AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Chapter One
BEC
I pulled my scarf tighter around my neck and huddled down in my coat.
My eyes were on the field, but I only noticed one player. Conrad Florence, the star quarterback for the Storm Valley High Dragonflies, our high school gridiron team. Dark hair, dark eyes, body that made my pulse gallop.
Exactly the kind of guy who wouldn't look twice at a girl like me.
I sighed. Breath misted in front of my face.
"Whose idea was it to play football in the middle of fucking winter?" Grace asked.
My best friend since we started high school, we did pretty much everything together, including freeze our asses off on the bleachers. We even turned eighteen within weeks of each other.
I shrugged. "I suppose running around in all that padding in the middle of summer would suck."
Grace tried to snap her fingers, but her gloves muffled the sound. "I knew I forgot something. I should have bought a bunch of padding."
I laughed. "You could have cuddled up with that guy. What's his name?" He'd offered the moment we arrived at the game. At least—he’d called out from his car that he would keep her warm.
She made a fake gagging noise. "Jensen. He’s hot, but he’s such an asshole. According to Britney, he got into a fight in the car park because he thought Steel Pike parked too close to him. Which he probably did, on purpose. She and Jenny had to break it up, before Jensen punched Steel in the face. They both would have been thrown out of school. Dickheads."
I glanced over in time to see her roll her eyes. "They'd be warm."
"Bec! I can't imagine being so cold I'd want to cuddle up to either of those fuckboys. Where are the good, hot geeks?" She rubbed her hands up and down her arms.
"I think that might be an oxymoron." I was a geek and I was sure as shitnothot. Not in my eyes anyway.
"Are you suggesting my standards are too high?" Grace sniffed. "Y'know, I don't plan on changing anytime soon."
"You absolutely shouldn't," I said firmly. I was certainly in no position to judge.
I leaned down and scooped up a paper bag that was nestled against my left foot. I unfolded the top, pulled out a donut and handed the bag to Grace.
"Thanks." She pulled out the other donut.
I bit into the sugary goodness. Some people like hot dogs at the game. I liked donuts.
My pulse ramped up as Conrad caught the ball and started to run with it tucked under his arm. He dodged and weaved around the opposition, long legs pumping in time with my heart.
He probably didn't even know I was alive.
I swallowed quickly when Conrad, and the ball, reached the touchdown line. I couldn’t cheer with a mouthful of donut.
The crowd went crazy, cheering and shouting. Okay, I did. Gridiron had a smaller following in this part of Australia, than the other football codes, but we were passionate fans, not just of the quarterback. Mostly.
"Dragonflies score!" The voice crackled over the loudspeaker.
I put the donut down to clap and cheer. I didn't know much about football, but I knew he was good at it. I watched his easy walk back across the field and wondered what else he was good at. The thought made me swallow hard.
"Your boyfriend is playing well," Grace teased.
I almost choked on frigid air. "He's not my boyfriend." I picked up my donut and hid as much of my burning face behind it as I could. "He's just…"
"Your crush?" Grace grinned.
I lowered the donut. "Exactly. I’ll get over him. I might find some geeky guy in uni who likes the same things I do." I probably had nothing at all in common with Conrad Florence. Not one thing, except for going to the same high school. That didn't make us soulmate material.
