CHAPTER 15
There was something so satisfying about drawing a little check mark next to the items on my list.
2. First date.
Check.
20. Fail at something.
Check.
It still astonished me, but losing at mini-golf didn”t feel like a failure. The whole time we”d been on our date, it felt like flying. Despite staying up way too late rehashing every last detail on my call with Charlotte, the after-effects lingered, and I went to school the next day with extra pep in my step. My sister would”ve laughed her butt off if she could see me because I couldn”t stop smiling.
I was in a good mood, certain nothing could bring me down.
But all that happy came to a halt a moment later.
Sam and Brisa were in a little alcove down the hall.
They were standing close, talking in lowered voices.
Actually, I realized, it looked they were in the middle of a serious discussion.
I stood there, shifting from foot to foot, unsure of what to do. Did I play the possessive girlfriend card, walk over there, ignore Brisa, and claim Sam”s mouth like it was my property? Maybe I should step between them and warn her to stay away from my boyfriend? Neither option felt right. Mostly because this wasn”t a cheesy rom-com, and people—and their mouths—weren”t property. Not to mention the small, very significant detail that Sam was not, in fact, my real boyfriend, and how close he stood to someone was none of my business.
I decided to text him.
Do you need rescuing?
There. That was light, casual, and left the decision up to him.
When Sam”s phone pinged, he pulled it out of his pocket, looked at the screen…and a second later, the softest, most devastating smile crossed his lips.
My phone buzzed in my hand.
Depends. Are you the rescuer?
I grinned as I typed my reply.
Of course.
He texted back immediately.
Then yeah, girlfriend. I need you.
Those last three words got my feet moving before I”d fully decided to act. Brisa had just put her hand on Sam”s arm.He didn”t try to shake her off—or at least, it didn”t look that way. I wouldn”t be a jerk about it, but maybe I could remind her of what she”s missing.
That was part of the deal, I told myself.
Sam was doing an awesome job playing his part.
It was time for me to play mine.
”Hey, Bishop,” I said, sidling up next to Sam, draping my arm around his waist, and gazing up at him. ”Did you miss me?”
”Always,” he said.
As if we were perfectly in tune, I rose up on tip-toe, and he leaned down, our lips meeting in a kiss that made tingles race down my spine.It shouldn”t have moved me so much. The kiss was quick, perfectly acceptable PDA, but as we broke apart our mouths clung to each other as if sad to let go. By the time we parted, I was slightly breathless, and Sam…
He was staring at my lips.
”I missed you too,” I said quietly.
”That”s nice to hear.”
”Hmmm.”
Ducking to kiss my cheek, his nose pressed in my hair, he whispered, ”Thanks for the rescue, Kent.”
Laughing lightly, I turned to face Brisa and said, ”Oh hey, Brisa, how”s it going? Are you ready for the festival?”
”Are you?” she retorted while running a hand through her hair. ”You”re the one Principal Rochelle entrusted with all the power. Everyone else on council is basically just doing your bidding.”
”I”m sure it”ll be a success. I”ve been working on this since last spring. Everyone will have an awesome time, and we”ll raise a ton for the school.”
She smiled brightly, flashing all of her teeth. ”Well, if it fails, we all know who to blame.”
”I—”
”Cooper just walked in. Remember what I said.”
”I will,” I replied.
Brisa rolled her eyes. ”I wasn”t talking to you, Scarlett.”
”Good talk as usual, Bri,” Sam said. ”Now, if you don”t mind, I want to be alone with my girlfriend.”
She shook her head, muttered, ”Hope you know what you”re doing,” then walked away.
My brow furrowed as she left. Our interaction was odd—especially that last part—but the one between her and Cooper Hollingsworth was awkward to say the least. When her now-boyfriend bent to kiss her, Brisa turned, giving him her cheek. Cooper laughed it off good-naturedly, went to pull her to him in a hug, and she deftly dodged his hands, moving like the skilled track and field star she was. Again, Cooper didn”t seem to take offense, never once losing his happy grin. It was an interesting dance, but if I didn”t know better—which I didn”t—I”d say Brisa and he were having trouble.
”Looks like they”re having some issues,” I said.
”Yeah,” Sam said, ”I kinda saw that coming.”
Frowning, I asked, ”Cooper”s an okay guy, right? He wouldn”t do anything to hurt her—would he?”
He chuckled.
”What?”
”If Brisa knew you were worrying about her, she”d hate you even more.”
”I don”t get why she hates me in the first place,” I mumbled. ”But back to Hollingsworth. What”s your take on him?”
”Cooper”s cool but a little oblivious,” he said. ”If anything I”d be worried for him, not Brisa. Trust me. She can take care of herself.”
I gave him a small smile. ”And she knows that you”d be therefor her if she ever needed you.”
He nodded. ”I would. And I”d be there for you too, you know.”
As a friend, I mentally added.
He”d be there for me as a friend, and that was enough. It was more than enough.
It had to be.
Stepping back, I said, ”What were you two talking about before?”
”Nothing important,” he said.
”It sounded like something.”
”Brisa just gave me some unsolicited advice.”
”About?” I said.
”Like I said, it was nothing.”
I wanted to ask more about their talk, but instead, I backed off. If Sam didn”t want to tell me what Brisa and he were discussing, that was fine. It was none of my business.
And yet…
”What do you have there?” he asked.
I blinked then looked down at the bag in my hand.
”Oh yeah, I almost forgot,” I said then held it out to him, feeling a bit nervous. ”These are for you.”
”For me?”
There was a note of surprise in his voice as he took the bag and looked inside.
”You didn”t have to get me anything.”
”I did actually,” I said as he pulled out the tin inside and opened the lid. ”They”re to thank you, for the flowers and the date.”
Sam”s eyes crinkled at the corners as he smiled. ”You baked.”
”Chocolate chip is your favorite.”
He shook his head. ”I can”t believe you made these.”
I smiled. ”And they”re actually edible—I think. You”ll have to try them to find out, but I went through two batches before I finally got it right. The container was supposed to keep them warm.”
As Sam looked up at me, I gestured to the bag again.
”There”s a carton of milk in there too.”
”Thanks, Kent,” he said.
”Don”t thank me yet. You still haven”t tried them.”
Sam cocked his brow and popped one of the cookies into his mouth whole. He chewed thoughtfully for a moment then closed his eyes, dropped his head back, and groaned.
”That bad, huh?” I said.
”That good,” Sam replied before eating another cookie. ”These are amazing.”
”Glad you like them.”
”My girlfriend is an amazing cook.”
”A little over-the-top but okay.”
Sam made quick work of the cookies, then he chugged the milk. There was something oddly hypnotic about the way his Adam”s apple bobbed as he did it. I was still staring at his throat when he finished and threw me a grin.
”Those were the best cookies I”ve ever had,” he said seriously.
But I shook my head. ”Then you”ve obviously never eaten your favorite food. Half of them were underbaked.”
”Underbaked is my favorite.”
As my eyes narrowed, he crossed his arms. ”Flattery will get you nowhere with me, Bishop.”
”They were the best, Kent. Because you made them,” he said with a shrug.
And there he went turning me into a liar.
That type of flattery was the kind that fed your soul.
Sam Bishop was the kind of guy that could give compliments like that and say them with such bone-deep sincerity, you believed it.
Which was what made him so dangerous.
”Well,” I said, pretending to check my watch, ”you didn”t die, so I guess they are edible.”
Sam laughed.
”Glad I get to check that off the list as well.”
The bell rang, and as I was putting my list away, Sam asked, ”You want to meet after school for another lesson?”
Translation: Did I want to meet Sam for more kissing?
Yes.
Every part of me yearned to say yes.
Unfortunately, I couldn”t.
”I can”t today. I”ve got mentoring,” I said. ”We”re adding sports to our session because the kids said they wanted to do something outside. So, our lesson will have to wait.”
Instead of looking disappointed, Sam”s eyes brightened. ”Can I come?”
I blinked. ”Excuse me?”
”To mentoring,” he said. ”You said you”re doing sports? That”s right up my alley.”
”Don”t you have practice?”
”Not today,” he said.
”Oh.”
Sam looked at me expectantly.
”I just want to remind you that I work with young kids,” I said.
”I love kids,” he said back, ”and I”m good with them. Just ask Betty and Bennet.”
”Sometimes they can be hard to win over.”
”I love a challenge. So?”
”Okay,” I said, and he whooped. ”But if they hate you, don”t blame me.”
Sam gave me his signature grin. ”Who could hate me, Kent? I”m fantastic.”
#
They loved him.
Of course, they did.
Sam walked in, carrying a soccer ball under one arm, flashed the kids a smile, and said, ”Who wants to learn how to score a goal with their face?”
Hands flew into the air, and that was all she wrote.
After that, it was a mix of ”Mr. Sam, is this right?” ”Mr. Sam, can you show us that again?” ”Mr. Sam, how do you do that without breaking your nose?” And ”Mr. Sam, how did you get so cool?”
He”d shot me a grin over his shoulder at that one.
”Well, Trevor,” he said, ”I had to work at it a lot.”
Little Trevor, who was only eight, said, ”Do you think I could be as cool as you one day?”
”Oh definitely, you”ll be even cooler.”
The smile that split the young boy”s face would”ve melted even the coldest heart. He”d lost one of his front teeth the other night and proudly pulled it out of his pocketto show people at every opportunity.As Sam patted his back, he beamed even brighter.
”But only if you practice,” Sam added.
The young boy gave an energetic nod. ”Okay, I”ll go do that.”
As I watched Trevor and the others practice bouncing the ball off their heads, I shook my own. How did Sam make that look so easy?
Freya leaned over to me and said, ”I think he”s a keeper.”
”No, actually, Sam”s a midfielder,” I said.
”You know what I meant.”
”I do,” I murmured.
Aurora nudged me with her hip. ”You okay, Scar?” she asked. ”You sound sad.”
”Yeah, why is that?” Freya asked.
Because I don”t know if I can keep him.
Shaking my head, I broke my stare from Sam who was now going to each kid, working with them individually, making sure they all felt special.
”I”m fine,” I said, waving off their concerns.
Freya tilted her head. ”Is it because they like him better than you?”
I bit back a smile. ”No—and I don”t think they like him better.”
”They totally do,” she said. ”My girl, Zoe, who you said doesn”t like anyone at first, just gave him a high-five. A high-five!”
”I saw that,” I said.
”Anyway, I understand if you”re jealous.”
”I”m not.”
”Yeah,” Aurora said with a sigh, completely ignoring my words, ”it must be hard having such a loveable boyfriend.”
”Hey, I”m loveable,” I argued.
They both looked at me and laughed.
”Thanks, girls. Trying not to take that reaction personally.”
”Look.” Aurora gently took my chin and turned my head toward the field. It seemed like Sam was demonstrating how to correctly kick the ball. As he ran forward, he must”ve hit a slick spot of grass because a second later he was on the ground, smiling as all the kids around him burst into laughter. ”That is the definition of loveable.”
As Sam jumped to his feet, he smiled, sent me a wave, then pulled the bottom of his shirt up to wipe the sweat from his brow. Hard abs momentarily left me speechless. Was I even breathing?
”What”s not to love?” Freya mumbled, which made me laugh.
”Stop ogling my boyfriend,” I said.
”I will…in a second,” she said.
As his shirt fell back into place, there was a collective sigh of disappointment from my cousins and me. But again, I shook my head. Loveable, indeed.
Aurora suddenly smiled at something over my shoulder.
”Hey, Charlotte,” she said. ”What are you doing here?”
I spun around to see my sister and her boyfriend, Bo, walking this way.
”You said you couldn”t make it,” I said.
”I thought we couldn”t,” she replied, gesturing to the tall, scowling guy at her side.”But Bo heard the word soccer, and here we are.”
”Scarlett invited me,” Bo said with a nod in my direction. I didn”t take the scowl personally. That was just Bo”s go-to expression. ”I couldn”t let her and the kids down.”
Charlotte elbowed him in the ribs. ”Be honest, flower boy, you came to play ball.”
Bo stared down at her, and something in his face shifted. I”d seen this before, but it never got old. The guy hardly ever smiled—which was literally the opposite of Charlotte, who was smiling brightly up at him even now. But I swear, whenever he looked at my sister, you could practically hear his grumpy fa?ade crumble. A moment later, his lips twitched slightly at the corners.
”Perhaps,” he said.
Charlotte rolled her eyes, still smiling, then turned to me again. ”He heard Dare was coming and refused to miss it.”
Just then a car door slammed, and I saw my cousin, Viola, and Dare Frost, approaching us from the parking lot.
”Hey Scar,” she said, ”I hope we”re not too late.”
”You”re not,” I said in surprise. ”Thanks for coming. I thought you had to work.”
Viola sent me grin. ”We went to the shelter earlier. Dare couldn”t miss the chance to see his best soccer frenemy.”
”Hilarious,” Dare said.
”Thanks, I try,” she said back.
He laughed then turned to Bo. ”Stryker.”
”Frost,” Bo said back.
”Ready to get beat?”
”Are you?”
I gave them a frown. ”Don”t you guys play on the same team in college?”
”We do,” Dare said.
”But we still like to face-off against each other every now and then,” Bo finished.
As Sam came over, he dropped an arm around my shoulders, then gave the group a nod. ”Looked like a party over here, so I decided to join the fun.”
”Are the kids okay?” I asked.
”Yeah, I left them with Mrs. Primm working on dribbling drills.They”ll be busy for a while. What”s up?”
I narrowed my gaze at Bo and Dare. ”These two were supposed to help with mentoring, but apparently they”re planning to disrupt everything with their dumb feud.”
”Hey!” Dare and Bo spoke together.
”Lotte, Viola, I love you, but if your boyfriends ruin my program, I will end them. Swiftly. With no remorse.”
Both guys winced, but Sam just laughed.
”You”re terrifying,” he said.
”Thank you,” I said back.
Sending me a fond smile, Sam lifted his chin. ”Might be good for the kids to see a real match.”
”But there”s just two of them.”
More people joined our group then—I wasn”t expecting anyone else, but I knew every single face on the field which was getting more crowded by the second. My brows couldn”t get any tighter.
”Uncle Becks?” I said, looking around. ”Aunt Sally? What are you doing here?”
”Hey, Scarlett. Sorry, we”re late,” he said. ”Have you started the game yet?”
”What game?” I threw up my hands. ”This is a mentoring program.”
”Oh, I know, I know. Viola told us all about it.”
Bo”s mom and dad appeared then. ”How”s it going, Scarlett?” Ash asked. ”Did we miss the match?”
When I looked at her, Charlotte shook her head. ”I didn”t tell them,” she hissed.
”Becks,” Ash said, and the two did one of those back-thumping guy hugs. ”Good to see you.”
”You too.”
”Son.” Ash nodded at Bo then rubbed his hands together. ”Have you started yet?”
Aurora gaped at the couple that joined us next. ”Mom? Dad? What are you doing here?”
My other uncle, Clayton, laughed. ”Thanks for the warm welcome, princess.”
”Sorry, I”m just surprised to see you.”
Aurora”s mom drew her in for a hug. ”I begged him to stay home, but he and your Aunt Sally forced my hand.”
Guffaws followed that statement, mostly from Aunt Sally who rolled her eyes.
”You know how much I hate sports,” Aunt Lillian added.
”Not when I play them,” Clayton put in.
”That”s different,” she said. ”You know, I just like seeing you run in those little shorts.”
”Mom,” Aurora mumbled, blushing bright red.
”What?”
”Aunt Lillian, it”s nice to see you,” I began, but she lifted her hand to my cheek.
”Your face, it”s glowing,” she said. ”What”s your secret?”
Freya leaned forward and whispered, ”Her boyfriend”s got great abs.”
”Thanks, Freya,” I said as Sam chuckled at my side.
”Welcome,” she said sweetly.
My uncles gave Sam a dark look. ”Boyfriend?” Becks said then looked to his brother. ”I don”t remember Leo saying anything about a boyfriend.”
”Me either,” Clayton said.
”It”s a fairly new development,” I muttered.
”Might need to have the talk.”
”Already done,” Sam said brightly and held out a hand. ”It put the fear right into me. Hey, I”m Sam.”
After they shook, Clayton looked to Becks. ”So, are you and Ash playingeach other, or is it you against the kids?”
Someone cough-laughed. I thought it was Dare or Bo—or both.
Uncle Becks turned to the guys with raised brows. ”Something funny?”
”Nope,” Dare said.
Bo shook his head, but his father”s eyes narrowed.
”You got something to say, Bo?” Ash asked.
Bo shrugged. ”No, it”s just…you”re old.”
”Oh, thank you. I didn”t realize,” he said.
”Come on, Dad. You know what I mean.”
”I don”t think I do.”
”Uh oh,” Snow murmured. Mrs. Stryker sent me an apologetic glance as if she knew where this was going, and there was no stopping it.
Dare pushed his hands into his pockets then said, ”Well, I mean, you and Coach Kent can”t play against us. It wouldn”t be fair.”
”For who?” Becks said. ”You or us?”
”You,” he said. ”Obviously.”
”Obviously.”
”It”s not an insult, Coach,” he said, but Uncle Becks certainly looked offended. ”We”re young and in our prime.”
”Yeah,” Bo said, ”you and dad were good back in the day. But there”s no way you could take us now.”
Becks and Ash stared at each other a moment.
”Should we?” Becks asked.
”We should,” Ash said then looked back to the others. ”Challenge accepted. Let”s go.”
Bo scoffed.
”I”m serious.”
”I can”t,” Dare said. Hegave a deep sigh then looked to Viola. ”I don”t want to beat your dad in front of you, flower.”
Uncle Becks had a glint in his eye. ”Scared, Frost?”
”No way, Coach.”
”You should be,” Becks said.
Aunt Sally nodded. ”You really should.”
”Damn, right,” Ash put in. He lifted his chin at Sam. ”We”ll play three-on-three. Sam, you”re with Bo and Dare against Becks, Clayton and me.”
”Hey, I”m not in this,” Sam said with his hands up. ”Think of me as Switzerland. Plus, it would be weird. You”re my coach.”
”That”s right. And as your coach, I”m ordering you to play—sorry, it”s on the losing side.”
Sam shrugged. ”Alright, if you insist.”
”Fine,” Bo said with a shake of his head. ”But don”t be mad at us when we win.”
”You won”t,” Ash said, ”so that”s not going to be a problem.”
Uncle Becks turned to me. ”You okay with this, Scarlett?”
I thought it over for a moment then said, ”Promise me you and Ash will come back next week to teach the kids and that you”ll stay after to talk to them about going pro?”
I stared down my uncle and Bo”s dad until both men nodded.
”You got it,” Becks said while Ash added, ”Of course, I”d love to work with them.”
”So?” my uncle asked again.
Before I could answer, one of the kids came over and tugged on my arm. ”Miss Scarlett, we”re tired. Can we take a break now?”
”Of course,” I said, giving her hand a squeeze, ”I brought waters for everyone. I”ll pass them out in just one second.”
Looking at the faces gathered around, specifically Sam”s, who was smiling at me as if he knew I”d make the right call, I caved.
”We”re about to get to see a real, live soccer match,” I said.
I just hoped no one ended up in the hospital.