I feel my phone buzz a few times, but I don’t check it, figuring it’s Sid or Shane. Once Casey excuses himself to go to the bathroom, I glance down at it to find a text from Todd.
Listen to your voice mail.
I glance back in the direction of the bathroom, and with no sign of Casey, I quickly check his message.
“Okay, Ash. Ryan will never let me live this down because he can hear everything right now, but I don’t really care. Here it goes, anyway ...”
Then I hear the notes of his guitar. It’s beautiful. He’s played for me a million times, but hearing it now, through the speaker of my phone, it’s simple and clear. I hear the pain in each note, but I hear the love, too. Then his gorgeous voice cuts through. I love everything he plays, but there is something special about hearing him sing the words of “Just the Way You Are” by Bruno Mars.
I try hard to keep it together when Casey comes back to the table. I give him a head nod and a smile. “My parents,” I mouth to him.
He nods and smiles as he pays the bill while I continue to listen.
I can’t help smiling as Todd’s song comes to an end. It is perfect and just what I needed to make it through the rest of my date.
“Okay, thanks, Mom. See you soon,” I say to end my pretend call.
“Everything okay?” Casey asks when I hang up.
“Yeah. They were just checking in.”
***
Being in Casey’s Range Rover reminds me of the last time I was in Mark’s truck with Todd except it’s high-end everything, and Mark’s truck barely has an automatic gearshift.
“You still up for the party?” Casey glances over in my direction with a smile, his bright green eyes searing through me.
I nod and shrug. “I don’t know. I’m kind of tired.”
“Oh, come on, Ashley Taylor; you look like you need a good party.”
I can’t help the laugh that escapes. “You’ve got me there, but I need to be home by ten.”
“So we’ve got an hour, plenty of time,” he says as he drives in the opposite direction of my house.
Here goes nothing.
When we pull into the field—mine and Todd’s field—my stomach drops. Shit. I didn’t know this is where the party would be.
All of the cars are lining the field with their headlights on, filling it with light. And then I see it—Ryan’s car—and I know Todd is here. This is their pick-up game. It’s here, at our field.
As we walk toward the crowd, Casey drapes his arm around me, and I have to fight every urge not to push it off. We are on a date. You and Todd are broken up, I repeat to myself.
“Casey, I’m suddenly not feeling well. I think we should go.” I try to turn around, but he catches me and spins me back.
“Come on, Ashley Taylor; it’ll be fine.” He gives me his bright, flawless smile. Even when his skin isn’t sun-kissed, it’s hard to miss how stunningly white his teeth are. “It looks like there are a lot of people from Easthaven here, so you’ll know people.” He says it like that’s a positive thing.
Every instinct tells me to turn back, but deep down, I know this will be good. If people see me with someone else, it will solidify that Todd and I are over. Despite hating it, I need to do it to keep our secret.
As we make our way through the crowd, the warm breeze blows through us. It’s hot for the end of November as well as muggy and humid from the rain last night. The field is a muddy mess, and I can tell from here that the guys playing are already covered with mud.
My eyes scan the crowd and land on Gretchen and Blythe. Even in the dark, you can’t miss Gretchen’s blonde hair. Unfortunately, RTS is still attached to her hip. Then I see Shane and Sid. Everyone is here. Emma, Shane’s dance partner from homecoming, is next to him. Since the dance she’s been trying to get closer to Shane, but he’s been able to keep a safe distance. I’m not sure I can say the same thing for Johnny and Courtney. They’ve been hanging out a lot lately, but luckily, Johnny has just earned the reputation of being a gentleman who respects girls. As far as Shane and Johnny go, they are still friends with secret benefits.
Shane’s eyes are locked on the field, so I know Johnny must be playing. Sid, Shane, Blythe, and Mark are the only ones who know the truth. Gretchen thinks we’re broken up since it was too risky to let her in on the truth because of RTS.
As we approach, a look of shock crosses Blythe’s face before she quickly tries to cover it with a disingenuous smile. “Casey. Good to see you,” she says with an air that negates her words.
“Case!” one of Casey’s friends shouts out from across the field. “Casey’s here,” someone on the field says to another player. “Casey, play. We need you. Easthaven is killing us.”
“What else is new?” Brian’s voice shouts out from the center of the field.
My stomach does a flip. The only thing that is worse than Casey being here with me is Casey being on the field with Todd.
“You okay?” Casey runs his hands over my arms, looking for permission to leave me.
“Yeah. Go,” I say, masking my fears with a smile.
“So you’re going out with Casey now? You’re a big fan of my leftovers.” The shrill voice pulls me out of my concern-induced haze.
I pivot on my heel, and my eyes land on RTS.
“You wish,” I snap back. Something about this girl makes me want to punch her every time I see her, but before we can get into it, we are interrupted by shouting on the field. I guess I’ll have to put picking a fight with her on hold.
Casey looks back and smiles at me as someone calls out the play. Todd is kicking off, and as soon as my eyes land on him, butterflies start to flutter.
“Wooo, Todd. Kick that ball, baby!” RTS shouts out then glares at me.
Everyone lining the field is holding red solo cups that I’m sure aren’t filled with water. They are watching the game and cheering on their school, while music is blaring out of speakers set up in the back of Mark’s truck. If I weren’t so worried, this would be pretty amazing.
Just relax and take it all in. It’s a friendly game of tackle football. Yeah, tackle football with two boys who hate each other.
Once Todd kicks off, he starts playing defense since Casey’s team has the ball. Both teams are playing full tackle, so it’s pretty rough, and everyone is showered with mud. Even though Casey has only been out there for a few plays, he’s already caked with it, but so far, so good.
I take my place next to Sid and Shane.
“So how was the date?” Sid asks under her breath.
“Good.” I give her a smile that says it was anything but good, knowing I need to be cautious of the ears all around us.
“That’s good.” She gives me the same smile back.
“Johnny looks great,” I say, noticing he’s just as skilled at defense as he is at quarterback.
“Just friends, remember,” Shane says without taking his eyes off the field.
I know I should be watching Casey to keep up the act, but I can’t take my eyes off Todd.
Adam, one of his teammates, says something to him, and he changes positions on the field, so now he’s right in front of Casey.
Why? How did Ryan let this happen?
Ryan notices at the same time I do, but it’s too late; the ball is already in the air. When Todd leaps up and catches the ball our side erupts. People start screaming, “Interception! Go, Hamilton.”
Todd is an incredible athlete. He could have been a receiver or even a quarterback, but he chose to be a kicker, mostly because that was the only way his mom would let him play and also because he’s really good.
Casey rams him and slams him down hard. Really hard. Then the cheers of celebration from our side turn into shouting at the players from Ridgewood.
“What the fuck? Not cool.”
My heart stops. Todd is on the ground. Ryan is running over to him, Brian, Mark, and Adam, whom I could kill right now, are right behind him, poised for a fight. I see the realization in Casey’s face as he glances back at me.