Playing to Win (The Trouble with Tomboys Book2)

by Stephanie Street

  Hannah: Wait. How did it happen? Where?

  Me: Here at school. Just a few minutes ago. And I think I kissed him first.

  Alex: What?!

  Hannah: That’s so awesome.

  Me: No. It isn’t awesome. Alex is right. He’s my teammate. Kissing him was a mistake.

  Neither of them responded for a full thirty seconds.

  Hannah: Do you like him?

  Did I like him? I hardly knew.

  Why did I keep lying to myself? Maybe at first I wanted to hate him, but he’d proven over and over I’d been too quick to judge. I allowed myself to get angry over petty things. I assumed he’d be shallow and self-centered because of his good looks. In reality, he’d defended me. Helped me. Been there for me when I needed someone to hold me while I cried. He didn’t even complain when I soaked his tee shirt with tears and slobber.

  Me: Yeah. *sigh*

  Hannah: Then you should go for it!

  Hannah: And no what if’s!

  She knew me too well.

  Me: Alex?

  Alex: I’m just going to say this. If you really like him, isn’t it worth the risk?

  Was Asher worth the risk?

  I told my friends I’d talk to them later. I’d texted them in the middle of the school day. I had no idea how they’d gotten out of class or if they had lunch right now, too. But it made me laugh, imaging all three of us huddled in bathroom stalls in three different states. Those were the kind of friends I had, the kind who would lie about having to use the restroom to text a friend in need.

  Somehow, I made it through the rest of the day. And without seeing Asher. I ran into Natalie and Kelly, but only in passing. After school, they both had to hurry to practice the same as me.

  I dreaded running into Asher, knowing I needed more time to sort out my feelings, but he hadn’t made it out to the parking lot by the time I drove away.

  I took my time in the locker room getting ready. We had our first game in a week. I still had a lot to prove to my dad. Kevin Parks produced professional quality athletes from his programs. Scouts came to see his teams play. And while I had no interest in playing for men’s teams in the future, I hoped to catch the eye of some scout who could help me achieve my dreams.

  Would spending time with Asher jeopardize all that? Or could the two aspects of my life remain separate? I meant what I said to my friends. I did like Asher. I liked the way I felt when I spent time with him. I loved the butterflies in my stomach when we flirted and how they took flight when we kissed.

  Leo didn’t bother me during practice. Neither did Asher. I appreciated him giving me space, however, I couldn’t avoid him forever, not did I want to. So when he waited for me at the edge of the ice after practice, I met him with a shy smile.

  “Can I see you later? Outside?” he asked.

  I nodded, then hurried to get out of there before I launched myself at him.

  At him, Mom was up to her elbows in bows and asked me to put a casserole in the oven. I took a quick shower while it heated up and still had time to make a salad before Dad got home. He’d been taking Payton to school himself and picking him up from hockey practice.

  “Where’s your mom?” Dad asked, swiping a cucumber slice from the pile of chopped veggies I’d cut for the salad.

  “Down in her workroom. She said she had a big order and it has to be shipped tomorrow.”

  Dad nodded. “Thanks for making dinner. I’ll go down and see how things are coming along.” His footsteps thumped on the stairs down to the basement to Mom’s craft room.

  “So, what’s going on with you and that guy?”

  “Oh, my gosh! Payton, you scared me. I’m holding a knife.”

  Payton grinned and swiped a pepper.

  Sometimes, I had to wonder why I loved my brother.

  He pumped his eyebrows. “Is he your boyfriend?”

  “No,” I replied, my cheeks burning.

  “Yeah, right. You want him to be. I can tell by how red your face is.” He pointed a finger at my cheek and I batted it away.

  “Shut up. You don’t know anything.”

  Payton took a handful of baby carrots. “I know he’s on your team,” he said, tossing one in his mouth. “Do Dad and Joe know you’re hanging out with him?”

  “No. And why would they care? He’s our neighbor and we go to school together.” And we kissed earlier today, but who’s keeping track? “We’re just friends.” Former enemies.

  Payton popped another carrot into his mouth. “Uh-huh. Then how come I’ve seen you sneak into the back yard to hang out with him?”

  “I wasn’t sneaking, you little punk.”

  Payton just grinned. I opened my mouth to tell him just how off base he was when we heard Mom and Dad coming up the stairs.

  I narrowed my eyes at my little brother, threatening him with a little non-verbal communication. He rolled his eyes and grabbed a plate.

  For once, dinner didn’t feel tense. I had no idea why, but I wouldn’t complain. We were almost finished eating when Payton mentioned something that had my ears perking up.

  “Hey, so I was going to talk to you guys about something that happened at school today,” he said.

  Both Mom and Dad froze, waiting to hear the bad news, but this time they didn’t need to worry.

  “What is it, Pay?” Mom asked.

  “The school counselor called me down to her office and told me I’d been selected to be in this program to help some high schoolers get their service hours for graduation.”

  Dad frowned. “Doing what? I don’t want you to miss hockey, Payton.”

  Dad’s reticence worried me, but I knew Payton working with Asher wouldn’t interfere with hockey at all, so I kept my mouth shut.

  Payton rolled his eyes. “I won’t have to miss anything, Dad. It’s during school. Instead of going to art, I’m going to learn how to play the guitar from one of the guys over at the high school. I brought home a permission form for you to sign since I’m switching my schedule to do it.”

  I could hardly contain my excitement. We’d only just talked about this last night and Asher already had plans in motion. If he’d been beside me I would have planted a big, fat kiss right on his lips.

  “Play the guitar? Do you even want to learn the guitar,” Dad asked, still frowning, appearing confused.

  “Dad, seriously. Who doesn’t want to learn how to play the guitar?” And then, he stared straight at me when he said, “Chicks dig guys with guitars, don’t they, Jord?”

  Heat creeped up my neck, but I shrugged, trying to keep it cool. “I don’t know. I guess.”

  Payton smirked and I kicked him under the table which only made him laugh.

  “Well, I think it’s wonderful,” Mom said. “Do you know who it is? The high school student, I mean.”

  “Yeah, it’s the new guy who lives behind us. Asher Sloane.”

  Dad’s brows rose. “Asher? I didn’t know he played the guitar.”

  “Me, either. But Jordan did.”

  Two sets of parental eyes swung to my side of the table. Payton grinned. My brother had a bit of the devil in him, I swear.

  I cleared my throat. “I heard him playing the other day. In the back yard.”

  Dad’s eyes narrowed as he connected the dots. He remembered me going into the backyard the other day, I knew it. It didn’t matter. He wouldn’t care. Now, he’d be watching, though.

  Screw it. Might as well own it.

  “As a matter of fact, I’m supposed to meet Asher right now and since it’s Pay’s turn to do the dishes, can I be excused?” Take that, you little traitor!

  Payton’s lips thinned. He hated doing dishes.

  Dad nodded, watching me closely. I avoided his gaze, but couldn’t miss the smile on Mom’s face. She keeps waiting for me to get a boyfriend. Not that Asher’s my boyfriend! But me showing any interest in a guy made her happy. I’d be getting the third degree later.

  I dumped my plate in the sink without even rinsing it off b
efore I headed out the back door. I had no idea if Asher was even out there yet and I didn’t care. I could wait because I had a big thank you to give to a certain teammate.

  Asher

  Jordan’s body language after our kiss screamed stay away! It took all kinds of will power, but I did it. Even at practice when I could have found my way to her side, I held onto my pride a bit and focused on hockey.

  Of course, I did succumb to my own desires at the end when I asked her to meet me in the back yard. I was only human, after all.

  I hadn’t been able to stop thinking about that kiss. A melody began to play in my head, lyrics flowed, and after an hour in my bedroom picking, I’d written a song.

  After dinner, I grabbed my guitar again and headed for the back door.

  “Where are you going?” Dad asked from his recliner in the living room. “There’s a game on.”

  I barely refrained from rolling my eyes. “Sorry, Dad. I’m gonna go hang out with Jordan.”

  “Who’s Jordan?”

  “A girl on my hockey team,” I said before I could catch myself. Crap. I could have explained Jordan in so many other ways, why did I have to say that?

  Dad’s brows rose. “Really? I didn’t know there was a girl on your team.”

  I shrugged. “It’s not a big deal.”

  “No, just surprising. And she lives close by?”

  “Yeah, in the house behind ours.”

  Dad frowned. “Isn’t that Coach Parks house?”

  “Um, yeah. She’s his daughter.” I cringed knowing how he’d interpret the information.

  His face smoothed and I knew I’d been right. “Oh, I see.”

  “It’s not like that. Jordan’s really good.”

  “I’m more worried about you. You ready for your first game next week?”

  “Of course.”

  “Make sure you are. There’s always someone watching.” He faced the television again, while anxiety swirled in my gut.

  I wanted to tell him I didn’t care who watched, remind him I had no intention of playing hockey in college or anywhere else after high school, but that would just start an argument and hopefully I had better things to do. So, I let it go and went into the backyard.

  The days we’re getting shorter. The sun had already set by the time I reached the trees at the back of our property. I hoped Jordan would be outside already and tried not to worry when I found our spot empty. Instead, I sat down on the hard seat and played the song I’d been working on earlier, humming along as I sang the words in my head. They weren’t quite ready for anyone else to hear. Especially not Jordan.

  I glanced up as I strummed the last chord.

  “Hey, how long have you been there?”

  “Just a couple of minutes.” She smiled and sat down across from me.

  I wanted to reach out and pull her down next to me, but I still held my guitar. I started to remove the strap from my shoulder, but she frowned.

  “Aren’t you going to keep playing?”

  “You want me to keep playing?” I settled my guitar on my knee again and tried to hold back a smirk.

  “Well, only if you want to.” She bit her lip, drawing my attention to it.

  A flash of heat coursed through my body. I knew what those lips felt like. Tasted like.

  “Does this mean you like my music?”

  She shrugged. “It’s okay, I guess.”

  I shook my head and chuckled. “I’m never gonna catch a break with you, am I?”

  “Probably not.” She gestured toward my guitar. “Are you going to play something or not?”

  “I’ll play whatever you want,” I told her, meaning it, too. She had no idea, but she had me wrapped around her pretty little finger.

  “Play that song again. Is it new?”

  I nodded. “I started it today. You like it?”

  She grinned, not giving me an inch. “I can’t believe you can just think up a tune and play it in a day.”

  “It doesn’t always come so easy.” My fingers moved over the guitar strings, but my eyes never left hers.

  “Does it have lyrics?”

  “Yeah, but they aren’t ready yet.” More like, I wasn’t ready yet. I played for several minutes. Jordan leaned back in her chair and closed her eyes. Playing for an audience always made my blood pump. Playing for Jordan had it thrumming. I loved the serenity in her expression. I loved that my song had the power to make her stop and listen and ask me to keep playing.

  Someday, I hoped I’d be playing in concerts with more than an audience of one, but for now, this was perfect.

  Once I strummed the last chord, I held my hand over the strings to quiet them and watched as Jordan’s eyes slowly opened.

  “That one’s okay.”

  I laughed out loud. “Thanks for keeping me humble.”

  She smiled. “No, thank you. Payton said they already had everything worked out for you two.”

  “It’s not a big deal. Ms. Jackson acted right away to make it happen. I think she figured she’d better before I changed my mind or lost interest.”

  “You aren’t going to do that, are you? Change your mind or lose interest?”

  I reached across the distance between us to smooth the pucker between her eyes with my fingers. “No.”

  Her shoulders lost some of their starch. “Good. I think this could be really good for him. He seemed excited when he told us about it at dinner.”

  “I’m glad. But Jordan, don’t get your hopes up too high. Maybe Payton will get interested in music and straighten up, but maybe he won’t.” I hated the thought of letting her down. But in the end, Payton had to choose. I couldn’t force him to change. He had to do that all on his own.

  “I know.” She stood up and paced the small patch of grass beside the furniture. “I do know. I’m just glad for something, anything, that might help him.”

  I rose to my feet and rested my guitar against the arm of the chair. “I hope it helps, too.” However, we needed to talk about something else.

  Reaching out, I took hold of Jordan’s hips and pulled her close. Her mouth dropped open a little and she rested her hands against my chest.

  “You let me kiss you earlier.”

  She nodded, a small smile tugging at her lips.

  “In fact, if I remember right, you kissed me first.”

  “I can neither confirm nor deny,” she said making me laugh.

  “You can’t, huh? Well, can you if you’re gonna kiss me again or not?”

  “Hmm.” She pretended to think about it. “I’m not sure. Maybe you should kiss me this time?”

  I moved my hands from her hips to wrap my arms around her waist. “I think that can be arranged.” I didn’t hesitate this time, didn’t tempt her to beat me to the punch. My lips collided with hers and I could have sworn I’d been kissing her forever. We fell into a tantalizing rhythm.

  For several long moments, our mouths grew familiar, intimate. There were plenty of things I didn’t know about Jordan Parks, but I knew she fit in my arms. I knew she tasted like my favorite flavor. I knew her hair felt soft against my skin. With that knowledge came a sense of possession. Jordan would always be her own person, but I certainly hoped some part of her could be mine.

  “Jordan,” I murmured between kisses. Darkness had fallen and we stood tucked beneath the trees. I didn’t worry too much about getting caught making out with the Coach’s daughter, but still.

  “Hmm.” Her arms wrapped tight around my neck and shoulders.

  Forget it.

  Never mind.

  I’d take the risk.

  Chapter Twelve

  Jordan

  I woke up the next morning, my lips raw from kissing Asher the night before. Kissing? Could you call what happened between us something so simple as kissing? What did you call kissing for hours?

  Making out?

  I didn’t like the sound of that, either. It had to be something more. We’d shared something more than hormonal teenagers getting thei
r kicks. We’d connected. Kissing. Talking. Sharing.

  Asher became someone more than the guy next door, or my teammate, or the idiot who stole my parking spot on the first day of school. He’d become my friend. Someone I could trust. For the first time ever, I wanted a boyfriend. Not just any boyfriend. Asher.

  Asher offered to give me a ride to school, but I didn’t want to invite any more questions than I’d already gotten the night. Mom and Payton had already gone to bed, but Dad still sat in his recliner, waiting up to lock the doors. I tried to keep my face in the shadows in case my lips were swollen from all that kissing, but he wasn’t stupid.

  When I arrived at school, Asher waited, leaning against the back of his car looking like a model. I knew a moment of insecurity, because how could a guy like him like a tomboy like me, but then he saw me and his face split into a grin. Even I couldn’t deny how happy he seemed.

  “What do you think you’re doing?” I asked after getting out of my car.

  His face fell for a split second before smoothing out. He dropped his hands to his side and sauntered toward me.

  “I’m not scared of you, Jordan Parks. Other guys at this school might be too chicken, but I’m not.” To prove his point, Asher took me by my waist and pulled me into him.

  “Too chicken to what?” I asked.

  “To be your boyfriend.”

  My breath caught at the look in his eyes.

  “What did you just say?”

  “I like you, Jordan.” He said it so simply, so honestly, I had to believe him.

  “I like you, too.” And I did. More than I wanted to admit. To him or myself. However, at this point, how could I deny it?

  “Well, then?”

  Could I do it? Could I throw caution to the wind and be Asher’s girlfriend? Would this decision impact my dreams of playing hockey in the future, or was it possible, as Hannah kept telling me, to separate Asher potential boyfriend from Asher my teammate?

  “I have rules,” I told him.

  “Rules? What kind of rules?” He nuzzled my neck with his lips. All around us, people walked into school, but I didn’t notice any of them. Just Asher.

  “About dating teammates.”

  He paused in his sweet assault to look me in the eye, but didn’t say anything.