Secret Catch (8 page)

I go from being completely asleep to wide-awake in a matter of seconds. I don’t know what it is, but my heart’s racing.

Frozen like a statue, I stay as still as I can, waiting for whatever made that sound to make it again. It could be Mom. There have been times she’s gotten up in the middle of the night so disoriented she bounces off the walls as she stumbles into the living room. Or it could be Josh. Sometimes he has bad dreams, missing Dad, and cries out in the middle of the night. Or Brad might’ve snuck in to crash on the couch again.

My phone pings, and I laugh out loud. It was just a text message.

Wanna sneak out?

A smile crosses my lips and I reply to the adorable face I have to imagine, since having the actual face on my phone is too risky.

Yes!

I hop out of bed and grab jeans and a sweater off the floor and throw them on.

Pick u up in 5?

I’ll b ready. :)

I make my mouth minty fresh for some hopeful kissing and snap an elastic around my frizzy bedhead. Then I sneak to Josh’s room to check on him. Luckily I remembered to oil the door so it slides silently open.

Josh lies on his side, hands tucked under his face, long brown lashes resting on his cheeks. He was so happy when I told him we’re practicing somewhere with real goalposts and painted lines. He actually asked to go to bed—he couldn’t
wait
for tomorrow to come. Kind of like a kid on Christmas.

After a light kiss on his forehead, I back out and shut the door. I make a stop at Mom’s room. She looks so peaceful asleep. For a minute I remember what she used to be like… before. My chest starts aching.

Six months ago I probably would have lived in fear of a lecture if I got caught sneaking out to see a boy. I love freedom from parental tyranny as much as the next girl, but I don’t feel free. I feel so trapped inside this house that used to be a home, where I could talk to Mom about anything and everything.

I remember how nervous she was when she told me about sex for the first time. She sat me down and said, “Sam, there’s something we need to talk about.” I thought for sure I was in trouble. Everything was said so matter-of-factly, like she was telling me how to make lasagna. Then she made a joke about me not being allowed to have sex till I was eighty, and we laughed. Even though I was embarrassed and nervous, I asked her all my questions and she answered them.

I want to talk to her about Tyler… see if maybe she fell for Dad as fast as I’m falling. I know they were high school sweethearts.

For a second I understand how that kind of loss could send a person into the spiraling depths of depression. Sort of. I guess that counts as my sixty seconds of weakness for the day.

Tyler’s probably here now. I look at Mom one more time, and then I’m out the door.

My breath fogs up as soon as it hits the cold air. When I get to the road, lights flick on down the street, and his truck rolls up.

He reaches over and opens the door for me, a huge grin on his face. I return the smile and hop in the cab. The minute the door shuts he grabs my elbow and slides me along the bench seat till I’m in the crook of his arm.

Our lips press against each other, and we both let out a satisfied sigh.

“Damn, I missed you,” he whispers.

“This is becoming addicting. Kiss one was just a gateway drug.” My hands go to the back of his head, and I kiss him again. When we part he rests his forehead against mine.

“I’m starting to crave you more than football.”

“Wow. That’s a lot.” I smile and snuggle my face into his chest, breathing in his scent that makes my stomach do funny things. He turns to the road and starts driving with one hand, keeping the other one around me. I hope this feeling never goes away.

***

I’m right where I want to be, snuggled in a shared sleeping bag, lying in Tyler’s truck bed, his body pressed against my whole right side.

“So, what did you guys decide to do?” I ask, looking up at him while he draws circles on my abdomen.

“About what?”

“I know how this thing works. Skyhawks did something to you, now you guys’ll retaliate.”

He just nods and resumes his invisible drawing.

“Why were all the girls at the meeting?”

“They came to show their support and well, Charly, Jacoby’s girlfriend, wants Nolan to pay.”

“Understandable,” I say, now drawing my own patterns on his skin. He’s so muscular, it’s kind of unreal. I thought guys like this only existed on CW shows. “I’m glad I didn’t see any girl come up and grab your hand or I would have had someone’s head on a platter.”

He laughs. “I can just picture red hair parting the mist and surprising everyone.” He kisses my nose after his laughter dies. “Are you sure you’re ok with this?”

I pull on his arm so he’s partially on top of me. “If it’s a choice between having this”—I motion with my hand between the two of us—“and not having this, I choose to have it any way I can get it.”

I kiss him, showing him without words just how much he’s brightened my pretty monotonous life in just the past couple weeks. I’m finally around someone I don’t feel like I have to take care of or watch out for. It’s refreshing and exhilarating, and like I told him before…
addicting
.

I wrap my arms around his neck and our tongues meet. Fireworks explode inside my head. His lips slide to my jaw. I wiggle my arms though his and bring them between our bodies. He pulls back a little, maybe thinking I’m going to stop him, but I’m not. I just want to feel those CW muscles.

His breath leaves him in a hiss when my fingers touch his bare stomach. My nails rake up his sides then down his back. Lips return to mine with an urgency matching my own. It feels like it lasts ten million years, and it’s still not long enough when he slows, resting his forehead on mine, breathing hard and slightly slick with sweat.

I run my nails along his back again, and he makes a sound very close to a groan and says, “Sam, I’m trying to be good here. We’ve only known each other—”

“I know.” My hands stop their movements, and I let out a big breath, willing my body to calm down.

“How ’bout them Packers?” He chuckles in my ear.

I let out a little laugh and say, “Good team. They have a great passing game.”

“Damn, that’s not going to help.”

“What?”

“You talking football. Sexy as hell.” He rolls to his side and smiles.

              “You like that do ya?” I interlock my fingers with his. “Did you see that play last week when…”

***

Josh bounces in his car seat so much I’m afraid he’s going to jump out of his booster. Brewer and Reed sit next to him in the backseat.

“Do you know where we’re going?” Reed asks Josh.

“No. She won’t tell me,” Josh answers as if I’m not within earshot. “All she would say is it’s somewhere I’d like.”

“If you’d ask ‘her’ she’d tell you she doesn’t know.” I smile at them through the rearview mirror. “Tyler just gave me the address. All I did was put it in my GPS.”

“Well, why didn’t you just say so?” Kingston says, shaking his head at me.

I turn back to the road, and the boys go back to whispering to each other.

“I think we’re here,” I tell them as I pull into a parking spot. The boys are out before I can shut the car off.

“Wait for me!” I laugh after them. I’ve never been here. On one side of the parking lot, where the kids are running to, is a football field complete with goal posts and line markers. On the other side is a play area with swings, merry-go-rounds, and other toys kids like to play on. The park is empty except for a Mom and little girl.

I catch up to the boys when they reach the field.

“Wow.”

“This is awesome.”

“So much better than where we were practicing.”

“All right, let’s warm up and run some laps,” my brother yells. His friends groan and I laugh. Get him on the field and the slave driver comes out.

We’re on our second lap when a truck makes my stomach go down the hill. He parks and I want to run and lay a big kiss on him, but I don’t because of the kids.

The rest of the boys spill out and run toward Josh. We’d talked to their parents ahead of time and made sure it was okay if we picked them up and brought them here. Since Sunday is usually our football day, most of them were okay with it. I didn’t mention Tyler was a Trojan though.

Tyler helps a cute little girl in a princess dress out of his truck, and they start walking this way.

I can tell the minute he sees me, ‘cause his whole face lights up, and my stomach does that funny little flip thing again.

“Hey guys. Ready to play?” I say it to everyone, but just look at Tyler. I turn to the little girl in the princess dress. “Hi, you must be Parker. I’m Sam.”

“Are you Tyler’s girlfriend? The one that wrote all over his arm?” she blurts.

Oh, boy.

There’s sweat dripping over every inch of me. I’m trying to stay away from Sam because who the hell knows how strong my deodorant is. She seems preoccupied with Parker though. So, I guess it’s not just the game that’s making my sweat glands work double-time.

“Koontz!” Josh shouts from the line of scrimmage. “Delay of game!”

“Aw, Coach…” I moan, wiping my brow.

“
Captain
.”

I shake my head. “Sorry…
Captain
. Can’t we have a break?”

“You said you needed training. Skyhawks train till they puke! Have you puked yet?”

“No, sir.”

“Then get over here!”

I pretend to dry heave, but Josh gives me a look that may kill me, so I wipe my wet hair back and jog behind the center. We run five more plays. Reed collapses on the grass first.

“Sorry, Josh. I’m out.”

The rest of the team follows suit, including me. As soon as I slam to the ground, the morning dew soaks into my already wet clothes.

A heavy breathing Josh stomps up to me, hands on hips. I cock an eyebrow and wait for him to bark out another order, but he falls to the grass and rests his head on my stomach.

“You did pretty good today, Koontz,” he says to the sky. His hair is soaked, too. “Next week I’m gonna have you play wide receiver. Show me what you really got.”

“Yes, sir.” I reach down and give him a lazy high-five. He clings on to my hand for a few seconds, then lets it drop.

“We can play on this field again, right?”

“You bet.”

“We can go over your pass form. It’s a little rough.”

“Hey!”

He tilts his head up to look at me. “We both know it’s true.”

I ruffle his hair while Kingston crawls to my other side and rests his head on my thigh.

“Will you teach me how to do a running pass?” he asks. “I don’t know how to run and look back at the same time.”

“Sure thing.”

Josh grabs a handful of grass and shoves it in his pocket. I smile and rest my head on my palm. I used to do the same thing on a new field. Sort of like taking it with me wherever I go. But Josh could be just stuffing grass in his pockets ’cause he’s six.

A couple more of the guys crawl over and ask if I’ll teach ‘em stuff next week. Josh offers up a few pointers here and there, but for the most part he just rests on me, looking at the overcast sky. It’s perfect football weather
now
. Fifteen minutes ago the sun was blinding me, messing up my aim.

I open my mouth to tell the guys that one of the clouds looks like a goalpost when my sister pops her face into my line of sight.

“You promised me, Ty.”

She crosses her arms over her glossy purple dress. The crown on her curled brown hair is tilted, looking like it’ll fall right off if she moves too much.

“All right, antsy pants, I’m coming.”

“I’m not wearing pants.”

I laugh, jolting Josh’s head on my stomach. He and Kingston sit up so I can get to my feet. Kingston lies back in the grass, but Josh pops up to walk with me and Parker.

Her hand grabs mine almost immediately. “I want one hundred minutes on the merry-go-round.”

Josh snorts next to me. “That’s impossible.”

Parker looks around, giving him one of her famous stink eyes. “Ty counts to one hundred every time he takes me.”

“That’s one hundred
seconds
. Not minutes. You’d get so dizzy if you did one hundred minutes, the whole world would spin for one hundred
years
.” He spins around in a circle, bumping into my leg a few times. I stick a finger out and put it on top of his head and pretend he’s a spinning top. Parker giggles.

We come up the hill, and Sam’s long gorgeous legs are the first things I see. She’s sprawled out on the merry-go-round, kicking it in lazy circles with her toe. She’s wearing an oversized hoodie and those damn shorts. I can’t concentrate when she’s in those things.

Our feet crunch the wood chips when we hop down into the play area. I check over my shoulder to make sure the other kids are still all right before turning back to see Josh taking off to the merry-go-round. Parker pulls on my arm, and I crouch down.

“She’s the girl who wrote on you,” she says.

“Yep.”

Her eyes widen. “I’m not supposed to tell Mommy about her?”

“She’s my secret, Park.” I squeeze her hand. “Can you keep my secret?”

She taps her chin, and I puppy dog face it.

“Okay. But only if you promise to watch
Sofia the First
with me.”

I groan and hang my head. “Again?”

“With popcorn and M&Ms.”

Now she’s puppy facing it.

“Deal.”

She squeals and jumps on my back. I stumble a bit over to Sam and Josh. Parker slides off me, fixes her dress and crown, and sits in the very center of the merry-go-round.

“One hundred spins, Ty!”

Sam jumps off, but Josh stays on and says, “Yes!”

I smirk and lean down, grabbing two bars. “You guys ready?”

They both nod and grip the bars. I do two threatening fake-outs before I give it one good push.

“You’re not going to do one hundred spins like that, are you?” Sam asks as her eyebrows rise to the sky.

I shake my head and tap a bar as it passes, pretending I’m pushing it with a whole lot more force than I am. “One big spin, the rest are pretty mellow. I learned that lesson the hard way.”

“Uh-oh.”

“Yeah. Parker still hasn’t forgiven me for ruining her Rapunzel dress. She also can’t eat Goldfish anymore.”

“Gross.” Sam laughs, and the bar smacks into my hip because I lose brain activity for a second watching her mouth.

“Faster, Koontz!” Josh shouts in his Captain voice. Parker’s “Nooooo, Tyyyyyy!” is stifled with giggles.

Sam’s hand tugs on the sleeve of my shirt as she picks a loose piece of grass off my shoulder. That small thing, and my heart’s going crazy in my chest.

“She calls you Ty.”

“Yeah.” I take a quick glance at Sam before giving the merry-go-round another spin. “She’s the only one I’ll let call me that.”

Sam nods. “Josh is the only one I’ll let call me Sammy.”

“What if I called you Sammy?”

“I’d call you Ty and beat you up.”

“Think I’ll take it easy on you because you’re a girl? You know I’m not afraid to tackle you.”

“That’s a Trojan tackle,” she teases pointing her thumbs at herself. “Weak in comparison to this born and raised Skyhawk.”

“I can take down an evil bird. Easy as pie.”

Her voice drops as she moves closer to my ear. “I think I can handle a condom.”

I think I laugh, but I’m not sure. I’ve heard the condom jokes ever since I set foot in my high school, but this isn’t a joke… is it? I’m not sure. I
can’t think
. Her full lips are still so close to my ear and I’ve stopped moving. I’m trying to figure out what she means by it, or if she meant anything, but again… brain completely short-circuiting.

“Ty, why are you stopping?” Parker and Josh look up at me and Sam, and I have to blink a few times to get back to the present.

“Don’t want you to get sick,” I croak, and Sam laughs, sitting on the edge of the merry-go-round. I take a spot next to her, then Josh slides next to me and Parker on the other side of Sam.

“I think you should be Ariel,” Parker says, picking up what must’ve been a conversation she had with Sam while Josh and I were playing football.

“Because of my hair?” Sam asks, twirling a deep red strand around her finger. I’m tempted to reach over and do the same.

“Yes. But not just because of that.”

“Then why else?”

“Because you like Ty. And he’s like Prince Eric.”

I cock an eyebrow at my sister because she told me I was more like Hercules. Sometimes Tarzan. She always gives me the “manlier” Disney characters.

“Prince Eric, huh?” Sam gives me a grin. I lift my shoulders because I don’t know what my sister’s getting at.

“Yep. Because Prince Eric is a human, and Ariel’s a mermaid. They shouldn’t love each other, but they do.”

Sam’s smile fades a little, but it doesn’t look like she’s unhappy. Just in awe. Or maybe she’s freaking out about the word “love” because I sure am.

“That’s like you and Ty. Your schools don’t like each other.”

Sam’s fingers twitch on her leg, and this time, I don’t hesitate to wrap them up in mine.

“You’re right,” she says, running her thumb over my knuckles. “I’ll be Ariel.”

Josh groans next to me, clearly bored by the girl talk. I pat his back.

“You know, Trojans and Skyhawks weren’t always enemies.”

They all look at me. Sam blinks her gorgeous brown eyes and says, “Care to elaborate on that, Tyler?”

I grin and pull my phone out to check the time. We’ve still got about an hour left before I gotta pay Jacoby a visit.

“Josh, you want to get the guys? Maybe you all want to hear this story.”

***

“Is this a
football
story?” Parker whines from her spot on Sam’s lap. The team gives her a look like she’s crazy to ask the question in the tone she did.

“You’ll like it, Park, I promise.”

I make a ditch in the wood chips and stick a pretty big chip in the sand underneath. “So, in 1992, there was a Trojan who wanted to play on the Varsity team, but couldn’t. The school wouldn’t allow it.”

“Why not?” Reed asks.

I grin and look up at Sam. “She was a girl.”

The guys all laugh, but Sam and Parker sit up a little straighter.

“Well, she wanted to play so bad, she thought training enough would get her on the team. She could prove her whole school wrong. But none of the other Trojan football players would help, including her boyfriend.”

A few of the kids cringe, but Parker’s eyes get bigger and she nearly scoots off Sam’s lap.

I flick a few more wood chips. “So, this Trojan met a guy at a football field at a park. They tossed the ball around a bit, and the guy thought she was pretty good. He asked if she wanted to play again the next day. So they did, and he trained her, got her ready, and pretty soon she rivaled the starting quarterback for the Trojans.”

“Did she make the team?” Josh asks, leaning forward. Kingston and Brewer both follow suit.

I shake my head. “They wouldn’t let her try out.” My eyes flick to Sam, and her mouth has pulled down at the corners. “She went to her trainer, and he promised he’d get her a spot on
his
team, if she transferred schools.”

All the guys sit straight up, and Josh’s mouth splits open into a wide grin. “He was a Skyhawk!”

I nod and adjust my butt in the wood chips. “He was the captain of the Skyhawks,” I say with a wink at Josh. “He got her a tryout. She was the first girl player in our town.”

“Awesome,” Kingston says under his breath.

“It was. She was really good, too. But someone wasn’t too happy with her playing for another team… and he
really
wasn’t happy with the guy who helped her get there.”

“Oh no. Her boyfriend!” Parker gasps, and the other kids go, “Oh yeah” as if they’d forgotten about him entirely.

“At their first game against each other, the Trojans had a plan to go straight for the captain and wipe him out of the game for good. Before the Skyhawk quarterback called the snap, a Trojan linebacker broke the line of scrimmage and sacked him. Broke three ribs. He was out, and the backup quarterback was in.”

“The girl,” Parker says, cuddling into Sam’s chest.

I nod and try to ignore how much I like seeing my sister and Sam together like that.

“She was really mad, and on her first play she threw a touchdown pass to her trainer. They wanted payback on the field, with the game, but when he kissed her after the play, that was it for
both
teams.”