Page 43 of Nailing Heat
No one says anything for a while. Jase is eating his fish while Cassie munches on his fries. I stare my own plate, playing with my fries but not actually eating them. Finally, she speaks.
“Look, I’m not going to sit here and tell you that you like Amelia. Ithinkyou already know the answer to that one.” I hold my hand up in protest, but she continues talking to me. “But either way, you kind of have a green light after what August did to the policy. You wouldn’t have to hide the way we did.” She gestures between her and Jase. “What I will tell you is that somewhere along the line, someone convinced you that you are a bad guy. You might have done something a bad guy would do when they called you that. But you let that one act define you. It doesn’t have to, Dex. You are not a bad guy. You’ve done a bad thing once or twice in your life. Who hasn’t? That shouldn’t keep you from anything you are feeling for my girl.”
“Cassie,” I start to say but she holds her hand up, silencing me.
“You are not a bad guy, Dex,” she repeats her sentence and grins at me.
I don’t say another word. I grin right back at her. She’s pushy but she’s wise. I can see why Jase loves her so much, with all of her determination and drive. And she’s a hell of a soccer player.
“Thanks,” I reply.
She nods. “’I’m off to get a drink. Can you believe I dropped all that knowledge to him without a drink in my hand?”
“You’re starting to sound like August!” Jase calls after her.
Cassie turns and sticks her tongue out at him but keepsmaking her way to the bar. The rest of the night is fun. No more talk of Amelia, DJ or my feelings. We talk about the upcoming games, and I ask a few embarrassing questions about off-sides that has them both rolling.
Leaving the house turned out to be the best thing I could have done. Had I stayed, I might have done or said something stupid to Amelia. Now, I have some time to think about things and get some perspective before I do something I regret.
Chapter Fifteen
~AMELIA~
Kansas City is a must-win game. Coach Watts might want to come up with a new narrative when he’s talking to us about this, I think to myself. He’s been droning on and on in the team room before warm-ups. Jase has taken a turn or two chiming in, as has Andie. I almost want to shoutWe get it!But I don’t. I’m more respectful than that. I’ve been on edge all day today. I’m trying to chalk it up to game day jitters.
But I don’t think that’s it.
DJ has been staring at Dex and talking about him to anyone who will listen. She hasn’t said much to me yet. But we usually pair up for warm-up for our long kicks, so I’m guessing it’s coming. Cassie has also been acting weird. I heard she had dinner with him and Jase at the Backwoods that night. I’m assuming he said something, but she won’t tell me what it is. And when I ask I get“Why do you care?”and a giggle. No matter how many times that I tell her that I do not care, she still seems to grin all-knowingly at me. I think something was said, but Cassie’s not going to spill if Dex told her not to. She’s a vault like that. A quality I usually love about her but right now it’s driving me mad.
Ever since the night in the kitchen, I notice him more. In thehouse, at the fields. My eyes always manage to find him in a crowd, whether I knew I was looking for him or not. I look over and see him standing off to the side. He’s staring down at his phone, not even listening, although I’m not sure this speech is not so much for him. As if he can read my thoughts, he looks up in my direction and he smiles at me.
I feel that smile from my head to my toes; my body lights up with warmth at the simplest gesture. I wink at him and for a split second I wonder if it was too much. He winks right back and my cheeks flush. Sure, I may have winked first but the returning gesture means so much more to me. Dex, grinning, points to the front of the room and mouths “Pay attention.”
I nod but keep watching him. His eyes are locked on mine too. It’s not until I hear Hendrix clear her throat behind me that I snap my eyes forward. I hear Hendrix take a step forward.
“Something you want to share with me?” I hear her ask.
“Nothing really to share. That’s the first time that has happened,” I admit.
“I’m liking this new development.” I can hear the smile in her voice.
“There’s no new development,” I reply.
“Shh,” I hear Cassie say from in front of me.
“Well, it’s something,” Hendrix replies.
That ends our conversation, and we get to the part of the pep talk where Coach Watts wants us to get fired up. Thankfully, that wraps the pep talk for today.
“What’s with you? I could practically hear your irritation in that room,” Hendrix asks me as we make our way out to the pitch.
I shrug. “I don’t know, he’s not saying anything that hasn’t been mentioned before, I guess.”
She looks at me a beat longer. “Does this have anything to do with the fact that you have to go and kick around with DJ right now?”
I shake my head. “No, I like DJ.”
“You’d like her to stay away from Dex,” she teases.
