“Come on! It’ll be fun. The place will be crawling with girls, and they’ll all want a piece of the guy who made that catch.”
I scoff and glance at Lauren, who practically splits my heart in two when she drops her eyes to the ground. “You should go.”
“Lauren, you’re coming too. I need a D.D.,” Charlie announces.
She opens her mouth to protest, but Charlie is already bouncing off to the next group of people.
A giant bonfire flickers in the center of an empty field just outside of town as at least fifty teenagers sit around the flame, drinking and laughing. There’s another group of people playing games of pong and rage cage behind us, and I can’t help but feel out of place. I’ve never understood theappeal of alcohol. It heightens every emotion. Sometimes, that’s joy, but more often it’s something twisted, like sadness or anger.
I get up from my spot on a tree stump, not feeling like being the life of the party tonight.
At the movement, Lauren glances up at me. “Where are you going?”
“I don’t know. I just need to get away from all this.”
“Can I come? I don’t want to be here alone.” She nods to where Charlie’s enthusiastically recounting his adventures on the field earlier for probably the millionth time.
I bite back a smile, trying not to get too excited she chose to be with me. “Sure.”
We put distance between the fire, and by the time we reach the river, the music and laughter from the party is drowned out by the trickle of the water. The darkness nearly swallows us whole out here, but I still feel Lauren’s presence on every inch of my skin. I take a seat on a boulder along the bank, and she sits on the opposite side, heat radiating off her.
We’re quiet for a few seconds until finally Lauren asks, “Now what?”
A giggle slips from her lips, a sound I’ve come to adore so much. It’s one of the things that immediately drew me to her—her boundless joy for life. She can be reserved and cautious, but when she lets herself break free of it all, she’s impossible to look away from.
“I don’t know. My whole plan was just to sit here and listen to the water,” I admit.
Again, her laughter tumbles out, and it sounds like music I never want to turn off.
“I have a feeling we’re going to be here for a while.” She glances over her shoulder. “Charlie is living it up out there.”
“As he should. This is his night of glory.”
“It’s yours too.”
I shrug.
“Come on.” She leans her shoulder into mine, filling my nose with her sweet scent. “We wouldn’t have won without you.”
“It was just luck.”
“I’ve seen you and Charlie practicing over the last few months. That wasn’t luck.”
Silence falls over us again, and I dig the toe of my boot into the dirt below us, beating myself up. Give me any other girl and I could flirt my pants off, but Lauren makes me tongue-tied.
She turns to me. “Are you going to miss being in season?”
“Yeah, I love the game and the camaraderie that comes from the team.”
“What do you do during your off-season? Obviously going to parties isn’t on the list.”
“No, it isn’t.” I chuckle. “Hopefully I’ll spend more time with my mom and aunt. I didn’t get much time with Mom before we moved here, but I think that’ll change.”
“That sounds nice.” She picks up a rock from the bank, skipping it perfectly. “What do you like to do with her?”
“Cook or watch movies.”
“What’s your favorite movie?”
