“I’m in the same league as my dad. Since Gunnar works with him, maybe you could be in it next year.”
“Yeah. Maybe.”
Finn blinked like he was taken off guard. “Are you not into football? I mean, it’s cool if you’re not.”
“I’m into it.” He grinned. “I mean, not like you or anything. Is it true you’re going to have your pick of colleges next year?”
Finn shook his head. “A couple of scouts are taking an interest in me, but it’s not like everyone is making it sound.”
“Oh.” When his phone buzzed, he looked down at the screen. It was Gunnar, saying that he wasn’t going to be back until probably Sunday but that he’d call later.
Jeremy frowned at it.
“What’s wrong?”
“That was my foster—I mean, Gunnar. He said that he wasn’t going to be back until Sunday now. His girlfriend, Kimber, must be bad off.”
“Wow. That’s too bad.”
“Yeah.” Suddenly feeling like he was in the way, he said, “Sorry I’m going to be here so long.”
Finn gave him that same look again. “I don’t care how long you’re here. It’s good to have the company.”
Comments like that were probably why everyone liked Finn Vance so much. He not only was cool, he was nice. Way more chill than most seniors. Feeling like maybe he could trust him to not make fun of him, Jeremy said, “Are you going to the Christmas dance?”
“Yep. I don’t really care if I go or not, but Allison likes that stuff.”
“You two have been going out a while, huh?”
Finn nodded. “About a year or so.” He grinned. “She lives next door.”
“Next door, huh? Boy, I hope you don’t break up.” Of course, the moment he said the words, he wished he could take them back. “Sorry. That was pretty rude.”
“Nah, it’s the truth.” Finn shrugged. “I hope we don’t break up too, though I doubt it would make a difference as far as us living next door to each other. She graduated in December. So I’m dating a college girl now.”
“Wow. Are you going to go to the same college?”
“Doubt it. Allison is attending community college this spring and then maybe Miami or OU. All the coaches who’ve been looking at me are in other states.”
“That’s hard.”
“Yeah, but Allison is cool with that. She’s really into her plans and I want to play ball as long as I can, so we agreed to not try to hold each other back.”
Finn had his life together. All of it. And, here Jeremy was, still just trying to believe that the adoption was actually going to go through.
Reaching out to pet Henry, Finn said, “What about you?”
“Me?”
“Yeah. Are you going to the dance?”
Jeremy nodded. “ I asked Bethany Seevers. Do you know her?”
“I know who she is. Bethany’s real cute.”
“She is. She’s a dancer.”
“That’s cool.”
Jeremy still couldn’t believe that she liked him so much, since she could have anyone she wanted. “Does everyone get their dates corsages?” Even though she was going to meet him after rehearsal, he wanted to make sure she got a corsage if all the other girls had them.
“Pretty much. But don’t worry about dinner. My folks are hosting a big dinner here. You and Bethany should come over.”
“Thanks, but I’m going to have to meet her at the dance.” He briefly explained about her ballet rehearsal.
“That sucks, but you should still come.”
“I don’t know.”
“Sure you do. You’re new and you don’t want to walk into the dance by yourself, do you? That’s the worst.”
That would be awful. Thinking how much better it would be to arrive with a whole group of people, he said, “Are you sure parents won’t mind if I show up?” Of course, what he was really worried about was if Finn minded.
“Nah. Allison’s parents are putting it on too. Plus, there’s already going to be like thirty of us. One more won’t make a difference. And don’t worry about being the only one without a date. There’s about five or six who are going to the dance in a group.”
Finn made it all sound so easy. “Thanks,” he said. “That’s really cool of you.”
“It’s no big deal. Oh, wait. I’ve got to see this,” he said as a new graphic listing players appeared on the screen.
When Finn started watching the updates intently, Jeremy texted Bethany and told her about Finn’s dinner idea.
Would you mind if I went?
He had no idea if she would be mad about that. She texted back right away.
Of course not.
Okay, good. I think I’m going to do it then.
I’ll get there as soon as I can. At least Miss Shannon said I didn’t have to stay after we went through the ballet one full time. I bet I’ll get there by 8:30!
8:30 is good.
We’re going to have so much fun.
Yep.
His finger hovered over his phone’s screen. He should probably text something else, but he had no idea what to add. Before he could come up with anything, Bethany had already responded.
I never asked, but you like to dance, right?
Yeah. I like it fine.
But the truth was he didn’t really like it. Well, he didn’t really know how to dance. He had no idea what she was going to think when she saw just how bad he was.
“Want to grab some lunch?” Finn asked. He pointed to his cell phone’s screen. “My dad just told me that the taco truck is parked downtown.”
Glad Gunnar had given him some spending money, Jeremy got to his feet. “Sure. Tacos sound great.”
Finn grinned. “Cool. I’ll put Henry on a leash and let’s get out of here.”
Standing up, Jeremy followed Finn and his dog. Henry’s tail was wagging like crazy, he was so happy to be included in the outing.
Jeremy thought he knew how the dog felt.
CHAPTER 29
“I will honor Christmas in my heart,
and try to keep it all the year.”
—charles dickens
“Is everything okay?” Kimber asked.