And yet, the yearning tangled with panic, squeezing tight. They didn’t know. They couldn’t know. If they ever saw how broken I really was, they’d bolt like everyone else.
I was so far in my own head that I almost missed it.
“No Drama Llamas,” Natalie declared brightly.
My head jerked up. “Wait. What did you just say?”
I’d heard Jace mention it a few times while joking with Matty after practice, his voice carrying across the field while I hid in my car, desperately listening out my windows to catch anything I could.
I was pretty sure it was supposed to be the name of their friend group. But I wasn’t positive. And I hadn’t wanted to ask Matty and tip him off that I’d heard of it to begin with.
Maybe I could find out now.
“Nothing,” Casey cut in quickly, her tone flat but her cheeks pink. “It’s not an official name. You don’t have to go along with it.”
Natalie gasped like Casey had just committed treason. “Excuse me? That’s blasphemy.” She leaned in, stage-whispering dramatically, though half the quad could probably hear her. “Don’t listen to her. She’s just unsure of our branding potential. Obviously, it’s the group name. It’s destiny.”
Riley groaned, tipping her head back to glare at the sky like it might rescue her. “Don’t say anything to encourage her…or Jace.”
A giggle escaped my lips, and Casey gave me a look that saidwelcome to the asylumbefore tugging her phone out like she wanted plausible deniability for the entire interaction.
Natalie suddenly gasped, spinning toward me with the kind of dramatic flair usually only reserved for stage musicals. “Oh! Phone. Good call, Case.”
She whipped hers out of her back pocket, pink glitter case sparkling in the sun, and shoved it into my hand like it was a baton in some relay race I hadn’t signed up for. “Type in those digits, FiFi.”
I stared at it, utterly bewildered. “Why?”
Her face fell into a frown so exaggerated it almost looked cartoonish. “What do you mean, why? So we can hang out, of course.”
I blinked at her, throat tightening around words I wasn’t sure I wanted to say. “You…want to hang out with me?”
Before Natalie could unleash another gasp, Riley slipped to my other side and threaded her arm through mine, her smile softer than Natalie’s but just as sure. “Of course we do.”
That was it. The wobble in my chest went from tremor to earthquake. I swallowed hard, trying to act normal, like this wasn’t the first time ever that anyone had wanted me around just because.
Okay, maybe it wasn’t just because. They’d wanted to meet me because of Matty.
But that could change to wanting to hang out with me because they liked me.
Right?
“Okay,” I said, keeping my voice light, casual. Normal. Totally normal. I typed my number in, handed the phone back, and hoped no one noticed how shaky my fingers were.
“Perfect,” Natalie chirped, firing off a text. My phone buzzed with a message I assumed was from her. “We’re going to get our nails done, obviously. And coffee. And you’re going to sit with us at the games because the three of us together are already iconic, but with you? Absolute chaos. The fun kind.”
My stomach dropped. “Oh. Actually…”
Natalie’s head snapped up, her eyes narrowing in mock suspicion like she was expecting me to try to run and planning how she was going to tackle me before I could do it. “Actually what?”
I braced myself. “I’m…uh. The team mascot.”
There was a beat of silence.
Then Natalie shrieked, “NO WAY.” She bounced on her toes, clapping like she’d just won the lottery. “You’re kidding. You’re literally the tiger?”
“Um.” Heat rushed up my neck. “Yeah.”
“This is fate. You are my hero,” Natalie declared, eyes sparkling. “I’m the biggest Tigers fan on the planet, so obviouslythis is another sign we’re supposed to be best friends.” She grabbed my hands and shook them like we were sealing some kind of deal. “Do you understand? You’re my new favorite person.”
