stare. “What?”
“What—what?”
Shit. Something had gone wrong. I sat back on my heels and chewed the inside of
my cheek. “Sorry, what did you say?”
His eyes
narrowed a little more. “You sighed. Like you were drooling over Harrison
again.”
Harrison… Ford .
Right. Not Hunter. A little late, but my cheeks started to burn with shame.
“Liz, is
everything all right?”
“Sure.” And in
my most innocent I-don’t-know-what-you-mean voice I added, “Why?”
“Ever since I
came back from camp you’ve been acting a little crazy.”
“Bullcrap. I’m
fine.” The way he lounged on my bed, arms folded over his chest, brow creasing,
it gave me the creeps. I slid off the bed and stopped the DVD. “Let’s call it a
day here, shall we?”
I held the case out
to him, but Tony didn’t take it. Instead, he sat up, Indian style, and angled
his head. “Are you throwing me out?” He said it so slowly, disbelief flaring
into his eyes.
Did I? In over
thirteen years of friendship, I’d never asked him to go. Jeez, he was right—I
was crazy.
“Look, I’m just
tired from this Indiana Jones marathon. And then I promised my mom to clean up
my room today.” I dropped the DVD case on the bed in front of him. “It’s almost
four. I should get started.”
“I’d offer to
help you, but I’ve got this feeling you’ll just say no.” He stood, looking at
me as if he waited for my contradiction.
What in the hell
rode me to disregard his offer? I avoided his gaze, finding his hoodie, and
handed it over to him. “See you tomorrow?” A hopeful edge to my voice made me
wonder if I expected him to be mad because I didn’t let him help me clean.
“Yeah. Meet you
at training. I can’t pick you up, though.” He grimaced, and I wondered why. “But
hey, tomorrow we’ll play the first real match with the newbies. Make sure you
play in my team.” There it was again. The typical sly Tony-grin that caused my heart
to melt every time.
Just that it
wasn’t lopsided…like Hunter’s.
I grunted, aware
of my lack of focus, as I ushered Tony out of my room. As he climbed down the
shed and I closed the window, I wondered where Mom kept the clinical
thermometer. I sure must be suffering from a high fever.
CHAPTER
9
TUESDAY, TWO
THIRTY P.M., I pedaled my mountain-bike to the soccer training field. Susan
rode along with me, and we were the last to arrive. After securing my bike, my
gaze swept over the trimmed lawn in search of Tony. He stood on the far end
with a small group of girls and boys. I started toward him, but when one of his
friends headed away, I glimpsed Cloey there and decided to miss out on their
doubtlessly entertaining conversation.
It didn’t take long
until Tony spotted me and excused himself from the group. Barbie grabbed his
biceps, saying something to him, pointing an eerie scowl in my direction. I
glared back, feeling an overwhelming need to flip her off. But I was grown-up
enough to resist.
Thankfully, I
couldn’t hear what she said to Tony; I was so not interested. But that he
rolled his eyes at her and pried her hand from his arm was highly satisfying.
He jogged over.
“Hi, Liz. Are those shades new?”
Yeah, good
feeling that the guy knew my entire collection of clothes and accessories.
Meant he paid attention. I grinned.
“Nope, they’re
mine,” Hunter said behind me. When he came around to face me and carefully slid
the sunglasses off my nose, I couldn’t stop my smirk from spreading into a real
smile.
“He gave me them
after the party,” I told Tony, who suddenly looked a bit puzzled. “Hangover and
sunlight—not a good combination.”
Both boys
laughed at that, and I had a hard time deciding which sound pleased me more.
As we headed
toward the gathering group of kids, Ryan asked Tony if he wanted to be captain
of the other team.
“Sure. Want to
vote players?” Tony’s eyes skated over to me. A wink said I was one of his
first choices.
“Yep,
“What—what?”
Shit. Something had gone wrong. I sat back on my heels and chewed the inside of
my cheek. “Sorry, what did you say?”
His eyes
narrowed a little more. “You sighed. Like you were drooling over Harrison
again.”
Harrison… Ford .
Right. Not Hunter. A little late, but my cheeks started to burn with shame.
“Liz, is
everything all right?”
“Sure.” And in
my most innocent I-don’t-know-what-you-mean voice I added, “Why?”
“Ever since I
came back from camp you’ve been acting a little crazy.”
“Bullcrap. I’m
fine.” The way he lounged on my bed, arms folded over his chest, brow creasing,
it gave me the creeps. I slid off the bed and stopped the DVD. “Let’s call it a
day here, shall we?”
I held the case out
to him, but Tony didn’t take it. Instead, he sat up, Indian style, and angled
his head. “Are you throwing me out?” He said it so slowly, disbelief flaring
into his eyes.
Did I? In over
thirteen years of friendship, I’d never asked him to go. Jeez, he was right—I
was crazy.
“Look, I’m just
tired from this Indiana Jones marathon. And then I promised my mom to clean up
my room today.” I dropped the DVD case on the bed in front of him. “It’s almost
four. I should get started.”
“I’d offer to
help you, but I’ve got this feeling you’ll just say no.” He stood, looking at
me as if he waited for my contradiction.
What in the hell
rode me to disregard his offer? I avoided his gaze, finding his hoodie, and
handed it over to him. “See you tomorrow?” A hopeful edge to my voice made me
wonder if I expected him to be mad because I didn’t let him help me clean.
“Yeah. Meet you
at training. I can’t pick you up, though.” He grimaced, and I wondered why. “But
hey, tomorrow we’ll play the first real match with the newbies. Make sure you
play in my team.” There it was again. The typical sly Tony-grin that caused my heart
to melt every time.
Just that it
wasn’t lopsided…like Hunter’s.
I grunted, aware
of my lack of focus, as I ushered Tony out of my room. As he climbed down the
shed and I closed the window, I wondered where Mom kept the clinical
thermometer. I sure must be suffering from a high fever.
CHAPTER
9
TUESDAY, TWO
THIRTY P.M., I pedaled my mountain-bike to the soccer training field. Susan
rode along with me, and we were the last to arrive. After securing my bike, my
gaze swept over the trimmed lawn in search of Tony. He stood on the far end
with a small group of girls and boys. I started toward him, but when one of his
friends headed away, I glimpsed Cloey there and decided to miss out on their
doubtlessly entertaining conversation.
It didn’t take long
until Tony spotted me and excused himself from the group. Barbie grabbed his
biceps, saying something to him, pointing an eerie scowl in my direction. I
glared back, feeling an overwhelming need to flip her off. But I was grown-up
enough to resist.
Thankfully, I
couldn’t hear what she said to Tony; I was so not interested. But that he
rolled his eyes at her and pried her hand from his arm was highly satisfying.
He jogged over.
“Hi, Liz. Are those shades new?”
Yeah, good
feeling that the guy knew my entire collection of clothes and accessories.
Meant he paid attention. I grinned.
“Nope, they’re
mine,” Hunter said behind me. When he came around to face me and carefully slid
the sunglasses off my nose, I couldn’t stop my smirk from spreading into a real
smile.
“He gave me them
after the party,” I told Tony, who suddenly looked a bit puzzled. “Hangover and
sunlight—not a good combination.”
Both boys
laughed at that, and I had a hard time deciding which sound pleased me more.
As we headed
toward the gathering group of kids, Ryan asked Tony if he wanted to be captain
of the other team.
“Sure. Want to
vote players?” Tony’s eyes skated over to me. A wink said I was one of his
first choices.
“Yep,
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