Total pages in book: 157
Estimated words: 149510 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 748(@200wpm)___ 598(@250wpm)___ 498(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 149510 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 748(@200wpm)___ 598(@250wpm)___ 498(@300wpm)
“Lex!” Ace calls, getting her attention. “What’s the score?”
“Fourteen to fourteen, tied up. Dickson has the ball in the red zone, and they just called the two-minute warning.”
“No worries, then. Boden’s got this,” Ace says confidently, making Lexi snort.
“His two interceptions in the third quarter say differently.”
“Don’t be so hard on the guy,” Ace chides. “He can’t help it that he’s in love with you.”
“In love?” The man in the suit scowls. “He’s several years younger than you.”
Lexi rolls her eyes. “I hardly know him, Dad. You can relax.”
The woman with them waggles her eyebrows, touching the man’s chest. “You’re going to have to stop being so protective at some point.”
I lick my lips, my shoulders at my ears with anxiety. If my context clues are correct, the woman in question is my sister.
“Uncle Wes, Aunt Winnie, this is my roommate, Finn,” Ace introduces then, confirming my suspicions beyond a shadow of a doubt.
I force a smile even though my nervous system is on overload. Fight-or-flight engaged, I’m mere seconds away from buzzing the tower, Maverick-style.
“Oh! Yay!” Winnie cries excitedly, pulling me into a hug so familiar, my heart races. “Roommates with Ace, huh? You must deserve an award for saint of the year!” Her smile is so bright, her eyes so kind, and her heart feels excruciatingly close to her sleeve. Her husband laughs at her joke and pulls her close, kissing her on the head before excusing himself and stepping away.
It’s not rude, though. Thatch is literally crow-calling him from the other side of the patio.
I have to lick my lips to stop the sting of tears in my eyes as I answer her. “You know, surprisingly, he’s not that bad.”
She laughs and reaches out to touch my shoulder with a gentle hand, and everything I thought I knew about what I was doing at Dickson shatters in an instant.
It’s easy to ignore the signs that Ty is decent or that the other boys have something to offer other than being stuck-up pricks. But it’s impossible not to see some of Willow in Winnie, and the strongest part of my façade cracks just a little.
“Thank hell for that. All his mom talks about is figuring out a way to pay off the politicians to keep her two hoodlums out of jail!”
“Come on inside, everyone!” Georgia calls from just inside the apartment. “Julia’s about to blow out the candles!”
“You coming?” Ace calls over his shoulder when I don’t immediately head that direction with everyone else.
I nod. “I’ll be just a sec. Just wanted to see the last play of the game.”
He gives me an avid thumbs-up and takes off into the apartment, and I turn to the TV to make my moment of silence plausible.
Blake snaps back with the ball in his hands, poised at the two-yard line as he scours the receivers in front of him. He pump-fakes to the back side of the end zone once, but our tight end gets open just in the nick of time that he gets the pass off before the defensive line tackles him to the ground. The catch is good, and the crowd goes wild as Dickson seals yet another victory.
I watch avidly for any glimpse of the cheerleaders as our kicker puts in the extra point easily, and the crowd rushes the field.
Scottie and the cheerleaders mesh into a blob of football players, everyone hugging and jumping excitedly, but in the melee, the quarterback for the other team approaches her, saying something and handing her the football that we just put through the uprights. She blushes and accepts it, and my blood pressure hits an all-time high.
“Is that a show of good sportsmanship?” one commentator remarks.
But the other one answers, “I don’t know, Don. I think Duke’s QB might just be smitten with one of Dickson’s cheerleaders.” They make another joke about star-crossed lovers, and I shake my head.
She’s obviously really concerned with what happened between us still. Two weeks and she’s taking footballs from stupid fucking—
“Finn!” Ace yells from the door again. “Come on, dude! My mom won’t light the candles until you get in here for some reason.”
Shoving down every raging emotion inside me, I jog toward Ace’s call quickly and step inside as Julia takes her place behind a massive pink-and-white cake on the kitchen island. Cassie eyes Ace and me closely before giving Georgia the nod to light the candles and then Thatch to turn down the lights.
“Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday, dear Julia. Happy birthday to you,” we all sing in unison. Julia smiles brightly at us all before blowing out the candles, and everyone claps for her when she’s done.
Meeting Winnie, seeing Scottie on TV, knowing my birthdays will never be like this—it’s all too much.
I shove past Ace with the best smile I can manage, the hallway bathroom in my sights. I make it through the crowd and into the hall with only a little struggle and am just about to grab the knob on the bathroom door when a hand on my shoulder stops me.