“Ready to go?” Jackson gestures toward the bleacher steps.
I lead the way but pause at the rail, looking down toward the field. Cody’s team is migrating over to greet their families and friends. I think he’s looking this way, so I wave, but he doesn’t see me yet. Something compels me to wait.
Jackson asks something ending in “there?”
“Someone from my old school,” I say, assuming that’s what his question was.
I wave again, and Cody finally notices me. He doesn’t look surprised. He must’ve recognized that they were playing the school I go to now.
“Nice win,” I sign across the crowds.
“What are you doing here?” Cody signs back, shoulders raised in confusion.
“You played my new school.”
“Right.” He nods. Okay. Did he not remember Amber is where I go now? Why is he so indifferent to the fact that I’m here right now?
Before I can sign something else, a girl runs down the bleachers, onto the field, and into Cody’s arms. He holds her in a hug, and I see from the back that she’s wearing his spare jersey. The matching 48. The “you look so cute in my lucky number” jersey. The girlfriend-of-a-football-playeroutfit. When they finally pull apart, she cups his cheeks and gives him a passionate kiss.
Oh.
Relax, he didn’t win the freaking Super Bowl.
After making out in front of everyone, Cody looks back up at me with a shrug.
My blood boils. I don’t know what I expected. “Okay, then.” I grit my teeth.
“Stop, Ellie,” Cody signs. The girl stands at his side, so impressed with his signing, clearly having no idea what he’s saying to me. “Get over it. We were only together because you clung to me and everyone expected us to be.”
Only because he never let me hang out with anyone else.Agh, I could scream!Out of the corner of my eye, I notice his parents watching our exchange. That’s what happens when you sign across a public space like this. But I don’t censor my response.
“Okay, asshole.” My hands fly. He’s stooping low. Like I’m right back in it and he’s dumping me all over again.Get over it—I’m so tired of letting him dictate my emotions. “You’re not that great. Always so full of yourself.”
I feel Jackson standing beside me, watching curiously. Has he pieced together that we just spent the last hour watching my ex play?
Cody had broken up with me so jarringly, but maybe I should have seen the signs along the way. Had I been looking back at things with rose-colored glasses? Was our time together really that bad? Brandview was small. There weren’t many options when it came to dating. But I know for a fact he chose me as much as I chose him.
Honestly, all things considered, he was a pathetic choice.
“Sorry you can’t find someone else,” Cody signs, glaring up at me.
“Or maybe I just take my time.” I tilt my head forward incredulously. He didn’t realize how good he had it. I’m a catch. I’ll make Cody regret those words. He really thinks I’ve just been sitting around pining after him? I’mnotlosing this breakup.
Jackson looks down at the field, then back at me. “Everything okay?” he asks.
I step forward and take hold of his open jacket. “Hey.” I press even closer, looking up into his brown eyes. “Can you kiss me?”
He twitches, shocked, eyes darting toward the field, but without giving it another thought, he leans into me as I pull him closer.
Our lips meet. A simple peck might have sufficed, but Jackson hasn’t backed away. So I don’t, either. I reach my arms around his neck, feeling a flutter of delight as he, in turn, wraps his around my waist.
Jackson certainly didn’t shy away from me this time.
For a moment, I forget the jealousy and anger that initiated this. Jackson is the first guy I’ve ever kissed whoisn’tCody. And it’s different. It’sbetter. I’m not kissing to go through the motions or to act like how a couple is supposed to act, which was always the case with Cody. How hadn’t I seen this yet?
I’m actually drawn to Jackson. At Brandview, Cody and I were kind of inevitable. At Amber, no one would expect me and Jackson to be together. We’re nothing alike.
Yet it works.
