Page 41 of The Other Side of Together

She grabs my arm, squeezing and bringing me back into the moment with her. “It’s like you two just had some silent conversation while the entire stadium watched. Including his dad.”

My smile plunges. “Did he look at me?”

“Yes. Everyone did. I don’t know if they knew it was you, exactly, but who else would it be?” She motions toward the dog, then the old man, staring at me before shaking her head and patting my shoulder. “It’s probably fine. There’s no way he knows about you two. I’m sure he’s got too many distractions to think anything’s going on.”

I shoot a quick glance at Detective Miller who’s on his feet, cheering Marcus’s name, and I let go of the breath hiding in my throat. But then he turns his head, and his eyes meet mine. He looks confused but smiles and steps across the aisle toward us.

“Hey, Mei Li. Lin. What are you doing here? I thought you two went to Central.”

My stomach burrows deeper inside me and I swallow thick fear. “Oh…hi. Yeah, I just have a friend playing in the game.”

“Ah, well…sure hope he’s a Bulldog because they’re gonna cream Lowell.”

“You know it.” The words tumble from my mouth, clumsy and heavy, but I plaster a smile on my face and Detective Miller chuckles, then steps back to his seat.

Lin slowly leans close and whispers, “Your ‘friend’ is definitely a Bulldog. I only wish he had four of those legs.” She fans herself. “But joke’s on Detective Dad, I guess. Honestly, I’d be more terrified of those girls down there finding out about you two.”

When the game ends in a victory as predicted, the crowd slowly funnels out of the stadium to the sound of girl shrieks and laughter. Lin and I stay seated, watching Detective Miller meet Marcus on the field with a back-slapping bear hug. He lifts Marcus off his feet, and they laugh, Marcus shaking his head. Then Detective Miller punches Marcus’s arm and turns, blending in with the leaving crowd, no glance in my direction.

The brunette and her friends stroll toward Marcus who smiles and talks to them for a few seconds before his eyes slip beyond them to me, still in the bleachers. The brunette keeps talking, and he laughs but catches my eye, raising his eyebrows, then waves at the girls when they walk away. He jogs to the bench, grabs his bags, and pulls out his phone. Two seconds later, a text pings:

Marcus: Meet me at the south entrance in 5? I’ll be the sweaty one.

My eyes meet Lin’s which are staring intently at me, waiting, so I stand and grab her hand, pulling her to her feet. “Ready to meet Marcus Miller?”

“Oh. My. Gosh.” Lin says under her breath, watching Marcus throw his bag over his shoulder and walk toward the locker room. “I’ve never been more ready.”

We move down the steps and out of the stadium, rounding to the south parking lot, and a few minutes later, Marcus jogs toward us.

“Sorry to make you wait.” His eyes move from me to Lin, back to me, streaking the air with blue. “You totally made my day.”

I smile and glance at my feet because my eyes are reaching for him, but Lin steps between us.

“Hey…I’m Lin. Mei Li’s very best friend. Also your neighbor.” She does an exaggerated bow and Marcus laughs, bowing in response. She cackles as she straightens and holds up her hand. “Wow. Okay. Approval granted.”

Marcus raises his eyebrows while he laughs, glancing at me, then back to Lin. “Didn’t know I had to get that but I’m completely relieved to have it for…whatever.” He smiles at her and her face lights up. “Think I’ve seen you around, so hey, neighbor. I’m Marcus.”

“Oh, I know. Anyone who’s female knows.” She tilts her head. “But anyway, Magic Miller…” She glances at me. “Mei Li and I were just about to head home so…want to join us? Or do you have to sign autographs? Press conference?”

I want to clamp my hand over her mouth; he probably has somewhere to be with the other people—the real people in his real life. I break in. “It’s okay. You probably have plans. We just came to say hi so…”

He smiles down at me, shifts the bags on his shoulder. “Nothing important going on so…I’ll head home with you.” His eyes grab mine and hold on. “Let’s takethe long way.”

“Well, I’m headed this way.” Lin hugs me. “Call me later with every detail,” she says in my ear, then turns to Marcus. “Nice to meet you, kind sir.” She tips an imaginary hat and skips down the street toward her apartment building.

Marcus watches her, smiling and shaking his head. “Wow. That’s a lot of energy in one small person.” He glances down at his phone in his hand and texts someone before shoving it in his bag and wiggling his fingers. “Empty hands. Just in case they want to wander toward yours. Or yours toward mine. Just…whatever…”

I smile as his pinkie catches mine, then his other fingers weave into place.

“So.” He looks down at me, his eyes roaming my face as we walk toward the crosswalk. “Nothing better to do than watch soccer tonight, I guess?”

“It’s what girls whose favorite number is eight do. Turns out there are a lot of us.” We turn the corner, and he smiles into the purple haze.

“Good thing there’s only one girl #8 secretly/not-so-secretly wanted there.”

My cheeks ache from smiling as we cross the street, ecstatic except for the sliver of my brain that wonders how safe PDA is right now. “Should we go to our separate sides of the street?”

Marcus stops, looks down at me, then up the street and shakes his head. “I mean, yeah…we probably should but…I don’t want to.” His face is outlined by the lights, his cheeks splotched orange and pink from neon signs. “I’m kinda tired of doing things I don’t wanna do, so I’m not letting go of your hand.”

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