Our team scores within two minutes and now the game is tied. It goes like this for the entire first half. Back and forth, back and forth, until we’re 21 to 17 at the half, with the visiting team in the lead.
“Crap, you think we’re going to lose?” Kaya’s eyes are wide as the entire cheer team hooks arms and gets ready to meet the opposing cheer team in the middle of the field, as is our tradition. We’ll invite them to sit on our side to watch us perform our halftime routine.
“No way. Ash won’t let it happen,” I say firmly. “They always have some huge inspirational speech during halftime that makes them come back ten times stronger and ready to tear the other team apart.”
Kaya laughs. “So true. We witnessed that at a game a couple of weeks ago.”
We gripe about how we hate football and are so over it, but truly, I love it. It’s been a part of my life since I was born. I always believed I wanted to avoid football players at all costs, figuring they only wanted to use me for my dad.
Yet here I am, halfway in love with the quarterback of our football team, and I’m a cheerleader. My dad’s the coach. Ash and I are a total cliché.
Not that I mind.
The start of the third quarter we score immediately, and we take the lead for the rest of the game. I cheer loud and proud for my boy, for his team, for my father’s team, and when it’s all over and I can go out on the field to hug Ash, he sweeps me into his arms, holding me close despite all the equipment he’s still wearing.
“You were amazing,” I say, smiling up at him.
“I could hear you cheering, Callahan.” He drops a kiss on the tip of my nose. “Loud as usual.”
“Shush. You know you love it.” I smack him on the chest, wrinkling my nose when he rubs his damp face against my neck. He’s all sweaty and kind of smelly, but I don’t care. It’s so nice to actually be out in public with our relationship. People know we’re together, and they don’t really care. My parents seem cool with it, but they’ve also kept us extra busy so we never get a chance to be alone. No one at school seems bothered by it either. I thought Rylie would be a problem, but I really haven’t seen her at all this week.
I let Ash go talk to other people, and I grab my cheer bag, which is sitting by the fence where my coach still is, cleaning everything up. Since the season’s started, I’ve been helping Brandy put away our equipment every week after the game, so I’m not surprised when she smiles and says, “Go be with your non-boyfriend, Autumn. See you Monday at practice.”
“My non-boyfriend?” I laugh, and so does she.
“You’re the one who denied you had anything going on with him,” she says.
“That was sort of true.”
“Whatever.”
Laughing, I turn and almost run into someone.
Rylie. And she looks totally different from the last time I saw her. Her hair is this jarring greenish blue color that isn’t very flattering with her pale skin and she’s wearing heavy eye makeup. She’s a pretty girl, I’ve always thought so, but this new look isn’t a good one.
“Oh, sorry. Didn’t mean to run into you.” She flashes me a smile, her eyes wide as she takes me in. Her smile fades and her lip curls in disgust. “I honestly don’t know what he sees in you.”
I take a step away from her, my heart pounding. No way do I want to deal with another confrontation. “Come on, Rylie. I don’t want any trouble.”
“Neither do I. Not with you. I do have a problem with Ash, though.” She glances around, her gaze snagging on where he’s standing out on the field, talking with a couple of football dads. “I have a serious problem with him.”
I have no idea what she’s talking about. The fact that he cut her off? She needs to take a cue from that one Disney movie and let it go. “Leave him alone.”
“What, are you his keeper now? Oh, that’s right, you are. So sweet. The big happy family all living together under one roof. If I didn’t hate you so much, I’d be envious.”
Why does she have to be such a bitch about it?
I’m about to say something, but she turns and walks away, heading in the opposite direction of Ash.
Thank God.
Since Ash has been riding with all of us in the morning to school—his truck isn’t in the greatest shape and is still sitting in the parking lot of his apartment complex—we’re going to ride home together. This is the first time we’ve been actually alone in what feels like forever.
I can’t wait. In fact, I’m a nervous, jittery mess, and when Ash asks if he can drive my Jeep home, I gladly hand over the keys.
“Fuck yeah,” he says as he climbs into the driver’s seat, smiling over at me as he starts the car. “Think we can go for a ride?”
“My parents will probably be waiting for us.” I bite my lip, trying not to squirm in my seat. He shed all his equipment and tossed it in the back of the Jeep before we got in the car, and he looks so cute sitting in my car, still wearing the tight uniform pants and his jersey.
“Indulge me for a little while, Callahan. I’ve been dreaming of getting my hands up your cheer skirt for years,” he drawls, his gaze dropping to my exposed thighs.
“Oh my God, stop,” I tell him, blushing furiously. I do love the idea of him slipping his hands beneath my skirt, though.
“Let’s go park by the lake. Just for a few minutes,” he says, and I give in, because how can I resist him?
Besides, I want it too.
Fifteen minutes later, Ash is pulling into a day camp parking lot right on the edge of the lake. No one else is here, it’s just us and the water and the moon reflecting its light on the rippling waves. Ash puts the car in park and rolls down the windows before he shuts off the engine. He turns off the radio and it goes silent, save for the outside noises. The rustle of grass from the breeze that always starts up just before sundown. An owl hoots close by, most likely perched in one of the towering pines above us. Another bird squawks, and in the near distance, I hear the insistent howling of coyotes.
“The coyotes scared me when we first moved here,” I tell Ash.
“Really? Afraid they were going to cart you away and eat you alive?” He sounds amused.
“So gross.” I laugh. Shake my head. “No, I was never afraid of them taking me away or anything like that. They just sound scary. Those howls in the middle of the night are eerie.” I still hear them a lot, especially up where we live. We used to always have cats, and they preferred being indoors and outdoors, but we lost so many to coyotes or bobcats that Mom finally gave up. She couldn’t stand losing them in such a terrible way. Neither could any of us kids, especially Ava. She’d cry and cry for days.
“Big city girl not used to living in the woods?” He lifts his brows.
“Not at all. I hated it here at first. I was a complete city girl. You didn’t help matters either,” I say, scowling at him.
He looks faintly embarrassed. “I was kind of a jerk.”
“You were a total jerk,” I agree.
“I was just warning you off. The entire team made a bet on who would get your nudes first,” he says.
“So awful.” I shake my head. “Just so you know, I will never send you nude photos. I got a big speech from my mom when I turned thirteen, warning me off. She pulled out the big guns.”