Page 51 of Topping the Jock
I got a feeling I had only brushed the surface on who Quinn Beck really was. He hid so much inside that beautiful head of his.
Chapter Ten
Quinn
“Is that a penalty?” I asked my dad, as the ref threw a yellow flag on the field. We were sitting in the stands that Friday night watching the football game.
Dad nodded. “The other side was holding.”
“I… I don’t know what that means.”
He chuckled and slapped my knee. “It means a player can’t hold another player who doesn’t have the ball. In this case, the other team was holding back that Dean kid to keep him from being open.”
“Wow, I didn’t even see that.”
The ref called a five-yard penalty for defensive holding, and the players moved down the field to comply. I shivered at the chill in the air and snuggled more into my jacket. The smell of popcorn and burgers came from the concession stand, and the person sitting in front of me was eating nachos with jalapenos.
Cheerleaders clapped in front of the bleachers, their ponytails bouncing as they shook their pompoms. The males on the squad stood at the back, smiling as they cheered, and then they picked up a girl and raised her in the air as she led the crowd in a chant.
“The Adams boy seems like a good coach,” Dad muttered, as Monty clapped Dean on the back after Dean ran over to the sideline to get the play, then ran back out onto the field. “I’ll give him that much. You sure he ain’t bothering you, though?” He cracked his knuckles.
I rolled my eyes at his unspoken threat. “I’m sure.” My gaze returned to Monty, and despite the cool air, my chest warmed. “He’s actually a pretty good guy these days.”
Dad scoffed. “If you say so. But he’s still on my shit list. I won’t ever forget the day you came home cryin’ your eyes out because he gave you a mean nickname and got the whole team to join in.”
“Becky,” I said, and a bitter taste landed on my tongue with the word.
“Yeah, that was it.”
Monty had only called me the name once. Now that I think back on it, I remembered the look on his face when I started crying at school after being cornered by him and his buddies. He had called me Becky, then Zane and Wes had pushed me around, repeating the name and laughing. Monty’s brown eyes had softened when I’d looked up at him through a stream of tears. He had never called me Becky again after that.
But the damage had already been done.
The name had stuck, and both Zane and Wes tormented me with it, even going so far as to rewrite my name in the morning announcements after I’d placed first in the school’s history fair. They’d read my name over the intercom to the whole school as Becky Beck. Something that was supposed to be a congratulation to me had turned into one of my most embarrassing moments. I’d been sitting in English class, and the whole class had erupted into laughs. I had run from the room in tears, their laughs echoing down the hall as I ran to the bathroom and locked myself in a stall.
“I’m going to grab a coffee from the concession stand,” I said, chasing away the memory and rising from the bench as the team left the field for halftime. “Want anything?”
“A hot chocolate?”
“Gotcha.”
Students said hi to me on my way, and I returned their greetings. Reaching the concession stand, I groaned at the long line. Everyone else had had the same idea as me. The announcer introduced the opposing team’s cheerleading squad, and I heard them cheering on the field before a song played over the speakers for their dance routine. Our cheerleaders were next. Then our band played a medley that included theStar Warstheme.
Finally, I reached the counter and ordered a coffee and a hot chocolate, then returned to my seat.
“Sorry for the wait,” I said, handing Dad his drink. “The line was crazy long.”
“It’s all good.” He blew on the top of his cup before taking a sip and nodding in approval. “Worth the wait.”
“Looking for something?” I asked, when I caught him sweeping his gaze around the crowd.
“What? Oh, no I’m not looking for anyone.”
I narrowed my eyes. “I never said anything about looking for someone.”
He shrugged me off and drank more hot chocolate.
When the football team returned to the field and stood on the sidelines waiting for the halftime clock to run out, all the players had a hard determination on their young faces. The scoreboard showed we were down ten points. Had Monty grilled them in the locker room? My gaze shifted to him.
