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“Want to know what I do when I’m in a bad mood?” he asked suddenly, turning toward me.
I was pretty sure he’d caught me staring at him. My cheeks burned and I tried to maintain a neutral expression. “What?”
“Go get Coach Morgan’s chewing gum.” He grinned excitedly, his eyes taking in my face. “He can’t run practice without it. It’s like his brain doesn’t work unless he’s chewing Big League Chew. He’s nearly out of it now. Want to make a run with me?”
I pulled back my head and smirked. “Gum? What’s so fun about gum?”
“Nothing.” He shot out of his chair, cradling his water bottle in his left arm, and offered me his free hand. “But the Pump N’ Go is the only place in town that sells it and Coach lets us drive the Gator. It’s better than therapy. And easy on the ankles, too. Trust me.”
The imaginary string was back, tugging me toward Jayden’s outstretched hand. Against my better judgment, I slowly reached up and closed my hand around his, fighting against the delicious shiver that shot down my spine.
“Fine.” I let him help me up out of my chair, then promptly dropped his hand. That was enough flesh-on-flesh contact for one day. “It can’t be any worse than hanging around in this spider-infested room.”
A teasing glint entered his eyes. “Gee, thanks. You sure know how to make a guy feel good about himself.”
I covered my mouth with my hand and held in a giggle. Already, I could feel myself starting to come out of this depression. Jayden was pretty good at this.
He led me down the stairs and toward the little green two-seater vehicle parked near the dugout. Coach Morgan drove the Gator in every day from home. It had bright yellow seats and a small bed for hauling equipment. All Jayden had to do was jog over to Coach Morgan, who was currently critiquing the players on their swinging techniques, mouth something to him, and Coach produced the keys from his jean pockets.
I crossed my arms over my stomach as Jayden came running back toward me with a victorious smile. A voice inside of me demanded to know what I was doing. Going off on some adventure with the guy that I constantly clashed with probably wasn’t going to end up well. And it definitely wasn’t going to help with Audrey’s accusations that somewhere deep inside I liked him. But I couldn’t stop myself. And when he jangled the keys in front of me, I slid willingly into the passenger seat of the Gator.
“Let the gum run commence,” I said.
He dropped into the driver’s seat, started the engine, and grinned at me from beneath his baseball cap. “Got to love the sound of a motor running.”
“Tell me you have a license for this thing.” I eyed him suspiciously. “Or that you passed your driver’s test in the first place.”
“Nah,” he said, holding back a grin. “Just warn me if you see any cops and we’ll be okay. Hold on tight.”
I groaned and he put the Gator into drive, shooting us forward through the grass. My hands held deathly tight onto the bar next to my seat as we went over a large bump. The sudden sensation of weightlessness made my stomach drop. I wasn’t sure if I liked it, but by the time Jayden took the next hill, I couldn’t hold back my smile. And on the third dip, I threw my hands up as if we were in a roller coaster.
“See?” Jayden yelled, the wind swallowing up most of his voice. “Told you that it would help.”
I inhaled the breeze washing over us and tilted my head back. “You were right! I needed this.”
When I looked over at him again, I found him watching me with a small smile on his lips. A spark of electricity went off in my gut, adding to the sensations of the Gator rolling down the hill. Jayden immediately turned his attention back to the grass, his neck reddening.
Nope. Those kinds of feelings weren’t allowed when it came to Jayden. Period.
Determined to quash any further accidental sparks, I kept my eyes glued straight ahead until we pulled up at the gas station and Jayden turned off the engine.
“Three packs of Big League Chew get him through a week of practice,” he said, jumping out of the Gator. “Four gets him through a game.”
I slid out of my seat and laughed. “Sounds like we’ve got a real addict on our hands.”
Jayden froze, his lips pressed together in a line. He stared at the ground, his cheeks flushing. “No, it’s just a distraction for him. And he could quit anytime. A real addict doesn’t let anything get between him and his addiction.”
My lungs deflated, pushing the air out of my chest. These serious moments with Jayden were catching me so off guard. I wasn’t sure how to respond. But Jayden didn’t seem to be expecting any type of reply. He shot me a quick smile and then tilted his head toward the gas station.
“Ready to go in?”
I nodded and followed him. We loaded up on the chewing gum, plus various flavors of sunflower seeds. Jayden bought me a sparkling water after he found me gazing into the soda coolers, insisting that it didn’t count against his man card qualifications. And when we got back to the Gator, our arms were full of goodies.
“All right, I’m officially past the Adele hormonal phase,” I said, dropping the bags into the bed of the Gator. “Got anything in that bag of yours to heal a sprained ankle? If so, you’ve just solved all of my problems in one trip.”
Jayden’s eyebrows raised. He reached into the Gator to grab his water bottle and held it out for me. “Actually, try this. It might help.”
I took it from his hand, eyeing him suspiciously. Did he have some kind of miracle water in there? Or was this some kind of prank? Unscrewing the lid, I put it to my lips and tilted my head back. The first swallow went down my throat like a glob of glue. I sealed my lips together and tried not to spit out the second mouthful until I could force myself to swallow it.
