“Hey.” I was drenched in sweat and I knew I stank. I could smell myself.
She tilted away just enough to look at me, her eyes sparkling like if I did stink, she didn’t notice. “You were just…” She made the mind-blown gesture. “Holy amazing. I’m so proud of you.”
I grinned, mesmerized by those dark eyes. That perfect smile. Those long lashes. “Thanks.” Just being in her arms was making me breathless.
Her eyebrows wiggled. “Where should we exchange thesweatshirt?”
“Uh, I was thinking up by the school. Maybe we could just slip around the corner.” My voice cracked. So embarrassing. She smiled, biting her lip. I didn’t know if this girl knew the effect she had on me, but I thought maybe she was beginning to. “Maybe I should run in the locker room and take a super fast shower. I can be out in two minutes.” It wasn’t my first kiss, but it was hers—and I wanted it to be perfect for her.
She had me by the hand, pulling me toward the school. “No way. Who knows how long we’ve got and if we don’t do this tonight I am actually going to die.”
I chuckled. “Me too.” It came out in a hush. Because I was on the verge of imploding just thinking about having her lips on mine. Seeing what she tasted like.
As we walked, hands intertwined, we both went quiet, only sharing occasional nervous glances. It took all my focus to keep breathing. My knees were shaking. A few more people told me good game, but we didn’t slow down. The farther we got from the field, the quieter the two of us became.
When we made it to the locker room entrance I held up a finger. “Just let me put my helmet away really fast. It’ll take me thirty seconds.”
“Okay.” She bit her bottom lip and looked up at me with hooded eyes. “But hurry, please.”
“Will do.” I jogged inside. In fifteen seconds I had my locker open, digging through my duffel for the T-shirt I’d thrown in that morning. I shrugged off my shoulder pads, swiped a stripe of deodorant up each armpit, and slipped on a clean shirt in record time.
“Somebody’s in a hurry,” Daxton Davis said with a hoot when he walked in, still in full gear. “Saw Anna waiting outside.”
“Yup,” was all I took time to say before I was back out the door.
I came around the corner and ran smack into Anna’s back. She almost toppled forward and I caught her around the middle, righting her against me. My dad was in his car, parked in front of her, talking to her through the open passenger window. I didn’t know what he’d said to her but from the way she was carrying herself—stiff and on high alert—it couldn’t have been good.
I slipped an arm around her waist and tucked her against my side. “Hey, Dad.”
“Get in the car,” Dad ordered. “We need to watch tape.”
Anna’s arm curled around my waist and locked me in place. She didn’t want me to go. But if I stayed, it would turn ugly, and I didn’t want her to know how terrible my dad could be. Not yet, anyway. I wanted to protect what we had for as long as I could.
“I just need to grab my sweatshirt from Anna real quick.” I tugged her toward me, trying to walk away.
Dad swore. “No! Get in the car right now. I’m tired and we need to watch tape so I can go to bed. I have a twelve-hour shift tomorrow. You can get it later.”
“Dad,” I said, my voice tight. “It’ll just take a minute.”
“She’s nothing but a distraction, Blue,” he spat like she wasn’t standing right next to me. “You need to focus on football, not girls.”
My fists curled and I fought the urge to dive through the window and deck him.
Anna was staring over at me, her body rigid. I didn’t want to look at her. Didn’t want her to see my humiliation. I exhaled slowly, forcing myself to stay calm.
“Blue?”
My head turned to see Mom coming up the sidewalk with Colt. Mom’s gaze skittered between Anna and me, and Dad in the car. Her eyes widened. “Did you get your sweatshirt yet?”
I gave her an almost imperceptible shake of the head.
“He can get it tomorrow, Missy,” Dad yelled, his tone threatening.
“It’s okay,” I said as I took a step away from Anna. My mom didn’t need to be collateral damage in this. I hated that Anna already was. This was not how her first kiss needed to go. We could do this on another day when my dad wasn’t around to mess it up.
I glanced over at Anna, trying to apologize without words. “I’ll grab it when I’m at the ranch tomorrow?” She looked crushed.
“No.” Mom put her hands on her hips and her eyes narrowed. “You go. I’ve got this.” Colt’s hands balled and I could see him swallow even in the dimness of the parking lot light.
