Page 97 of Stealing for Keeps
“This is great,” he says. “I love it.”
I climb onto the bed next to him. He sets the sketchbook aside and lies back, looking over at me.
“How was practice?” I ask.
“Tiring but good.” He gets a goofy grin on his face any time he talks about soccer, and he’s doing it now. “I am meeting up with Vaughn and Rowan in twenty minutes to watch some game video of the team we play next week.”
The mention of Vaughn makes me wonder if Austin has thought any more about telling him. “Should we make a plan on when to tell Vaughn and everyone else about us?”
“If it means I can start kissing you any time I want, then yes.” He leans in and brushes his lips over mine.
“This weekend is out,” I say. A bunch of us are going to Whittie Lake and if Vaughn did take it badly, it’d put a damper on the whole trip.
He nods, looking deep in thought. “We have games pretty much nonstop until the end of the season.”
It turns out there is no good time.
“How about after the season?” I suggest.
“You want to wait that long?” He seems surprised by that.
“I don’t want to risk Vaughn trying to make things difficult for you. Plus, it’s not that long. Conference championships are in a few weeks.”
“Yeah, but then there’s still another month after that until state. I really want to still be playing in November.” One corner of his mouth lifts.
“You will,” I say. “And after you win state, we’ll celebrate. Together.”
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Claire
It’s a forty-five-minute drive to Whittie Lake from Frost Lake, and the perfect distance for a weekend trip with no parents and no one checking up on us for the next twenty-four hours.
We drive up in a bunch of different vehicles early Saturday morning. I’m in the passenger seat of Lacey’s Bronco. Ashley and Rachel are following us. Ashley is dating one of the twins and Rachel has been talking to Hunter.
We have the windows down even though it’s overcast and chilly. We’re singing along with the radio, sunglasses on, hair blowing, and smiles on our faces.
Austin was riding with Rowan. A text from him lights up my screen, and I wrangle my hair out of my face to read it.
“The guys just got there,” I say, raising my voice over the noise, then return my gaze to keep staring at the selfie he sent along with his text that they had arrived. His dark hair is covered by a white hat that makes it hard to see hiseyes, but he’s got that crooked grin aimed at the camera, and the lake is in the background.
My excitement builds with each mile marker we pass. Within fifteen minutes, we’re pulling up behind Rowan’s truck.
Austin is waiting in the open garage. Lacey glances over at me with a smirk but doesn’t say anything. Austin and I haven’t told people we’re…kissing. A lot. Like every possible second we can.
Lacey knows, of course, and I suspect Rowan has his suspicions if Austin hasn’t outright told him, but otherwise it still feels like this new, secret, and exciting thing. I like him more than I’ve ever liked anyone. We’re having a blast together. Vaughn and I understood each other, and we were compatible in a lot of ways, but it was never this fun.
“I’m gonna go scope out the rooms and make sure I get a good one for the night,” Lacey calls, pushing her sunglasses up to the top of her head. “I am not sleeping on the floor.”
“Ooh, us too.” The other two girls hurry after her.
“Disco, use those muscles for something productive and help Claire with the bags?” Lacey winks at him before disappearing into the house with the girls trailing behind her.
Austin shakes his head, laughing softly as I shut the car door and walk toward him.
“She’s something.”
“At least she isn’t calling you New Guy anymore.”
