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Chapter 14
Sierra
My heart galloped inmy chest as I stood hidden in the doorway of my bedroom. The sound of a car engine roaring up our driveway—actually it was a truck—had woken me, followed by a sharp, edgy rap on the front door, the knock of someone demanding to enter.
That’s when my senses returned, my memory. I’d left Cullen alone on the couch last night, his rhythmic breathing alerting me to the fact that he’d fallen asleep while I was in his arms. I’d managed to slip out of his hold without waking him, and I’d settled a pillow under his head and covered him with a fleecy blanket.
I knew he’d been exhausted, but he never admitted it, trying to keep the conversation going. Not that I’d been worried about him talking. Being wrapped in his arms, feeling his heart beating against my ear, that was enough.
It had been the best day of my life, even before Cullen came over for the hot tub. Beating Fieldcrest was an amazing feat and to make an appearance in the state championship final was what the team had been working toward. It was the most awesome thing, that is, until Cullen came over.
He shouldn’t have come over, he was supposed to be at home recovering. But he said he couldn’t resist, that hehadto deliver me marshmallows. That had made my heart swell. And when he said that my kiss wasn’t a mistake, that he’d wanted to kiss me back, butterflies swarmed inside, almost choking me. So many of them fluttering and twirling and twisting my stomach in knots. I could barely breathe, so it was just as well that he kissed me, shared his air with me, kept me alive when I was in a fluster, my world spinning out of control, but in the best way ever.
But now there was Dad’s voice, followed by that of Coach Mercer’s, followed by footsteps on the tiled floor. I strained to hear, no noise coming from Sawyer’s room.
The sliding door of the den was pushed open, then I heard the parting of the curtains.
“Just wanted to check where he was,” Coach Mercer’s voice was loud, but decidedly restrained. I’d heard it in its angriest state before.
“Abe, can I get you a coffee?” Dad said.
I couldn’t hide a second longer, I had to know what was going on. I threw on my Green Bay Packers hoodie over my pajamas and padded down the hallway in my bare feet.
“No, no, thanks. I’ll get him home. Sorry to interrupt so early.” That was the serious, no-nonsense voice of Coach, the one that made the team jump to attention.
“Oh, don’t worry about that,” Dad said, just as I reached the door to see Cullen, his hair floppy and mussed, trying to fold up the zebra print blanket. “I can do that.” Cullen continued anyway, his folds all uneven.
“Hi Coach,” I said brightly.
Coach gave a tight smile and nodded, his eyes peeled on Cullen who was placing the blanket on the couch as neatly as he could. “Good morning, Sierra, a bit of a party happen here?”
“No, sir,” I said, even though the pizza boxes, soda cans, hot chocolate cups and candy wrappers indicated otherwise. “We just had a quiet night on the couch,” I said, “watching movies.”
Cullen glanced up from under his eyelashes as he slipped his feet into his slides. He looked shy and nervous and nothing like the boy who had led the Chargers to their first state final appearance. Dad gathered up the pizza boxes, revealing Cullen’s keys under the lid.
“Sorry Mr. Huntington,” Cullen said as he picked them up and tried to tidy the table.
