“You came.”
He beamed down at me, his arms around me, hugging tight. I hated the fact that Larson’s voice was in my head,spitting off a string of inappropriate jokes using that one line. I really had been spending way too much time with him.
“Oh, uh, yeah, had to support my team.”
My arms were still uncomfortably stiff by my sides, so I quickly brought them up around his waist. He pulled me even closer, encouraged by my reciprocation of his affectionate touch.
“It means the world to see you here,” he said so dreamily I was surprised he didn’t break out into song like a Disney movie prince.
“What can I say? I love sports.”
Geez, awkwardness must be contagious because I was catching whatever this poor boy had. I was stilted, tongue-tied, and desperate to leave.
I peered behind Sam, seeing Chelsea watching—and visibly cringing.
God, this was humiliating. I tried to create distance by pulling his hands from my waist, but Sam’s unexpected kiss caught me completely off guard.
I stilled completely.
I wished I had wings. Wings that could fly me up, up, up into the flames of the sun, burning this whole encounter off my skin. Chelsea, bless her soul, cleared her throat, making Sam startle and break from the kiss.
“Hi, you must be Sam. I’m Chelsea,” she said as she held her hand out to him. He released me, demurely facing her and accepting her hand.
“Yes. You’re—aren’t you—it’s nice to meet you,” he stuttered, but Chelsea only smiled kindly.
“It’s nice to meet you too,” she said.
I could see the gears turning in her head, looking for an excuse for us to get out of the situation. Except the oddest, most bizarre thing came out of Sam’s mouth.
“You’re Trey’s mom, right? How do you know my girlfriend Maybelle?”
His what?
I could hear Chelsea answering him, but I couldn’t focus on what she said. Maybe my amnesia got worse, and I didn’t remember the conversation where I agreed to be his girlfriend? No. We’d seen each other only once earlier in the week to make sure all was well after the drama of the party. The girlfriend topic was never brought up.
Not so much as hinted at.
I would’ve remembered a conversation like that, and I wouldn’t have agreed—because I wasn’this.
I opened my mouth. What I would’ve said, I didn’t know, but Sam beat me to the punch, planting a kiss on my cheek.
“I’ll see you tomorrow, babe. Good to meet you, Ms. Turner.” And he was gone, prancing off into the locker rooms.
I was stunned. Chelsea was stunned. We both stared at one another, slack-jawed while the crowd moved around us.
Chelsea was the first to speak, stepping up next to me. “So, when were you going to tell me you were dating someone?” Her tone wasn’t serious, her gentle voice edged on teasing, but I still felt like my heart was in my stomach.
“If I’d known I was in a relationship, you would’ve been the first to know,” I grumbled, dropping my face into my hands.
She tittered and pulled me into her comforting embrace. “Oh, the joys of boys and dating.”
We stayed wrapped up in one another as I regained my stability. Chelsea—always my rock.
She brushed at my hair, combing at my frizzy curls.
“So, why him?” she asked.
I stiffened, feeling like I was reliving that night outside the party with Trey. The obvious hurt in his eyes as he asked me the same thing. I didn’t have an answer this time. I sighed into Chelsea’s embrace.
