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“You know what I like?” I asked.
“Why wouldn’t I?” Paxon actually seemed offended.
I smiled shyly. I didn’t realize he would know exactly how to make my burger. I wasn’t a picky eater, but it was nice to receive food made how I liked it. Like I was being cared for.
Slowly, I took a bite of the burger. It was simple and yet somehow it was one of the better burgers I’d ever eaten.
“You’re sweet,” I said to Paxon after I swallowed.
Paxon’s face went red. I bumped my shoulder into him playfully.
George got up with Calvin. “Going to take this little guy to the bathroom. Don’t embarrass my son too much while I’m gone. I don’t want to miss out on the fun.”
“Dad! You guys are mean.” Paxon huffed.
George laughed as he led Calvin toward the public restrooms. All the others came over to join us, plates of food in their hands, shirts a little sweaty, faces flushed.
“Is your face okay?” Toby asked.
I playfully glared at Seth. “I’m fine. Just feel betrayed.”
Seth managed to make an apologetic face. “Blame Paxon, not me.”
“Oh, no. This is all your fault. You didn’t protect me like you said you would.”
Seth suppressed his laughter. When my glare sharpened, he swallowed hard and decided eating his hotdog was a better idea. Smart man.
“Will anything bruise?” Bryan asked.
“No. It’ll be fine. It wasn’t that hard,” I mumbled, still feeling the soreness against my forehead.
“If you want, we can teach you how to use your head to hit balls, that way you don’t injure yourself in the future,” Toby said.
That got more chuckles around the table.
“Har, har,” I grumbled and shoved some chips into my mouth, using the crunchy sound to tune out their laughter.
“Paxon!” One of his teammates called out, coming over with some others. “I saw you talking to Mr. Garcia. Did he offer you a scholarship?”
They all settled at the picnic table next to us as they kept going on about soccer recruiters and who they thought they saw attending the games over the weekend. The longer they talked, more and more excited about prospective offers, the more Paxon looked uncomfortable.
I leaned into him. “Did you not tell them yet?” I asked.
He shook his head. “I only kept it between the coach and me. Didn’t want to add more problems. Things have already been tense because of Benji.”
At the mention of him, I glanced over, spotting Benji at the table on the other side, sitting quietly with a couple teammates. Benji’s eyes darkened when he caught me staring at him. I quickly looked away.
“You’re going to have to tell them,” I said.
Paxon gave me a slight nod, acknowledging that he heard me, but it didn’t seem like he was going to do it any time soon. Was he going to wait until after the state championships now that they were going to go there?
“So, what did he want?” one of his teammates pushed. I couldn’t remember his name, maybe Sebastian?
“Asking about my plans for college,” Paxon finally said. He sat straighter.
“Oh shit, did he offer you a scholarship? Is he recruiting you?”
“No,” Paxon said. His chest expanded as he took in a breath. I reached over and grabbed his forearm, giving him what little support I could. He seemed a bit paler, knowing this was probably going to upset his teammates. “I told him not to waste his breath, I have no intention of continuing with soccer after high school.”
