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“What else would it be on a Saturday?”
Dad frowned.
“Well, it’s not,” I said through gritted teeth.
“How come you’re not going with Scarlett?”
What the heck? Was she trying to grate on my nerves? Or maybe this was payment for missing her game. “Who said I’m not?”
Sara shrugged and skipped toward the house while I stared holes through the back of her skull. With a sigh, I glanced back up at Dad, noting the concern in his eye, and I couldn’t lie to him. “It’s a water polo match, but I wasn’t lying when I said it was for a school project.”
After all, itwaskind of a social experiment.
“Isn’t Topher on the water polo team?” His shrewd eyes squinted down at me as if he already knew the answer, and I wished he was a little less observant.
“Yes,” I drawled, wondering where this was going.
He nodded and rapped the side of my car with his palm before he said, “Okay, then. Just . . . be careful, and we’ll see you later.”
I nodded, then pulled out of the driveway.
Ten minutes later, I was at Topher’s game, albeit a little late, but I’d actually made it. Kudos to me for having the guts to show in the first place.
I managed to find a spot on the bleachers. With wooden legs, I headed toward the empty seats. Each step up the metal stairs took a monumental effort. Any second, Topher would glance up and spot me in my red tank top and jeans and put two-and-two together. And then . . . the rest was up to him. But my heart pumped wildly inside my chest at the thought.
I ignored the stares of several classmates as I sank down onto the metal bench. Gabby’s gaze, in particular, burned hot on my back. Or maybe it was the bright lights making me sweat. It was hard to tell. All I knew was the sweat beading my brow was due to more than the humidity.
The water glistened, ice blue, and as the minutes slipped by without Topher noticing my arrival, I relaxed. Sinking further into the bleachers, the muscles in my aching back loosened, and I found myself watching the game with rapt interest.
Topher led the Lakers through the first quarter of the game. Even from the stands, I could tell he was captain. He held himself with confidence. Straight back. Strong arms wielding the ball through the water, which glistened off lean muscle as he blocked a shot by his opponent, then stole the ball. The players turned course and swam toward the other net where Topher dropped the ball out in front of him, his face a mask of concentration as he picked it back up. The whistle blew and I glanced around me, confused when I heard someone murmur something about a foul. I’d barely focused back on the water when Topher shot the ball to Mikey who returned it right back, only for Topher to shoot it into the goal and score.
The crowd roared, and I found myself shouting along with them. Somewhere behind me, a parent rang a cowbell. Arms raised, hands in the air, my belly squeezed with excitement as the game picked back up and I started to get a feel for the rules. It was like soccer on water, except you used only one hand and couldn’t touch the ground. It took endurance, agility, strength, and speed. No small feat. And watching Topher so gracefully conquer all of these things gave me a whole new level of respect for him.
I sat back down with a grin I couldn’t hide and watched as the rest of the quarter played out. When the buzzer rang, I glanced at the scoreboard to see Lakeview was winning, three to zero.
Topher and some of the other players pulled themselves up and out of the water as a two-minute quarter break was added to the clock. Even from here, I could see the rise and fall of his chest as he caught his breath and took a long pull of a sports drink.
Then his eyes drifted to the bleachers and my heart stopped.
My chest ached as he searched the faces around me. He did a double-take and knocked my heart back to life behind my ribs. Something resembling a smile ghosted across his lips as he nodded in acknowledgement, but I couldn’t be sure because, as his blue eyes flickered over the fans one last time, and the complete and utter disappointment registering across his face was apparent. Even from where I sat.
The whistle blew, and his face transformed into something fierce before he joined his teammates back in the water, and I admonished myself for being upset. Of course he didn’t realize I was Julie. After all, he had invited both of us. He probably just thought I changed my mind, and as for the clothes? Coincidence.
If he even noticed.
The rest of the game passed quickly. Probably because my anxiety was a ten on the Richter scale. Any stronger, and the cement would crack beneath my feet.
By the time the final buzzer sounded, I’d regained my composure enough to greet Topher with a smile when he approached me.
I tried not to stare as he ran a towel over his damp hair, then slung it over his shoulders. Droplets of water clung to his toned chest, glistening in the sun like diamonds, and I found it completely unfair how unabashed he was standing there in front of me like he wasn’t half-naked.
Again, his eyes flickered to the crowd behind me and his shoulders hunched. A heavy sigh escaped his lips before he offered me a smile. “Hey, P. I thought you said you couldn’t make it?”
“Oh, yeah. I um . . . had a change of plans.”
He hummed out a response, but his eyes drifted again.
“Are you looking for someone?”
