5
After the dinner from hell, Will was beyond grateful that the next day was a Friday and he didn’t have after-school maths. It would give him the weekend to get over it so that he wasn’t horribly embarrassed to see Gabriel face to face again.
It was Friday night, coming up on six, and Will was spending way too long picking out what shirt to wear. The maroon shirt felt like he was trying too hard, but his plain white polo was too boring. The party was at Dune’s house. As captain of the football team, Dune had been hosting parties since they’d gotten into secondary school. His house was big, and his parents never seemed to mind him having parties—as long as someone cleaned the house up afterward. After Will joined the soccer team, he found out it was the team that made the house presentable in the morning.
“Oh, god no,” Leah said, barging into his room after he’d finally slipped into the white polo. “The other one. Definitely the other one.”
“Yeah?” Will played with the hem of his shirt. The cotton was thick and hid more of his body. And he was feeling the need for that extra protection right now. It was one of those days.
Leah smacked his stomach with the back of her hand. “What’s the point in working out all the time if you don’t show off the results?”
Will eyed himself in the mirror. He knew he wasn’t overweight, and there were muscles hidden beneath the fabric covering him—but he wasn’t always like that. The memory of what he’d looked like before was burned into his mind, and he saw it whenever he so much as glimpsed his body. Admittedly, he was never overweight, but he had never been in great shape either.
Leah tilted her head, and a frown tugged her lips down. “Will?”
Will shook off the discomfort in his limbs. “Maroon shirt it is.” He smiled. “Glad you’re home. I’m terrible at this clothes stuff.”
The frown didn’t completely erase itself from Leah’s expression, but she gave his arm a light punch. “That is a bald-faced lie. Just look at this?” She showed off the purple hoodie she’d taken from him. “It’s stunning.”
“Am I ever going to get my stunning hoodie back?” Will took off the white shirt and pulled the maroon one on as quickly as possible. He ignored the flash of skin he saw in the mirror, pointedly turning away from it as he buttoned up the front of the shirt.
“If I feel like it,” Leah said with a smile that faded. She searched Will’s eyes. “Are you sure you want to go tonight? You seem…off.”
Will was feeling very off. But Jack would be there with the tree, and Will sure as hell wouldn’t leave them alone to bond. “I have to go.”
“No. If you don’t want to, you don’t have to do anything.” Leah crossed her arms.
Will recognised her protective older-sister demeanour when he saw it. “I’m driving Jack and Amanda. And I want to go. I haven’t been out with everyone since…”
“Last week.” Leah supplied the answer. “Will—”
“Leah.” Will gave her shoulders a squeeze. “Ease up. I didn’t mean that I was being forced or anything. Okay? I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Leah looked unconvinced but nodded. “Call me if you want to come home.”
“I will.” He grabbed his keys from the counter and dashed out before he said anything else to make Leah suspicious.
* A six-pack of Corona bottles rested in the back seat. Will hated drinking beer. It always sat in his stomach like a weight of lead, and it was almost a full week before he could ever eat anything semi-normally without feeling bad about it. He would have preferred mixed drinks like Jack and Amanda brought with them, or, ideally, he would like to not drink at all—but everyone on the team drank beer, so he did too.
Jack and Amanda were at the bottom of their driveway waiting for him.
Jack had on a pressed blue shirt and black jeans, and his dark sandy hair was brushed to the side in soft curls. A button left undone at the top of Jack’s shirt showed off pale skin and the edges of his collarbones. Will tore his gaze away before he got stuck staring.
Amanda wore a black dress with silver sparkles. Will had always liked her sandy blonde hair, and her light green eyes. Both features reminded him strongly of Jack.
“You look nice,” Will complimented her. “Going all out tonight?”
Amanda climbed into the back seat before she flashed Will a grin. “Thanks. Have you talked to him yet? You’re always so busy at school.” More like Will was purposefully avoiding a certain someone at school…but he had to be honest: He was fighting the inevitable here, wasn’t he?
Jack had his neck craned back to watch her lips. Amanda signed it for him too. Jack turned expectantly to Will, waiting for him to speak.
“By ‘him,’ are you talking about the guy who’s named after a tree?” Will asked dryly.
“Birch,” Jack and Amanda said together.
“Right.” Will focused on the road. Amanda was picky with guys, and if she already liked him enough to cast Will aside and sit with him at school instead, then Will really didn’t want Jack to spend time alone with him. But…if Amanda liked him and wanted to do something about it, then Jack was too nice a guy to get in her way. “So,” Will said, putting more cheer in his voice, “are you going to try to have some alone time together tonight? I can help. I’ll ‘forget’ my drinks in the car and let you two go get them.”
“Slow down there,” Amanda snorted. “We’ve only really been talking to him a week. Who knows if he’ll even want to hang out with us when all the popular kids are there tonight?”
Will twitched at that. The popular group at their secondary school consisted mostly of the members of sports teams and anyone who hung out with them. Will had gotten to know a few of the guys in the popular group when he joined the team. He got along with them, but he’d happily pick playing volleyball with Jack over soccer any day of the week.
“I don’t think he’s that kind of guy,” Jack said, defending him.
Will tapped his fingers on the steering wheel. “I guess we’ll have to wait and see.”
Hedges lined Dune’s driveway, and standing at the end was a lone teenager.
“That’s him,” Amanda said. “Pull over.”
Will studied him as he slowed down. In the evening light, Birch’s hair looked jet black.
“Hi guys.” Birch smiled at Amanda and Jack as he climbed in, and his honey gaze danced over Will with a flicker of uncertainty.
“I’m Will.” Will only met his eyes long enough to introduce himself and hear the introduction returned before he turned back to the road. Annoyance beat through every fibre of Will’s being. Will didn’t know if Birch was nice yet, but it really got on his nerves that he was good looking.
Jack leaned over the handbrake to read Birch’s lips as he spoke.
Will tried not to notice the excitement in Jack’s eyes as he watched Birch…or the way his lips were curling up with nothing funny being said. But it was impossible not to dwell on the fact he never looked at Will like that.
Will parked the car around back, next to Dune’s Toyota. They all got out and Birch fidgeted on the balls of his feet and buried his hands deep into his jean pockets. He was wearing a plain white shirt, like the one Will had wanted to put on earlier.
“Are you sure it’s okay I’m here?” Birch asked, his gaze flicking to Will as he did.
“It’s fine,” Will answered. Actually, it’s not, he corrected internally. Go home . “Everyone from school is invited, and technically that would include you.” Will tried to figure out if there were muscles underneath Birch’s shirt. It was hard to tell in the dimness of twilight.
“I guess…”
“You play any sports?” Will asked.
Birch’s cheeks turned a pink shade, and he rubbed the back of his neck. “I don’t know if you’d call it a ‘sport,’ but I go horse riding.”
Jack grinned. “Horse riding? Cool.”
Birch shot him a soft smile. One that made his left cheek dimple. He looked relieved, as if he’d expected them to make fun of his answer. When he glanced at Will, something like anxiety flickered across his face.
“Yeah,” Will agreed with Jack. “Cool. Let’s head inside.”