Page 13

“That really is cute though,” Melanie said. “It’s almost like you guys were meant—”

Ding.

Rory swiped her phone from her back pocket at rocket speed, wondering if it was another text from him.

It was.

Jay had sent a picture of two plastic spoons on a table.

Come fight me!

“Oh, right. I almost forgot,” Melanie whispered next to her. She leaned in, looking at the string of messages on Rory’s screen. “Hold up, did he say he—?”

Rory flipped her phone over quickly. “You didn’t see anything.”

Melanie’s mouth fell open. “He said he misses you.”

“Who misses you?” Blake asked.

“No one,” Rory said flatly, turning her attention to the team now spilling out across the field, the crowd screaming as the players jogged to the center for a quick huddle. Rory scanned the navy jerseys for number 17, but it didn’t take long to find him. He was dead center, hyping the team up in a chant with a massive grin on his face, the whites of his teeth gleaming under the bright stadium lights.

“God, he’s going to miss this,” she said.

“I’m not done with you,” Melanie said, tugging on her sleeve. “Want to tell me what’s going on?”

Calvin came bounding up the metal stands, hugging Dan and Jan before tucking in between Melanie and Blake.

Saved by the bell, she thought. “We’ll talk later,” Rory murmured.

But truthfully, she hoped Melanie would just drop it. Apparently, Jay missed her. So much so that he was texting her constantly to get her attention. She…loved it. Loved that he was finally paying attention to her. And yet…she had no idea what to say.

* * *

The teams were neck and neck by the time they reached halftime. Rory watched as Tyler kept encouraging his teammates in between plays, patting them on their backs and likely saying something inspiring that had his teammates nodding their heads and cheering along with him.

He was a good captain. A natural-born leader. If her peers couldn’t see that, if they really wanted to vote for someone like Walker—who was currently stomping around on the sidelines and arguing with the assistant coach—to be their Homecoming King, then good riddance. Rory didn’t want to associate with a town that couldn’t see something good when it was right in front of them.

The referee blew the whistle, and the players sprung to action. She watched as Tyler jogged up to Walker as they headed back onto the field. He reached for Walker’s shoulder, but Walker shoved him off, clearly still riled up from whatever conversation he just had with the coach.

Tyler’s shoulders sagged. He then turned to the crowd, his gaze scanning the stands above them. She watched as he finally froze, his eyes set on where she sat. She stood up in her seat, just in case he couldn’t see her properly.

If she wasn’t mistaken, a grin pulled on the corner of those lips underneath his bulky helmet. Tyler lifted his arm and pointed in her direction, causing a few people in the stands to look over at her with curiosity painted plainly on their faces.

Rory turned slightly, her eyes still on him as she lifted her arms, holding an imaginary football. She “threw it” in his direction, watching as he jumped and caught the invisible ball in his gloved hands. A few people laughed and cheered at the gesture as Tyler returned to his team, setting himself up for their first play of the third quarter.

She plopped back down in her seat next to Melanie. “And that’s why I wear the bandana.”

The marching band blasted the school fight song, the crowd going wild as they sang along, pouring all their energy and hope to the field below and hoping beyond hope that it could give them a little luck. That the 14-14 score glowering down on them from the board across the field would miraculously change, that those numbers would look a lot more promising with just a few more dazzling plays.

The cheerleaders danced along with the song, their gold pom-poms glistening beneath the stadium lights. Zoe Clark stood at the center, her perfectly curled blonde ponytail bouncing with each peppy move.

Walker stood at the center as the boys lined up, yelling a few commands at the team. Tyler stepped a few paces back, bouncing slightly on his feet as he waited for Walker to finally scream “HIKE!”

Walker held the ball briefly, his gaze focused on Tyler who was sprinting to the right, dodging past a defenseman from Garrison before reaching the other side of the field. Walker pulled his arm back and threw the ball, and Tyler jumped and caught it with his left hand.

The crowd went nuts. Rory stood up and screamed as Tyler tucked the football under his arm, holding it tightly as he charged past the 30-yard line, then the 20-yard line, before getting tackled at the 15.

The band started blasting again, the cheerleaders chanting as the boys huddled together to chat through the next play. Rory sat back down, her leg bouncing at the anticipation of it all.