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Connor laughed, but he did let go enough to swipe up my hand and press a kiss to my knuckles. The action was so tender, so sudden, that my pulse surged in surprise. It took the humor out of this moment and swept it away, replacing the amusement with something that felt a lot more charged. “Are we the real deal?”
“As real as it comes.” I rose up onto my tip-toes and pressed my mouth against his. His lips were just as soft as they’d been for our first kiss, just as firm and toe-curling. I traced my hand down the material of his jersey, basking in the way he touched me, the way that I was now allowed to touch him.
The kiss deepened to the point where I nearly cast my flowers to the side when a voice cut in. “Hey!”
Connor and I sprang apart to find Madison standing at the opening of the bleachers we’d ducked under. She was back in her A-line skirt, her hands on her hips. “As sweet as you two are, the game’s about to start, Connor, and unless you want Coach to bench you for the rest of homecoming, you should probably get out there.”
A burst of alarm crossed Connor’s features, like he’d forgotten about the game entirely.
Madison raised her eyebrows at him. “And you should brace yourself, because your buddies are going to tease you for such dramatic PDA.”
“I don’t care,” Connor replied easily, smiling. “I only care about what one person thinks.”
“And I’ll tease you about it tomorrow,” I promised, fighting the urge to reach back out for him. “Go, though. We’ll talk more after.”
“After youwin,” Madison added, smirking.
Connor lingered on me for another moment, staring until I waved him on with a chuckle. Without another word, he ducked out from underneath the bleachers, leaving me and the co-captain alone. I wanted to follow after him, half worrying that Madison would burst my happy bubble, but I had to know. “How’s Jade?”
“Pissed,” she said, but her voice came off amused. “But I think she realizes that she lost the game she was playing. Or maybe she realized that she was the only player.”
It wasn’t exactly the stance I was expecting from Madison, and I definitely hadn’t been expecting the smile. “Did you help him?”
She reached up and tugged on the end of her ponytail. “He came to me and said that he wanted to go public with you. I helped him brainstorm ideas.”
I raised my eyebrows. “And you thought asking during the homecoming game was fitting?”
“It was the most public way he could say he cared about you.” She laughed, as if knowing it was totally opposite of me. “You have to admit, it was perfect.”
Quite honestly, if I were to take the bit of embarrassment away, itwaskind of perfect. It left no room to doubt Connor’s feelings. The one way to be sure. “Why, though? Why help him? I thought you said you’d be the first to say ‘I told you so.’”
Madison took a step closer, even though her hesitation was clear. With the way she was looking at me—nostalgia mixed with something else, something like remorse—it threw me back to the time when things had been drastically different. “I know it doesn’t make up for freshman year, but I wanted to be a part of something that made you happy. I could make a million excuses, but…you didn’t deserve what I did to you back then.”
“We don’t have to talk about it now.” It was a conversation I wanted to have, for sure, but another part of me wanted to keep tonight as it was. On a happy note. I wasn’t sure if we could ever go back to the way things were before—the rift between us seemed too big—but I was open to talking things out. “Not on homecoming. We can talk later.”
Her expression was a bit uncertain, but she nodded. “Are you excited for the dance tomorrow?”
“I don’t even have a dress,” I said with a chuckle. These past few weeks had gone by in a whirlwind, and even though I’d planned to go with Alex, we never got around to coordinating. I didn’t even think I had anything in my wardrobe that would work.
“You can come look at my closet, if you want,” Madison offered softly. “We used to swap clothes all the time, do you remember that? I’m sure I have a dress that would look good.”
Wistfulness stirred in her gaze. I could see myself reflected in her eyes, could see the history stretching out between us. Looking at her now, the anger I’d always felt was absent. Maybe it was because she helped Connor. Maybe it was because for the first time, she chose me over Jade. Maybe it was because I was on cloud nine.
But right in that moment, when she waved the white flag, I found myself accepting it. “I’d love that.”
Even though our paths diverged back in freshman year, there’d always be the years before that I couldn’t erase. The years where we were each other’s best friend. The years we planned out our weddings and watched movies and put up posters on our walls. And even if I could erase them, for the first time, I wasn’t sure that I would’ve.
Can someone say SWOON?! Friday night, at the homecoming game of the century, Brentwood High’s very own Connor Bray stepped out into the limelight with his new leading lady—and can I just say, as that leading lady’s BFF, EEEEK!
Wait, you live under a rock, didn’t go to the homecoming game, and don’t believe me? Shame on you! But here are pics to prove it ;)
#TEAMCONSIE4EVAH
“Oh my gosh, who sent in the photo of us underneath the bleachers?” I demanded as I scrolled through the photos on Brentwood Babble, my jaw dropping. Someone had snapped a picture of the moment we hugged, getting a great shot of my back and Connor’s content, closed-eyed expression. “How did they know we were even under there?”
“People are sneaky,” Ava said, sitting on Jozie’s bed. Her white dress eventuated her pink hair perfectly, which was braided over her shoulder. “Are you almost done?”
“Putting on the finishing touches,” Rachel said, swiping her eyeshadow brush once more across Ava’s lids. Rachel’s dress was a long-sleeved red one, filled with sequins. “Besides, Maisie, you got to admit—some of those photos are adorable.”
