“Remember when I used to dance all the time, Rush?”
“I remember.”
“I was a force of nature.”
“You can still dance.”
“Not like then,” she recalls wistfully. “Now I’m just happy to show you I can bend and lift my knees.”
My eyes drop to the ground. It saddens me that she’s not able to be that free spirited girl around the bonfire. I wish she would let me find her a surgeon and pay for it. It’s literally killing me that a possible fix is out there and it’s beyond her grasp because of money. Money I have.
“Do you want to get dinner with me on your break today?” she asks.
I notice Samuels staring at the two of us clear across the field. It’s like a chess match. He’s waiting to see which one of my pieces I’m going to play. Unfortunately, I’m out of moves today.
“Me and Carter, the one who jabbed me in the face during the melee in the locker room, have actually hit it off. I promised him that I’d help run a drill during break.”
“Your dinner break is for dinner. When are you going to eat?”
“I was going to wait and eat a big meal after camp. I’ve been snacking on stuff all day.”
Mia pouts and crosses her arms in front of her, lifting her breasts up front and center. Does she know her nipples are poking through that shirt? Fuck, if I see them then everyone sees them.
“We see each other every day but we have spent no time together. If I didn’t think it was such a crazy assumption, I’d say that you were avoiding me, Rush Bacchetti.”
Didn’t I tell you?
She calls me on my shit every single time.
“I’m just busy trying to get ready for the season. I told you it would be busy like this during camp.”
“All I’m asking for is dinner.”
Of course I’m not going to tell her no.
I never can.
“Okay, Mia. Grab some food for us from the cafeteria and meet me here at five. I’ll eat with you and work with Carter at the same time.”
“Perfect,” she happily sing-songs. “See you at five.”
****
“What are you laughing at, Proctor?”
Our star running back has been eavesdropping on the sideline.
“Sorry, man, I don’t mean to laugh but I’ve never seen you act like this in all the time I’ve known you.”
“Act like what?”
“I’m starting to think that Mia is more to you than just a college friend, and what was that name you were calling her? Was it bird?”
I lower my eyes from the truth of his comment. I’m sick of not telling people who Mia is and what she means to me. It was stupid of me to even hide it from the beginning. Anyone with half of a brain can see that I can’t keep my eyes off of her.
“I’ll admit she isn’t just someone I knew from school.”
“I knew it!” He exclaims.
