Shit, am I smiling?
I press my mouth into a hard line, trying not to show how much it means to have her in the student section, where I can actually see her from the field. She hasn’t set foot anywhere near that “pit” since the first game she attended. So yeah, I’m happy she’s out there tonight,with friends.Somehow, Jenni and Chrisconvinced her she wasn’t alone, and I’m grateful, even though I’ve never actually met them.
“Happy for you, man. You deserve it,” Reese says as he tosses me a ball.
“Thanks, and hey, maybe we can go on a double date sometime. Honey's got a friend who seems decent.” I’m probably jumping the gun, but if my girl likes Jenni, then why wouldn’t Reese?
I toss him the ball again, and he catches it with ease.
“Don't worry about me, brother. I'm married to the game.”
“And your right hand, apparently,” I mutter, just loud enough for him to hear, earning a laugh as the coaches’ bark at us to get moving.
We break from warmups, and as I jog off the field toward the sideline, my eyes immediately search for her.
Student section. Twenty rows up. Slightly left of the fifty.
There.
Honey’s easy to spot with the giant gold bow in her hair and a smile bright enough to outshine the stadium lights. She’s in the middle of everything, looking…happy, and why shouldn’t she be? She has new friends, a new job, and she looks more at ease than I’ve ever seen her.
So why does it feel like getting hit in the ribs?
I guess it’s because I want to be her reason for smiling. Instead, I’m the reason she keeps her head down, forcing her into a spotlight she never asked for.
The moment she sees me, she waves—full of excitement—and mouths, “Good luck.”
I raise my arms, form a heart with my fingers like the lovesick fool I am. When she blows me a kiss, I catch it like I always do. Then I press it to my chest, like I always will.
The stadium reacts with a collective “aww” like we’re the fucking halftime show. A few boos cut through it, but I ignore them.
Let them watch.
Let them know she’s mine.
If anything, it’ll remind everyone just how off the market I am, and maybe then they’ll finally leave her alone.
The guy next to her says something and elbows her lightly, smiling.
My jaw locks. My hands curl into fists.
That’s gotta be Chris. I knew he’d be here, but I didn’t expect him to look…like that. Handsome.Great.I was hoping he’d be a little on the nerdy side, but no. He’s got that wholesome good-guy vibe about him. The vibe I know Honey likes because, frankly, she likes me.
He leans into her as he shows her something on his phone. The section is crowded, sure, but he doesn’t need to bethatclose.
That’s when I see it. The smile. The way his eyes soften when he looks at her.
My fists clench tighter.
Is heintoher?
For a split second, when she laughs at something he says, a thought comes to mind. An ugly, unwanted question of whether she could be into him, too.
No. It’s not possible, I tell myself.
It’smynumber she’s wearing. She came here to watchmewin. Not him.
Thankfully, the girl beside her draws Honey’s attention. Honey shifts, leaving more space between her and Chris.