I tried to step forward, to just be brave. But when Jesse lifted his head, searching the quad for me, I turned and rushed back toward the library instead. I couldn’t face all those people right now. I’d try again another day—at least that’s what I’d tried to convince myself.
The street was crowded as Sydney and I walked up it. Music blared from the house on our right, and people spilled out onto the front lawn, stumbling and shouting, enjoying themselves. Sydney’s arm tightened in mine. This was neither of our scenes, but I had promised Jesse I would come and Sydney told me she would keep me company.
Today, Jesse had been brought on the field. The second-string QB was injured which gave Jesse his first game on the bench. When the first-string QB had been injured too, Jesse was given his shot. He had killed it, and I couldn’t have been prouder.
We hadn’t expected Jesse to get any game time this early in the season. I wasn’t sure if he was quite ready after last year’s treatment and was worried his body wasn’t as strong as the others in the team. But I was wrong—so wrong.
And I also realized I’d been living completely in the dark. Seeing the crowd’s reaction to Jesse, who looked nothing short of perfect with his charming smile and incredible talent as he flashed up on the Jumbotron, made me realize just how much of a big deal he was going to be and how vastly I had underestimated how popular football players truly were.
By the way he had played, the spotlight was now firmly on him.
I had video called Jesse’s mama, so she could watch some of the game on her break from work. It had made her day. But when I had tried to call Jesse afterward to meet him, the coach had him doing some interviews. He had exploded onto the college football scene, and everyone suddenly seemed to want a piece of him.
I had agreed to meet him tonight at a football party at a frat house, but now that I was here, I was second-guessing myself.
“Wow,” Sydney said, as we watched a tall guy upchucking into potted plant beside the front door. Nerves swam in my stomach. I’d never attended high school parties, and this seemed like a baptism by fire.
I’d texted Jesse, but he’d yet to reply. “We’d better go in and find him,” I said, clutching Sydney like she was my lifeline. We walked through the front door into utter chaos. The music was so loud, I could barely hear myself think, the floor was sticky with spilled drinks, and smoke was thick in the air.
I had missed a creative writing session for this. I had been attending a small creative writing club at a coffee shop for several weeks now, and besides Jesse, it was the best thing in my life. My online story about Jesse and I was more popular than ever, and I loved college and my classes. But there was one thing missing—more time with my boyfriend. Between football and classes, our time together was limited, and it broke my heart.
I felt a pull between us taking us in different directions. It terrified me. Looking around this party now, filled with his friends and people I didn’t even know, the differences seemed glaringly obvious.
“June!” Sheridan, Jesse’s teammate and close friend, saw me from the stairs and waved me over. He had a red Solo cup in his hand, sloshing the beer or whatever was in it all over the floor. We made our way toward him, and he threw an arm around me. “You seen your guy yet?”
“I was just looking for him,” I shouted back.
“What?” Sheridan bellowed, then shook his head. “I can’t hear you.” He pointed to the kitchen. “He’s this way.”
I clutched Sydney’s hand as we followed Sheridan into the kitchen. People bashed into us from all sides, and I held my breath until we entered the kitchen and I saw him.
Jesse was stood with his teammates, a beer in his hand. He wasn’t a drinker, but I guessed he had a lot to celebrate tonight. The moment my eyes found him, my heart raced. I didn’t think there would ever be a time I didn’t look at Jesse Taylor and feel lightheaded. His hair was longer now, curling around his ears, random curls flopping on his forehead in the most adorable way. He had gained more muscle, the evidence obvious from the sleeveless Longhorns shirt he wore right now, showing his defined biceps.
As if he could feel me watching, Jesse lifted his head, and a huge smile broke out on his face. Despite not seeing one another as much as we’d like, when we did, it was like the moon and stars aligned and all was right again in the world.
Jesse didn’t even let his teammate finish whatever he was saying. Instead, he rushed straight for me and, wrapping his arms around me, lifted me off the floor. I put my arms around his neck and let the party fall away until it was just us in our own little world.
“Junebug,” he whispered, then kissed me so thoroughly that the even the tops of my toes tingled with the sensation. When he broke away, he pressed his forehead to mine. “You came.”
“You were amazing today,” I said, running my hands through his curls at the back of his head. “I’m so proud of you.”
His smile lit up the room. I hugged him tighter, then he put me down.
As he did, I noticed a group of girls glaring our way. My stomach churned. That was another part of our life here I hadn’t expected—the attention Jesse got from girls. I trusted Jesse 100 percent, and I knew I was naive to not have expected it. But the disbelief on girls’ faces when they saw us together bothered me. I was embarrassed to say it, but it did. I knew that if he kept getting time on the field like he had today and he played as well as he did today, it would only get worse.
“Hey, Syd,” Jesse said to Sydney and gave her a quick hug. “Do you guys want a drink?”
“A soda, please,” Sydney said.
“And a water for you, Junebug?” I heard a few snide comments from those girls nearby again but tried to ignore it. I didn’t drink. After getting through terminal cancer, I tried to be as good to my body as I could. I let myself have treats, of course, but both Jesse and I knew the odds on relapse, and we did our best to give ourselves the best shot.
“Taylor!” someone called from behind, just as Jesse handed us our drinks. Lockwood, a Longhorns defensive tackle, was waving Jesse over.
Jesse shook his head. “I’m with my girl.” He wrapped his arms around me, keeping me close. “Sorry I couldn’t see you after the game. Things got crazy.”
I smiled at him. He was so happy, he seemed euphoric. Cupping his cheeks, I said, “You were incredible.”
Jesse kissed me just as someone else called his name. He groaned and dropped his forehead to mine. “I shouldn’t have come here.”
