Page 82 of As a Last Resort
After the showcase portion of the night, the players rolled right into a heated scrimmage.After the fourth quarter buzzer sounded, Rex’s team rushed the field, clinching the win that counted for absolutely nothing.But regardless, in typical victory fashion, the quarterback and a few of the offensive linemen surprised Rex and dumped a large cooler of Cool Blue Gatorade over his head.
Once the chaos on the field calmed down, the team filed into thelocker room and the stands emptied.Usually I didn’t hang around after, dodging questions of when I was going to return and claim my birthright.But I told Lexi we’d meet them at Harpoon’s in just a little.First, I wanted to show Sam something.
Once the stadium was clear, I hopped the fence and walked out across to the field.
“Wait, aren’t we going to get arrested or something for being out here?We’re not even players.”
“For walking across a high school football field?I’d hope our boys in blue have better things to do than chase down riffraff that’s scouring the football sign.”
“We’re going to scour the football sign?”The excitement in her voice plastered a goofy smile across my face I was thankful she couldn’t see.As far as I knew, we were the only high school in the state where half the stadium backed up to a body of water.Made it rough for seating, but we had the best views by far.
“You sound excited.”
“I’ve always wanted to do that!”
“Well, tonight is your lucky night.I want to show you something and the view’s better up there.”
She followed me across the freshly trampled grass.The main stadium lights flicked off just as we reached center field, leaving only the floodlights casting a glow across the grass.
“If we were in a movie, this is the part where the sprinklers would come on.”
“Or, the killer would come out and murder us,” I replied.
She hit my arm.“I thought you were into romances!”
“I mean,orthrillers.”
Her eyes went wide.“Oh no, are you the hometown best friend’s brother who kidnaps the girl who came back only to bury her body and they’ll find me forty years later in an unsolved mystery case bysome kid finding a shoelace sticking out of the ground and he’ll pull it up and there I’ll be?”
I blinked.“I don’t think so.I don’t like blood.”
“Whew.Okay.Let’s keep going.”
I chuckled and kept walking.Where did she even come up with this stuff?
We slipped around the back of the old scoreboard, the salt of the ocean air wrapping around us, and started up the weathered wooden stairs.The creak of each step battled against the soft crash of the waves rolling onto shore just below us.
“What are we doing up here?”
“You’ll see,” I whispered back, a playful smiled tugging at my lips.
“Why are you whispering?”
“Why areyouwhispering?”
“Because I don’t want the killer to know where we are.”
“Makes total sense,” I whispered again, trying not to laugh as we reached the top.I sat down, letting my legs dangle over the edge of the platform.She followed, her body close enough that I felt the warmth radiating from her skin.“Now that we’re safe though, look that way.”
Gently, I cupped her chin and turned her toward the mainland.
Her breath caught.
From where we sat, the view stretched out across the water like something from a dream.Against the ink-black sky, the shoreline glowed with twinkling lights from cozy bars and restaurants waiting to greet customers after the game.The water shimmered with the reflection of stars hanging above us.But just below the coastline of lights that skated across the horizon, the sea glowed with an ethereal blue light, swirling like a trail of stardust in the waves, the culprit of her stolen breath.
“It’s called sea sparkle.”
Her eyes widened with wonder.Her gaze traced the glowing blue and white ribbons that wove through the water, casting an otherworldly glow that hugged the entire coastline.“What is it?”
