“Yeah, it’s one of the schools I could’ve gone to with my scholarship. It’s a great school. My dad really wanted me to go, but they don’t have a football team, so…” He shrugged and dug into his mashed potatoes, but then he spit his food back onto his fork, set it down, shoved his plate aside, put his hands flat on the table, and looked up. “Actually, that’s a lie.”
Hailey looked from his hands to his face, and quirked a brow.
“That’s what I’m telling everyone at school, but actually…” Tage shook his head. “I didn’t get in,” he said with a shrug, and Hailey froze mid-chew.
He sighed heavily. “And boy was my dad pissed. I mean, it was all set up—we had the scholarship; we had an actual offer in hand from the university, and then…” Tage shook his head.
Hailey raised her eyebrows, waiting.
“…and then?” she muffled through a mouthful of buttered bread.
“And then I got a post card—not a letter, not an explanation—a frickin' post card, with one sentence, that they were withdrawing their offer of admission due to—” He made air quotes “—current circumstances.”
“What does that mean?”
He threw his hands up. “But Dad says I can apply again for the Spring, so I dunno. Maybe you’ll see me there in January,” he said.
“After football season,” Hailey said brightly, and Tage chuckled, but they finished eating in silence.
Following dinner, the mood changed dramatically. Tage walked the perimeter of the deck with her, staring over the railing and chatting about all things from football to Irish dance to school and the structural integrity of the bridges over the Monongahela until the boat docked and surprised them both.
By the time Hailey got into Tage’s mother’s car, she’d forgotten the uncomfortable start to the night and had almost slightly enjoyed herself on her first date.
She stole a glance at him. He really was handsome. And smart. And kinda fun. If dating him didn’t come with the added joy of incessant attention from the gossipmongers, she might like to go to prom with him.
But Tage was no Fin. He was driving slower than Uncle Pix.
At least the conversation was quick.
“By the way,” Tage told her, “I think your hair looks great like that. You look like one of those California girls.”
“Which one?”
“The one every guy dreams of,” he said, throwing her a wink and a cocky smile.
She scoffed loudly. “Sure, the dream girl that no guy ever looks at or asks out or kisses?”Oops.
“Never been kissed?” Tage said with surprise in his voice, and Hailey sank into her seat, going three shades of crimson.
“I don’t know why I said that,” she mumbled. “You should watch the road.”
“Maybe you want me to kiss you.”
This was unbearable. Hailey couldn’t stop herself from babbling and gesticulating wildly as she spoke.
“No, that’s not it at all, Tage, I just…I don’t…well, I certainly don’t want to hear all about it in history class tomorrow, and even if the galloping gossipers didn’t find out about it directly, they’d sense that something juicy was afoot with their hag antennas—not that you were going to kiss me in the first place, or that I was daydreaming about it on the boat, because I only thought about it for a second when you told me how much you enjoyed seeing Holly and me dancing…” Hailey slapped both hands over her face to make it stop, and Tage stifled a laugh.
Watching him through her fingers, she wished he’d drive faster. They were only half-way home.
“I really did like watching you guys dance,” he said, checking his side view mirror. “It’s amazing. The sound is incredible.”
“Thanks,” said Hailey, smiling slightly as they pulled up to the curb.
He stared at her for more than a few seconds, and Hailey scooted toward her door.
“Well,” she said, grasping the handle, “I sure hope you can run faster than you drive, quarterback,” she told him, laughing as she opened her door.
Tage sprinted from the driver’s side in time to catch it before it opened all the way. He offered his hand and helped her out.
