Page 11 of Quarterback Crush
He narrowed his eyes and teased, “Really? That’s cool.”
“You can come and see if you like,” I blurted out, not thinking about how shocked Mom would be to know Oliver Blackwell had brought me home.
“Some other time?” Oliver said smoothly. “Gotta get home.”
“Of course,” I said, a wave of dejection washing over me. I needed to tamp my enthusiasm. I was acting too eager, forgetting that this wasn’t a real relationship. I was his fake girlfriend, just an act to keep Savannah away from him. I unbuckled my seat belt and opened the car door. “Thanks for the ride.”
“Sure,” Oliver said, but as I was getting out, he reached out, grabbing hold of my arm. A warm tingly rush spread through me. “Hey, I appreciate you doing this, you know.”
I smiled tightly and forced a bubbly reply, “You’re welcome.” I closed the door and stood at the curb watching and fluttering a wave as he drove away.
I had a lot of work to do. If I was going to be Oliver’s fake girlfriend, I needed to make it as authentic as possible. And now that I knew Oliver’s passion was solely and totally football, I needed to spend the evening with Dad—learning about football.
Chapter 6
OLIVER
Iheard my name called the moment I stepped inside the front entrance, and the tone was not a happy one. My first thought was that Mom had found out about my less than stellar grades, so I poked my head into the kitchen and said cheerily, “Hi Mom, I’m back.”
“You haven’t made things up with Savannah?” Mom clipped, picking up her glass of wine.
“What?”
“Savannah? You haven’t made up with her yet?”
“I told you we’re over for good this time,” I said, bustling over to the fridge. I scanned the shelves and grabbed my container of homemade protein balls and the bottle of milk. Mom tutted and handed me a glass before I drank from the bottle.
“You always get back together,” Mom stated. “Penny is worried.”
My stomach clenched in dread. If Mom had spoken to Savannah’s mother, it meant that Savannah wasn’t going to give up on us so easily.
“Hmphh.” I let out an agitated sigh. “I told her this is it. For good. And I mean it.”
“Okay, okay, calm down,” Mom said, though I hadn’t realized I’d raised my voice. “It’s just that you say it every time and you always get back together.”
“I’m done,” I said forcefully. “I’m sick and tired of all the drama.”
“But you two are so cute together,” Mom drawled with a cheesy smile.
“Cute?” I mocked. “You think being cute is a good reason to stay together?” I shook my head in disappointment and popped a peanut butter protein ball into mouth.
Mom cleared her throat and looked a little sheepish. “I’m sorry, Ollie, I just thought you two were the perfect match. What’s it been? Two and a half years?”
“Feels like twenty,” I muttered, wiping my mouth with the back of my hand. “It’s time to move on.”
“All relationships have ups and downs,” Mom said, sipping her wine.
“Sure, but ours feels like more downs than ups,” I said.
“You looked so great together at Homecoming though,” Mom said.
I huffed with thick sarcasm. “That’s the second time you’ve said how good we look together.” I put the milk back into the fridge and stood with my fists clenched by my side. My relationship wasn’t something I talked to Mom about—ever, but I felt the need to open up especially as it seemed there was a bias against me and I’d been deemed the bad guy. “Do you know what really happened?” I didn’t give Mom a chance to reply. “Savannah was flirting with the wide receiver from Lincoln. And it’s not the first time. And I’m over it.” I didn’t flinch, my stance intimidating. “I’m just over it.”
Mom’s mouth gaped in surprise. It took her a moment to find her words. “I didn’t know,” she said softly, taking another sip of drink. “Penny said Savannah was shocked that you’d broken up with her, that she couldn’t understand why you had.”
I shook my head. “Lies, Mom. I talked to Sav about it. She laughed it off and said she was just...” I held my hands up for air quotes, “...distracting him.” I rolled my eyes.
“Well, Penny believes you’ve broken up for no good reason. She said Savannah’s devastated.” She set her empty wine glass down and gave me a hard stare. “And apparently she was too upset to go to school today.”
