no text from Jake. She shouldn’t have expected anything else. He had to keep up a good appearance for his team. The staff had no issues bringing down any jock who disobeyed the rules of conduct. Bri really wished he’d make an exception. He had to realize he was making her insane.
The lunch bell shrilled just as her history teacher, Mr. Dale, started writing that night’s assignment on the board. Everyone stood up but he blocked the door. “Read through the next five chapters tonight; there will be a pop quiz tomorrow.”
“Isn’t the idea for us to be surprised?” future valedictorian Holden Jeffers asked.
He dodged a spitball just as Mr. Dale spoke. “I’ll be sure to surprise you next time.”
Bri filtered out of the room with the rest of the class. Mr. Dale had a tough exterior as the football coach but he was a softy. He was one of Bri’s favorite teachers and since he taught history, a subject outside of her comfort zone, she needed him on her side as much as she could.
Bri met Max at her locker and shoved her bag inside, making sure she grabbed lunch money before closing it. She tucked the phone and money into her back pockets and leaned against the locker next to hers. Kids rushed down the hall toward the cafeteria.
Max groaned and struggled with her bag.
“Want some help?” Bri knelt next to her. Max had taken four advanced classes this semester. With advanced classes came massive textbooks.
“Okay.” Max placed her hand on the bag, balancing it in place. “One, two—”
They slammed the locker shut seconds after Max’s fingers moved out of the way of the metal door.
Max rubbed her hands together. “I’ll deal with that mess later.” She looped her arm through Bri’s. “Ready?”
***
Bri’s palms started to sweat and her heart raced. Before lunch, they always met Jake and Tucker outside the boys’ bathroom closest to the cafeteria. Tucker Langley had been Bri’s neighbor in her condo complex since his parents split when he was eight. As the only two kids in the fifty-plus complex, they bonded quickly. Even though Tucker was a so-called ladies’ man, he never forgot his roots.
The excited buzz around them turned inward in Bri’s ears as they rounded the corner. Her eyes went right to Jake. Her heart fluttered as she watched Jake act out a conversation for Tucker.
Bri’s mouth went dry and she stopped in the middle of the hallway. Someone pushed her from behind and she made a noise, enough to catch Jake’s attention.
She couldn’t look at his piercing eyes. Instead she focused on his shoes.
“Will you cut your hair already?” Max said to Tucker.
Bri was relieved at the reprieve. She needed a minute to compose herself, even though she’d spent the entire night and morning thinking about Jake.
Tucker grinned. His ink-black locks were the longest she’d ever seen them, pulled at the nape of his neck in a ponytail. “Jealous?”
Bri ran her fingers through her own hair, which had finally dried out from the rain. She twisted a chunk around her hand and pushed it away from her face.
Jake leaned against the wall confidently, one foot up against it and his hands in his pockets.
Bri’s heart raced. To the untrained eye, he appeared calm. The hands in the pockets were a definite sign that he was nervous too. This could go either way.
“Relax,” Max said under her breath, knowing full well that Bri was a ball of jitters.
Bri shrugged. “I’m fine.”
Max snorted a laugh. “Your panic-stricken face suggests otherwise.”
Jake’s eyes widened. “You put your contact in today.”
“She never leaves the house without it,” Max commented.
Bri glanced at Max.
“But last night …” He trailed off. The corners of his eyes tightened.
“Let’s leave the lovebirds alone.” Tucker winked at Bri and grabbed Max’s bag, leading her away.
Bri opened her hands at her sides. “About that. I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay,” he interrupted. “Maybe it wasn’t the right time.”
Bri’s throat tightened. They stood in silence, staring at each other. Bri cleared her throat. This was not turning out as she expected. Someone pushed her from behind and she caught a hair flip from Chloe as the girl walked by. Earlier she had been fueled with revenge but now she was incredibly annoyed. “I couldn’t leave that late. Mom fell asleep.”
Bri turned back to Jake and his eyes bored into hers. The skin around his eyes crinkled at the corners as if he wanted to say something but couldn’t find the words. “You didn’t—”
“Another late night?” Bri said at the exact same time. She wanted to lighten the situation even though her insides were tangled in a knot.
The hallway cleared out and she didn’t want the awkward conversation to go on any further. At least not without food in her stomach. In her hurry to get Abbey ready, she’d forgotten to eat breakfast.
Jake nodded slowly. “Yeah. Late night.”
“So …” She dragged the word out. “What did you want to tell me?”
He blinked several times. Yet nothing came out of his mouth.
She reached out and touched his shoulder and he jumped. Not something she imagined him doing from her touch. She fought back the hot tears behind her eyes. She looked away to hide them.
“Sorry,” he said. “Dad’s had me working late these past few weeks. I think it’s starting to catch up with me.” He shook his head, revealing the disarming smile that always made her heart melt. His hand trailed down her arm and his fingers twined through hers. “Let’s talk after practice?”
She nodded. As much as she wanted to know exactly what he had to say, she didn’t want to push the subject. Not when he’d made his intentions perfectly clear by touching her more intimately than he ever had before.
He pulled her to his side and she failed in her attempt to hide her glee.
They arrived at the cafeteria. The line for the hot buffet nearly reached the door. Instead of going elsewhere, Jake squeezed her hand, leading her to the line. Her stupid imagination hoped that it would be because he wanted to hold her hand longer. The thought was hard to shake when he didn’t let go. She was light-headed. The feeling intensified and for more than one reason she was happy he was holding on to her. She really needed to eat something before she face-planted in front of the whole school.
Thankfully, the line moved quickly. The cafeteria workers had their routine down to a science since the kids barely had thirty minutes to buy and eat their food. Jake and Bri lingered on polite conversation, the weight of whatever he had to tell her pressing around them like a thick fog. But they’d been playing
