Page 58 of Stealing for Keeps
“It wasn’t even the next day. It was one hour later. He was copping a feel in the pool, and then we got out to dry off, and the next thing I know, they’re hugging and kissing and back together.” It’s been a year, and she’s still not over it. Zach isn’t even her type, but he’s the first person she let grope her, and I think the experience scarred her for life.
“Those two have been on and off for years. It had nothing to do with you or your boobs,” I remind her for at least the tenth time. One of these days, she’s going tobelieve me.
Andie nods her head in agreement. “Boys don’t think like that. Boobs are boobs. They’re all the same.”
“Is that true?” I ask. “Remember Tasha?” She had DDs in seventh grade, and the guys were obsessed with them.
“She’s an outlier,” Andie says.
“Maybe I am too.” Lacey sticks out her chest for our appraisal. “Are mine so bad you would want to get back with your ex?”
“Only to a blind man. They’re perfect.” I purse my lips to give her an air kiss.
“She’s right.” Andie nods. “Yours are way better.”
Lacey smiles. “I bet he thinks that every time he touches hers now.”
The three of us laugh, and for a brief moment, it makes me forget about last night and Austin. Since I hurt my foot, everything has felt off. Then Vaughn and I broke up, and it’s just been one change after another. But these two always make me feel better.
“So…what are you going to do?” Lacey asks after we fall quiet again.
My stomach tightens. “Easy. Avoid him forever. That shouldn’t be too hard, should it?”
Lacey fights a laugh. “Sure, babe. No problem. It’s not like you go to the same school or anything. Or have the same lunch. Or any classes together.”
I stick my tongue out at her. “Not helping.”
“You don’t need to avoid him.”
“Easy for you to say. You should have been there. If Lacey is scarred by Zach touching her boobs and then getting back together with Maureen, then imagine Austin seeing me mostly naked and then being tossed out by myangry mother.”
“The girls at Frost Lake will be so sad when he announces his decision to remain celibate for life,” Lacey says, laughing.
Andie joins in, nodding. “No kidding. You should have seen them during the soccer game. I watched one girl have a full-on fainting swoon when he lifted his T-shirt up to wipe his face.”
That girl might have been me. I don’t know what it is about him. He’s hot, of course, but it’s more than his nice abs.
“He’s probably not stressing about it, so you shouldn’t either.” Lacey gives me a reassuring smile.
“I’m going to turn red and get all weird when I see him again. I just know it. I can still see the shocked expression on his face when I dropped my dress to the floor.” I groan and walk ahead of my friends to clean another section of the gym.
“I have an idea,” Andie announces. I turn in time to watch her drop the trash she’s gathered into the big janitor’s bucket and brush her hands off. “Follow me.”
I give Lacey a questioning glance. She shrugs, and we fall into step behind our friend as she leads us out of the gym and through the school.
“Where are we going?” I ask as she heads down the hallway.
“You’ll see,” she chirps over her shoulder with a smug smile that makes me feel uneasy.
It’s only when she pushes out the back door and I hear voices and the familiar sound of Coach Collins’s voice that I realize what’s happening. The soccer team is here. They’re practicing on the back field.
“Andie, no!” I stop and shake my head.
“They won’t see us,” she says. “Come on. See him, letthe embarrassment wash over you, and you’ll be fine when you talk to him on Monday.”
“This is a terrible plan,” Lacey says, but I consider it. Maybe it’ll help? Or maybe I just want to see him. Whatever the reason, I find myself stepping outside.
It’s almost fall, and the cool weather is here to stay. I pull the sleeves of my sweatshirt down over my hands as the three of us veer to the left where the side of the building blocks half the field from view.
