Page 26 of Game On
He pockets his pen. “She and Sammy are close.”
“Your girlfriend?”
He wrinkles his nose. “Oh, she’s not my—we’re not …”
“Together?” I finish for him, a smirk playing on my lips now.
He shifts awkwardly. “Right.”
“Because the cheerleaders are supposed to be off-limits?” I ask, and this time it’s more out of curiosity than a need to serve him a taste of his own medicine. “Or because of Claire?”
That history is the sort of tangled web that makes you glad it’s theirs, not yours. They grew up together, their families as close as could be in a town where everyone’s business is public knowledge.
When they both got into Whitland, it wasn’t a surprise; they were a package deal, after all. But something shiftedfreshman year. Claire started to distance herself, her demeanor cooling until she was more ice queen than friend. Not just because of her position on the squad, but because of something he did—something neither of them ever talks about. A secret that hangs between them, unspoken but impossible to ignore.
Now, they’re like ships passing in the night—occasionally spending time together out of necessity or for old times’ sake. Levi masks it well, but I’ve seen the way he looks at her even now, with a mix of nostalgia and something sharper. Something like regret.
“Okay, now you’re just throwing out names for no reason.” He shakes his head, an attempt to mask how flustered he is. “Do you want to come with us or not? We’re going to Sarabha’s for ice cream.”
“Fuck, fine.” That’s a deal I simply can’t pass up. “But you’re buying.”
He places a hand over his heart. “Oh, you know I’d love nothing more.”
Sarabha’s is packed when we arrive, Whitland students crowding the counter as they order their mango milkshakes and double scoops of chai spice. Levi cranes his neck, scanning the room until his face lights up.
“There they are,” he says, grabbing my arm and pulling me along.
I spot the group tucked into a couch along the far wall—Gabi, Sam, and sure enough, Ella. She’s mid-laugh, head tipped back, a radiant smile on her face. Something in mychest twists at the sight. Her hair is loose today, falling in gentle waves over her shoulders.
But her laughter fades as her gaze lands on me. A flicker of annoyance crosses her features, and then she schools them, smoothing over all the crinkles and lines I seem to have created.
Levi drags me over, oblivious as always. “Hey! Fancy seeing you here.”
Gabi rolls her eyes affectionately. “Youinvited us.”
“Nah,” he says, waving her off, “pretty sure it was the other way around.”
Sammy shuffles down the couch to create some space. We pause for a moment, trying to figure out how to arrange ourselves comfortably. Levi manages to squeeze onto the couch himself, leaving no more room for me. I quickly grab a chair from another table and settle into it.
“Tell us about camp?” Levi asks.
The girls launch into a quick recap of the highlights. They toss around terms that would lose most people, but I’m following along just fine. I understand the lingo more than they realize.
Despite the fact that I’m tracking, catching the nuances of their conversation, my attention keeps drifting back to Ella. The way she gestures animatedly with her hands, the excitement sparking in her eyes. She has a smudge of something chocolate on her cheek, and I kind of like the way she looks when she’s all frazzled.
It’s how she was the night she came up to me at Sidetrack, and what drew me to her in the first place. Sexy but a littleunpolished. Confident but slightly chaotic. A woman who captivated me with the first brash words out of her mouth.
A nudge from Levi jerks me out of my daydream and into the present. “Dude, what do you want?”
I blink as everyone’s expectant faces turn to me. “Oh, uh, butterscotch,” I say. “Cup, not cone.”
Levi raises an eyebrow but heads to the counter without comment. An awkward silence settles over the table in his absence.
Ella clears her throat, shifting in her seat. “So, how’s training going? You must be gearing up for the season now, right?”
“Yep, two-a-days started last week,” I say. “Lots of conditioning and drills to get through before we run plays.”
“I bet you’re excited to get back on the field,” she replies.
