In my defense, fifth grade was a while ago. I tuck unathletic Fran beneath my arm, swing her out, but the wrecking ball comes rolling in.
Collision. Crash. Bone-jarring impact. We are one again.
Fran blinks with our hit, but that grin is still shining. Her dark lashes flutter up at me. “Like that?”
I cough out my next exhale and peer down at her. “Yep. Just like that.”
Twenty-Eight
I stand on one leg,stretching my quad in the middle of this field, Red Tail uniform on. It’s game day.
Fran is in the stands, with a few thousand others, but she’s in her spot, front row, right next to the team tunnel that leads to the locker room. We play the Rain City Rovers today, and while I’m confident in the win, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t happy she could make the game.
Casually, I glance up into the stands. She’s next to Rosalie, peering out—not at me but the field in general. Her cheeks swell in a grin, and while she looks pretty in her cream-colored shirt and jeans, I really need to get her some Red Tail gear.
“Is that a tattoo?” Zev says, staring at my ankle. My sock has slipped down an inch, and the pink ‘G’ of “Girl” is showing through. Why did I wait to put on my game socks? That makes no sense—and yet today, I chose to wait until after warmups. Have I ever done that before? Do I subconsciously want Zev to see my ingrained Fran tattoo? The onethat will not wash off, no matter how many days it’s been or how hard I scrub?
No—I don’t. Lucca sat down by me, though, and I didn’t really want to change socks in front of him. He would have noticed my “Girl Power” ink immediately.
“No, it’s not,” I bark at Zev, who is still waiting for an answer, then switch legs.
“I think it is. Let me see it.”
I frown at Zev. “No,” I scoff.
“Why are you in those short socks anyway?”
“My game socks are in the locker room. Since when do you care when I put on my socks?”
“Don’t make me call Lucca over.”
I roll my eyes—but I’m just enough afraid that he’ll do it. “Fran and I had some fun the other night. Okay?”
Zev snorts. “As in, you got a pink tattoo that reads ‘Girl Power’?”
All the easiness I am supposed to be feeling with Fran in the stands is dissipating—thanks to Zev. I clench my jaw and pause my stretch. “If you knew, why’d you ask?”
“Just to see what you’d say.” He grins—wide and obnoxious.
“Mira should dump you. And it’s a stick-on. So, simmer down, and don’t tell Lucca.”
Zev laughs. “I haven’t seen Mira since our fishing trip.”
“No? Why not?”
Zev shrugs, but his eyes drag over to where Fran and Rosalie sit. “Is Fran coming to the team dinner?” Zev asks beside me.
I skirt my gaze from the girl—unsure suddenly which one of us looked in her direction first. “What? Why? Why would shedo that?”
“I just thought you might invite her. It’s for friends and family.”
“Are you bringing a girl?”
“Pretty sure we just established that I don’t have a girl. While you do.”
“Right.” I laugh like he’s being funny.
But Zev chuckles right back. “You could invite her. We all appreciate her service to the team.”
