Well, at least I’d see Gertie’s reaction once I made my way downstairs. My cheeks started to hurt, flushed from all the withheld smiles.
“I thought you’d look good in my old jersey,” Ryan proclaimed with a swift nod. “And I was right. You do look good in my jersey.”
“You mean, branded like a cow?” I teased, turning around to face him fully.
He shrugged, reaching out for me before he was close. He wrapped his arms around my waist. I could almost imagine us swaying, dancing. “If you’d like. Now, you really look like those other girls you used to glare at all season on campus.”
I put my forehead down to his chest, and I muttered, “I did not glare at them.”
“You did. For a while, I thought you were glaring at me.”
“Iwasglaring at you.”
He snorted.
“Seriously”—I looked back at the green and purple color combination—“I look like a strange, unripened grape. Or an eggplant.” I was sort of hoping it was the former now that I thought about it, however.
Peering at my face again, nervously, as if he were afraid I’d jump through the window in an attempt to escape, Ryan placed a small kiss on my forehead. The kiss sent sensations all the way down to my toes. I stared at him quietly as he pulled back, hands sliding down my elbows to my wrists to my hands.
Little hesitance hindered Ryan’s physical touches anymore.
How far we’d come in such a short time. The understanding of how quickly things moved forward, like most things since arriving at college, dug deep into my stomach.
How long could this last?
“You look tired.”
“I am tired.”
The past few days felt like something out of a dream, a life I hadn’t realized I could be a part of. Other thoughts kept bothering me, nagging at the corner of my mind.
Leaning forward, Ryan placed another short kiss against my lips. I leaned back in. The soft, warm feeling dragged on as our lips parted over one another’s before finally sliding away once more.
We stared at each other for a long moment. His bright eyes and crooked smile were really hard to look away from.
Blinking a few times out of his own trance, Ryan tugged at the hem of my jersey, making it look like even more of a dress I’d need to fix. Reaching for a tie, I carefully looped it around the bottom and tucked it under. The jersey looked slightly better. Less T-shirt dress and more oversized sweater.
“There.” He smiled, noting I was careful not to hide the number nine emblazoned on the front. “Perfect. Now, you are Barnett homecoming ready.”
Those were a few words I’d never thought would apply to me. Those were three of them.
Barnett. Homecoming. Ready.
* * *
Gertie putthree fingers to her mouth, but they did nothing to hide her smile when she caught us sneaking out the front door. “You two have fun!” she called out.
Ryan waved and assured her that we would. He kept assuring me all the way up to campus, where it was more difficult than usual to find a parking spot. Cars with BU bumper stickers lined the narrow streets and admissions parking lot.
“I’ve never seen Barnett as such a popular destination,” I mused.
“Only on homecoming,” Ryan agreed, still looking just as thrilled as he tried to back into a space for the second time.
I was still looking at all the green and gold streamers that were tangled and taped anywhere they could be by the time Ryan ran around the car and opened my door for me, as I was too frozen to do so. Perhaps for good reason when I stepped out and could already hear the noise emanating around us.
Music pulsed through the air, getting louder as we walked toward Barnett University’s stadium.
“What is that?”
