Page 21 of Not that Impressed
“You too.”
Grayson nods to Libby, standing next to me and staring at him with stars in her eyes. I swear, if I had a dollar for every time she developed a crush on a football player that’s too old for her, I’d be richer than my dad.
“This must be your famous little sister?”
She lets out a smalleep, and I give her a look that I hope conveys which of us is being the embarrassing one.
“Yes,” I say to Grayson, both of us sharing knowing smiles. “This is Libby.”
“Nice to meet you.” He extends his hand to her.
I’m surprised she’s not a puddle on the floor. She takes it and holds on to it so long he has to gently extract his hand with an awkward smile. I turn to her with wide eyes.Chill, I mouth.
She shrugs and mouths back,What?
Isla joins us, her eyes laughing as she glances between me and Libby, and then she hugs me.
“What is Colin doing here?” I whisper.
“Stop it,” she whispers back. “He’s not that bad, and he got me like a hundred thousand followers just for coming to my launch.”
I can’t point out that I’d gladly help her get twice that without having to kiss up to Colin since she’s pulled away and he’s still hovering uncomfortably close.
“Want something to eat?” Grayson asks, tilting his head toward a table filled with food.
I give Isla a look since there’s something to her inviting Grayson to her box and then telling me to come hang out, but even though we’re good friends, we don’t have the same kind of silent communication skills as me and Janelle. She stares back blankly. Oh well, I’ll talk to her about it later. Yes, I want to get to know him better, but I don’t need her to matchmake.
“Thank you,” I say under my breath as I follow Grayson toward the food table.
“He’s weird,” Grayson replies, widening his eyes, and I laugh. It doesn’t take hanging out with Colin very long to come to this conclusion. He even looks fake, with his hair always meticulously combed and never a hair out of place, and his beard and mustache so precise that I swear he must trim them twice a day. Then there’s the fact that he never stops talking about his mentor, Kathy Burgess, who’s big in thefitness world, but his hero worship of her borders on inappropriate.
Libby follows as we grab some sandwiches and move toward the front of the box where we can see the game (and avoid Colin). She sits on my other side and, thankfully, calms down, though she looks over at Grayson every few seconds.
The Pumas are on defense. I ignore the spark of awareness when I pick out Will right off, crouched behind the defensive line as the Rays offense gets in formation. Maybe it’s because I’ve always seen him around Charlie, and both of them are big guys, well over six foot and easily two-hundred and fifty pounds, that it only now strikes me how huge he looks down on the field.
The Rays center snaps, and Will darts in between the offensive line so fast even I’m surprised at how quickly he gets to Eli Dash, the Rays quarterback. Dash is down before half the offensive line has even realized Will got through.
I watch him as he marches away. He doesn’t do the celebratory crouch walk that a lot of guys do after good plays. He slaps his chest with one hand and shakes his head at Charlie, who’s jumping around him and hitting him on the helmet.
“Does that hurt?” I ask without thinking. “When guys slap you on the helmet like that?” Grayson cringes and I realize who I’m talking to. “Oh, sorry. I bet it’s frustrating to be up here when you should be down there,” I add on.
“It’s fine. I’m here putting myself through the torture, right?” He forces a smile.
“And whyareyou putting yourself through the torture?”
“I love football.” He shrugs, his expression sayingI can’t help myself.
I reach over and squeeze his arm, still feeling bad for him. He’s right. He came to the game. He’s gotta expect people to talk about it around him, but that doesn’t mean it’s easy.
“You’re being so obvious,” Libby leans over and whispers.
“Me?” I whisper back. “I’mbeing obvious?”
She rolls her eyes and mouths,Wow.
“It’s not that bad. Getting hit on the helmet,” Grayson says. “Usually you’re pretty hyped anyway. You don’t notice.”
Libby pops up out of her chair, startling both me and Grayson. “Kat says that Logan Knox is here. She can see her in a box with Gabriella Duncan. Logan istotallydating Rory Beckham.” She bounces in her excitement. Rory is a tight end on the Pumas and there are rumors swirling that he’s dating pop star Logan Knox.
