Chapter 14
Fourteen
RHOADS
“Everything was going great until The Jeep showed up.” I strike the ball as hard as I can toward the goal. It soars up and over the silver aluminum bar, smacks a thick tree trunk, and ricochets back toward the goal post.
I tried to keep my cool, but I’m not going to lie, seeing Graham rattled me. For more than one reason.
Dillon passes me another ball. He and Kyle both answered the SOS text to meet at our not-so-secret secret field, creatively nicknamed The Field.
Surrounded by trees, at the back of a neighborhood park, the short-sided pitch is our favorite place to blow off steam.
The nets are somehow still pristine—probably because no one else ever comes here. At least, not that I’ve seen.
It’s the perfect spot to vent. And right now, I’m positively crushing this bag of lifeless soccer balls.
“Ouch.” Kyle collects my latest shanked shot and dribbles back over, weaving around the bench we found at a garage sale last summer and planted on the sidelines so we would have somewhere to sit. “That guy has always intimidated you.”
I place another ball at the corner of the box. “Which is stupid, because we used to be friends.” My foot connects with the ball, and it flies toward the back post. Dillon rushes into the pass and heads it into the back of the net. “Nice finish.”
Graham and I went our separate ways after he asked out Chloe, though I’m sure he thinks it’s because we play different sports.
I kind of did you a favor, right? If she liked you, she wouldn’t have said yes.
I could have squeezed the tension from the air like soap out of those brand-new sponges. I don’t know exactly what went down between them, but I know enough.
What everyone knows.
And knowing that Graham broke Chloe’s heart, especially the way he did it, fills me with rage. Maybe I scrubbed the grill of Graham’s car harder than necessary. The bugs weren’t that stuck.
Lucky him. He got a two-for. To see Chloe and an extra sparkly car.
My jaw clenches as I receive a pass from Kyle and flick it with my left foot toward Dillon.
Maybe I was also hoping Chloe would notice my biceps. Graham was flaunting his, so why shouldn’t I?
I hate the way he affects me like this, making me doubt myself. He activates the lizard brain that makes me want to act purely out of instinct and get all territorial.
Which is ridiculous considering I’ve never even hung out with Chloe alone once outside of soccer training. Just call me Iguana Don. Or, with how intimidating I actually am, Gary Gecko.
Warm wind rustles the leaves on the trees. They haven’t changed colors yet, still clinging onto the vibrant green of summer. The grass, too, is soft despite the heat. Someone’s been making sure it gets watered regularly.
“I don’t know why he came at all, why he thought that would be a good idea. If he’s planning on winning Chloe back, he’s going to have his work cut out for him. She’s definitely not interested.” I roll my head back and forth to massage the tight spots in my neck.
Probably.
I mean, she didn’t seem interested.
And this time Graham’s going to have something else standing in his way of winning Chloe’s heart: me.
I wipe my face on my T-shirt. It still smells like lemon where Chloe hit me with the sponge.
Breathing it in gives me a surge of hope.
Our water fight was pretty flirtatious, and I got to see an unguarded side of her for just a few minutes.
Knowing I had something to do with putting that smile on her face makes me feel like I’ve got a shot.
“So, what are you going to do about it?” Kyle asks.
I roll the ball under my cleat and squint up at the blue sky.
“I need an excuse to hang out with her in a different setting. Soccer is great, but once we’re on the field, we won’t have much time to really talk.
” Of course, I’d love to ask her to breakfast on a real date, but I still think that might be moving too fast. Especially because I’m nervous seeing Graham reminded her of why she doesn’t want to date. Of what’s at stake.
“If I’m going to win her over, I need to thaw the ice a little first, make her see me in a different light.”
Prove I’m worthy of her time.
“Don’t you have classes together?” Dillon asks. He gestures for me to pass him the ball. I scoop it up into the air, and he traps it with his chest, lets it bounce once, then half-volleys it into the back of the net.
If Jake were here, he would have caught the ball. But no goalie means Dillon scores. He pumps his fists and takes a goofy victory lap around the goal.
I rub a palm over the thin layer of stubble on my cheek. “Yeah, econ and Spanish.”
“So start there,” Kyle says. He balances a yellow ball on the laces of his cleat.
“We do have an econ test coming up.”
Dillon dribbles back to me. “Ba-da-boom. There’s your answer. Ask her to study with you.”
Kyle flicks his ball to me. “It’s pretty low-stakes. Not like econ’s a romantic subject. But it has big potential.”
I take one touch to the outside of my right foot and shoot. The ball zips to the upper corner of the goal, rippling the net as it slides down. That’s the first shot I’ve made since we got here. I take it as a sign from the universe.
“Alright. I’ll ask her.” I smile for the first time since Graham busted up my time with Chloe. If it works out, economics might just become my favorite subject.