First and Goal (Moving the Chains #1) (20 page)

“I love how you don’t give up. You’re probably more stubborn than I am.” She laughs a little. This girl is so much stronger than I am and she doesn’t even know it.

I take the next question again, to give her a little more time to recover. “Question twenty-nine: Share with your partner one of the most embarrassing moments of your life.” I can’t stop my stupid laughter. Which to choose? There are so many. “The first time I popped a boner in class for absolutely no reason.”

That’s probably a stupid choice, considering our previous non-discussion about Eddie raping her.

The genuine laughter she rewards me with is worth my slip-up. “When was this?”

“Uh, sixth grade. Math class. Thank God I was sitting, so I don’t think anyone noticed.”

“Oh, that’s messed up, Falls. You
would
get turned on by math,” she laughs. “Have there been times when other people did notice?”

Well, yeah, I’m kind of stupidly huge. “Probably. And I wasn’t turned on. I couldn’t help it.”

Her cheeks flush pink, and she works furiously at the edge of her notebook. This topic makes her more uncomfortable than she lets on. “Wow, I think I’ll take bleeding like a dying animal once a month over that. You couldn’t help it? Seriously?”

“Uh, yeah. Didn’t you ever have health class? Sometimes it just happens.” Ahh, back in the good old days when it was for no reason at all instead of actually being horny all the time.

“I must have missed that part. I guess that explains last week then, right?” She shoots me an amused wink.

Holy God. I can’t keep up with her. She’s toying with me again. About…this?

I have two options. I can take the out that she’s giving me. Or I can pull my head out of my ass, stop playing her, and make a go for more. With whatever Eddie did to her in the way, I know I have to tread lightly, but it’s like I’m lying to her, and I just can’t stomach that anymore.

“No.” Short, sweet, and to the point.

Her cheeks turn a brighter shade of red. “Okay, let me think…the time in tenth grade when I tripped in the cafeteria, landed face first on the ground, and spilled my entire lunch tray all over myself.”

We both start laughing. “I remember that!”

She looks up at me. Her blue eyes sparkle with…something. Something new and different that makes my heart pound in my chest. “You should. You’re the only one who helped me.”

I remember much more about that day than she even knows. She’s giving me something here. I can’t quite tell what it is for sure, but it’s something important.

I’ve gotta keep moving the chains. I nudge her with my shoulder and lean in until our faces are only inches apart. “You can see why I thought we were already friends.”

She searches my eyes. For what I don’t know.

We both jump when the PA comes on. “All students in fall activities may now report to the gym to set up for the pep rally. Thank you.”

Half the class rises and collects their stuff.

She’s still smiling genuinely at me. “Well, time to get our pep on. I know how much you hate it, but at least try to look enthusiastic. Since you’re the captain and quarterback and all.”

I stand aside, so she can lead the way down the aisle towards the door.

“Nah, this pep rally will be great,” I say to her as we exit the classroom. “I’ll be staring at your sweet ass the whole time.”

When she turns with a surprised look on her face that doesn’t scream murder, I give her a quick wink and head to my locker. Game on.

“N
o one breaks the ranks!” the freshmen chant in unison as they march single file through nearly the entire population of Ironville High.

Some students snicker at the spectacle while others simply back away to make room for the yearly initiation of new marching band members. I purposely lead the line in a winding path, cutting through the usual cliques, passing close to the smaller underclassman bonfires, then marching around the perimeter of the field. With every step in the tall grass, crickets jump and herald our arrival with irritated chirps, much like the popular kids who sneer like they’ve never seen this ritual before.

The Warriors won the first game of the season by a landslide, so the crowd is thicker than usual at the post-home-game bonfire. Already the beer is flowing and hookups dot the landscape, the participants not caring to hide their obvious activity from anyone. My heart thuds in my chest at the sight. Twinges of fear and jealousy pulse through my veins, but I tamp them down. That possibility for me is gone, and by my own design.

All the parents know what goes on at these bonfires, but they never try to shut them down. My guess is they were doing the same things at our age, and it’s viewed as a rite of passage in this old steel town where football reigns supreme. God forbid anyone put a damper on the players’ good time. We might not win the championship.

At least with all the jocks busy trying to score in a different game, I don’t have to worry about their interference.

Excitement is an actual smell in the air, along with campfire smoke and pheromones.

The section and squad leaders patrol along the line behind me, hazing a healthy amount of fear into the freshman. At various stops throughout the crowd, we’ve set up students to try and break the formation as a test. Tini scattered her group of friends to help me in this little endeavor since none of them are in band.

Because Alyssa is the color guard section leader, she tries half-heartedly to keep Tini from approaching, but the only ones who don’t know it’s a set up are the freshman. They press closer together to bar my sister from breaching the line, and Lys nods to me that they’ve passed the first test.

Pride swims through me, but it’s short-lived as I trip over something and feel myself falling headfirst toward the earth. A strong hand wraps around my arm to pull me upright, but it’s not enough to prevent the domino effect of bodies behind me from crashing into my back. In spite of the force, I remain upright and blink in confusion until Rob comes into focus beside me.

“Easy there, band queen. I’ll make sure it doesn’t happen again.” He cuts his gaze to the side where Eddie’s best friend snickers, then pales and disappears into the throng of students. “Carry on. I’ll catch up with you later.”

He withdraws in the same direction that Joey went before I can thank him.

“Fuckin’ Joey,” Alyssa hisses as she falls in step beside me. “I hope Rob beats his ass for tripping you.”

My face heats with embarrassment. No other drum major has ever been tripped during freshman initiation before. Talk about making me look like a fool in front of my fellow band members, let alone the entire student body. My torture never ends.

“Let’s just get this over with, so I can go home,” I mutter.

“Hell no.” Alyssa glares at me. “Eddie and his crew are done ruining things for you. You’re staying if I have to tie you up to keep you here.”

She walks back down the line, not giving me a chance to argue.

We continue our initiation without further incident. I catch glimpses of Rob here and there, scanning the students around us, looking rather menacing with his arms crossed over his broad chest and a scowl on his face that practically dares anyone else to try something stupid. In addition to providing security, several of his teammates step up to offer more tests for our freshman. Being jocks, of course, they target the blushing, giggling girls in the line. Only one flute player lets Trevor, a senior tight end, break the ranks. He laughs as her section leader hauls her away to face her punishment of burpees.

Rob bumps fists with him, and they exchange grins while shaking their heads at the easily distracted target. As initiation draws to a close, he throws me a wink before being dragged off to his own fun with Trevor and the rest of the team.

Before I can sneak away, Alyssa and Jess flank me and haul me toward where the rest of the senior bandies have gathered.

“Just stay for an hour,” Jess pleads. “If you’re still not having fun after that, we’ll let you go.”

“Come on, Evie. You have to stop letting them win. You used to love the bonfires. Tonight shouldn’t be any different,” Alyssa adds.

“
Used to
is the operative phrase.” I glance between the two of them. “I’m the laughingstock of the entire night.”

Chase, the trumpet section leader, laughs. “More like the envy of the entire school. I didn’t see the captain of the football team helping any other damsels in distress.”

My embarrassment bubbles into anger over the whole situation and Rob’s involvement. “I’m sure he’s helping plenty of other
damsels
now.”

“I always knew he was smart,” Jess pipes up. “It’s about time the football players recognize that the band does way more for them than the cheerleaders.”

Mental images of exactly what the cheerleaders likely do for the football players assault my brain. “I wouldn’t be so sure of that.”

Conversation veers away from the topic as rapidly as it started, and I’m off the hook for further socialization.

The temperature has dropped as predicted, and everyone huddles together or snuggles with their significant others for warmth. Even Alyssa’s boyfriend, Jeremy, tries to put his arm around my shoulders when she asks if I’m cold.

I shrug him off with the best smirk I can manage. Another ten minutes, then I can sneak away. I subtly back up just outside our little circle where the breeze whips around my back. From this vantage point, I watch as Eddie pushes his way into the throng of senior jocks just a few feet away from us. His presence has been blessedly unnoticed until now. Not that he probably didn’t put his buddy up to tripping me while he watched from a safe distance.

When he starts laughing obnoxiously at some of the other guys in the circle, the mood of the whole group seems to shift. Rob’s jaw muscles work furiously. If looks could kill, Eddie would already be flat on his back in the grass. Joey is noticeably absent from the group. He and Eddie are almost always together.

Rob takes a step toward Eddie, but thankfully Mike is beside him, putting up an arm to hold him back. Whatever he says in his ear seems to calm Rob down.

Rob’s eyes snap up, scanning the crowd until he finds me. Without a word of parting to his own circle, he lopes his way over to stand by my side, blowing out a controlled breath along the way. A large, heavy arm wraps securely around my shoulders without him asking permission. My group of friends is otherwise engaged in a deep discussion about next week’s away game or Jess and Alyssa would be having a field day over this perceived affection.

He leans over to whisper in my ear so that no one else will overhear, “Come on, let’s go warm you up by the fire. I think there’s stuff for s’mores over there too.”

I tilt my head up to look at him. His gaze is already on me, clear and sure.

“Why? I’m fine where I am.”

He glances back to where Eddie is still making an ass of himself in a sea of guys who seem to dislike him nearly as much as Rob.

“Please?”

I don’t have the heart to tell old, shy Rob no. I guess I owe him for his help earlier, so I just nod in answer.

He turns, gently guiding me away from my bandmates. My chest constricts at the thought of everyone watching us walk away together. This could be construed as way more than bio partners, and we’re certainly not working on calc right now.