and squeezed. He was leaning out of the open window of the press box, grinning at me.
