Page 2 of Wallflower

Dare mirrored my position. "I don't think I've ever been asked to leave so nicely before. That brush off was beautiful, flower. I'll have to use it sometime."

Gah. Was he for real?

"So, who are we waiting for?" he asked.

"Wearen't doing anything," I said, getting a little nervous now as more players filed past us, saying bye to Dare, doing that chin lift guys do. Where was Ty? I thought. I needed to do this before I lost my nerve.

"If you're looking for your dad, Coach won't be out for a while."

"I know that." I shot Dare a look. "He always leaves last."

And I hoped he wouldn't decide to change up his routine today of all days. Having my dad witness my confession would be almost as bad as having the school's golden boy standing here—refusing to leave.

"Seriously, would you just go?" I shifted my weight from one foot to the other, feeling Dare's eyes on me the whole time. A few guys from the team walked by, but none of them was Ty. "I'm here on important personal business."

"Hmm, sounds serious," Dare said.

"It is," I agreed.

"In that case, I think I'd better stay."

I had opened my mouth to say something—what, I didn't know—but then Tyson, my long-awaited crush, finally exited the locker room.

"Hey, D," he called out with a grin that made my breath catch, his steps eating up the space between us. Tyson was like a tall glass of water, his blond hair still wet from the showers, his light golden eyes shining like the sun. When he and Dare stood next to each other, looking like day and night, I felt the need to look away so as not to be blinded. They were that pretty. "What's up?"

"Nothing much," Dare said back.

"You need me for something? Most of the team's gone already." Looking my way for the first time, Ty nodded. "How's it going, Viola?"

A blush rose to my cheeks as I cleared my throat. "Going okay, and you?"

"No complaints," he said and shot me a wink. I swear I nearly died on the spot.

"Oh well, that's good," I murmured.

Dare coughed.

"So, what were you guys doing before I got here?" Ty asked.

"Vi was telling me about some important personal business she has going."

I shot Dare a dark glance, but he just smiled.

Tyson looked between the two of us. "Oh really? I didn't know you were close." He elbowed Dare. "Hanging out with the coach's daughter now, huh? Careful there, D. Wouldn't want to get on Coach Kent's bad side."

"Nah, it's cool," Dare said. "She was waiting on someone, but it wasn't me."

"Oh yeah?"

Dare nodded as my face flamed red. "She'd just asked me to leave actually."

"More than once," I said through gritted teeth, but that only seemed to amuse him.

A group of cheerleaders passed by then, wearing short shorts and crop tops, saying hi to Tyson and Dare while completely ignoring me—which was to be expected. Just because some of us had been friends in elementary school didn't mean we were friends now. But it didn't bother me. That felt like a lifetime ago.

Whitney Moorehouse and Ingrid Pinsky tried to hide it, but I noticed they kept throwing glances over their shoulders, probably wondering what I was doing with the school's #1 bromance. Case in point…

"You need a lift?" Tyson asked Dare after the girls were gone. "I didn't see your car in the lot, heard about the latest fender bender. Was your dad mad?"

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