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Jordan grabbed at me but I shoved him back.
“Boys!” Coach yelled. “Do we have a problem?”
We didn’t need a problem. I was on scholarship and needed to keep in his good graces. “No,” I said.
King didn’t respond, his eyes told me he didn’t want to let this go, and wouldn’t. Jordan ushered me out of the door before I had a chance to continue with what I wanted to do, pound King’s face into the cement of the locker room.
“Dude,” Jordan said. “Chill.”
I sighed, rubbing gently at my face, trying to erase the day away. We walked in silence through the aftermath of the game and parents waiting in the parking lot. Jordan waved when he noticed his truck, and I walked the opposite way toward mine.
My pickup came into view and so did Josie and India. Josie sat on the opened tailgate, legs swinging while India performed some kind of dance that made Josie laugh.
Her dark eyes met mine over India’s shoulder and she smiled. The red midriff she wore stopped at the top of her high-waist jean shorts. I love the contrast of her white shoes, her bright top, and her skin tone. I’d always loved how red looked on her.
India followed her gaze. She’d dyed her hair blue this time, some kind of bright pink Japanese wrap niched against her waist and she wore dark blue jeans underneath it. “Look-a-here,” India said, waggling her brows. “Josie hasn’t stopped talking about you tonight.”
Josie gave her a deadpan look. “Hey,” she said shyly.
India chuckled. “I’ll text you.”
I waited until India was out of hearing distance before entrapping Josie against the tailgate, between my arms, and kissing her. She interlaced her fingers into the nape of my sweaty hair.
“I always envied the girls that got to run out to their boyfriends on the field after games in high school,” she said. “But now, I’m not so sure. You need a shower.”
I laughed. The first real one all day. Grabbing her around the waist, I walked her to my truck and tossed her into the passenger side. She yelped but smiled when I crawled into the driver’s side.
A look of excitement flashed across her face as she climbed over to straddle me.This is new.Josie didn’t take charge, I always did, not to complain, or anything.
Nervously, she braced her palms against my chest. She seemed to think about something and whisper to herself before kissing me. I sank my fingers around the curve of her bottom and pulled her closer to me.
She bit my bottom lip and ground against my lap. When she pulled back, I asked, “What is this?” I chuckled. “Not to complain, but what’s going on? You just said I smelled bad, now you’re doing this to me in the parking lot?”
A dust of red pinched her cheeks. “I thought I’d try something. You always make the first move, and I—I didn’t know what to do, so I read some romance novel before the game. I’m not so sure I’m as ballsy as the girl in this book is though. She was … she was intense. I’m just … I’m just Josie, I’m afraid.”
The image of Josie reading some romance novel to get ideas made me laugh. “Well,” I whispered. “I don’t need you to be some intense, move-making, erotic romance girl, I need you to bejust Josie. So you’re in luck,” I said, kissing her.
A soft sigh melted from her mouth and into mine. “Let’s go home. We can watch a movie.”
“You don’t want to go to the party?” she asked.
“No,” I said. “I want to spend the night with you. I’ve had a long day.”
She crawled off my lap while I started my engine and began home. “How did counseling go today?”
I felt my body tense involuntarily. “I don’t want to talk about it.”
Josie interlaced her fingers in her lap. “Okay. That’s okay. But do you feel better?”
I craned my neck, hearing a crack before turning down the road toward our apartment building. “I—ask me tomorrow.”
Josie took the hint and we rode in silence back toward our apartment. I let her choose a movie while I showered, not caring what we watched, but wanting to feel close to her today. After my confrontation with King, I almost felt guilty.Did I guilt Josie into feelings for me?
By the second hour of the movie, and Frankie promising he wasn’t coming back into the living room anymore for the night, I tapped Josie’s forearm. She’d laid down in front of me, my arm wrapped around her body.
“Hmm?” she asked.
“Did I guilt you into feelings for me?”
