Doug from the opposing team slammed both palms into William’s back, stopping his run to the end zone. They all regrouped, forming up their lines. Lila was across from Ryan, while Gretchen matched up with Van again. Ryan wiggled his eyebrows at her and made lewd faces at her. Lila rolled her eyes and listened to the QB shout out numbers and HUTs. When the ball was snapped, Lila took off, tripping Ryan as she went.
“Foul!” he yelled, but nobody bothered to listen.
Tanya dropped back, looking for a receiver while Van closed on her. She threw, connecting with Paul who caught it and took it to the tree line that was serving as their end zone. A cheer went up from Lila’s team and she joined in the noise with a wide grin. This was actually kind of fun. Lila was suddenly very glad Gretchen had roused her from her bed this morning.
The ball switched sides with Tanya throwing to Van’s team. The girl had an arm on her; even Lila with her limited knowledge of football could see that. She threw a long spiral deep into the opposing team’s territory. Van caught it and took off like a rabbit racing ahead of greyhounds.
The game went back and forth. After about an hour, Lila was happily exhausted from running pell-mell. Everyone except Van and Gretchen, the two distance runners, were acting a little punchy. The game probably wasn’t going to last much longer. Her team had possession and Tanya called the play. Lila pelted off down the field, trying to stay open for a pass. Tanya caught sight of her and threw. Lila kept running, trying to gauge the ball’s flight path. It was going to end up going right over her head.
She made a wild leap, catching it neatly. If she’d planned it, she probably would have screwed it up, but she went on instinct. But it was perfect, the ball slapping into her hands. She tucked it against her chest as she landed, turning her body to protect it. Her feet had just touched back down when someone smashed into her.
***
Van had been running at full speed, hoping to intercept the ball. Only he hadn’t expected Lila to execute such a gorgeous catch. He tried to slow his steps, but his momentum was too much. His feet tangled in each other and he went down, slamming into Lila as she landed. They both went down in a knot of flailing legs.
He landed on top of her, trying to keep as much of his body weight off her as he could. Her arms were crossed over her chest, cradling the ball. Her hazel eyes appeared dazed as she stared up at him blankly, clearly stunned. Van took a deep breath, suddenly acutely aware of his body pressed against Lila’s. One of his hands was braced flat on the ground beside her head.
She blinked, a wince of pain flitting across her face. “Are you okay?” Van asked, his mouth only inches from hers. “Did I hurt you?”
“I think I hit my head on the ground,” Lila said softly, her eyes wide and fringed by impossibly dark lashes. Her eyes dropped to his lips. Van could feel the hitch in her breathing.
He reached around with his free hand and gingerly touched the back of her head with his fingertips. “Tell me when it hurts.” He probed lightly, feeling the thickness of Lila’s dark hair sliding against his fingers. His breathing quickened.
“There,” Lila said, a slight frown on her face. He pressed a little harder. Van could feel a slight lump; he suspected she might have landed on a small rock.
“You’ve got a little bump, but otherwise everything feels okay.” Better than okay, actually. The scent of her body wash was a light citrus, clean and simple. Her hair was soft and thick, twining around his fingers as if it had a mind of its own. “How do you feel?”
“Um, a little short of breath,” she answered, her breathing quick and shallow.
Van smiled. So she felt something too. He dropped his head the slightest bit lower, wondering if he dared to kiss her with so many eyes on them.
“You’re sitting on my chest,” Lila said, staring into his eyes.
DOH! He scrambled off of her, feeling like an idiot. “Sorry,” he said, offering her a hand up. She took it, leaving the football on the ground where she lay.
“Dude,” Ryan shouted from close by. “Nice tackle!”
“Sorry about that,” Van apologized, letting go of Lila’s hand reluctantly.
“It’s okay. It was an accident.” She brushed grass from her jeans. “No real harm done.” She wouldn’t meet his eyes.
“That was a sweet catch you made.” Van wanted to say something, anything that would get her to look up at him again. He knew he shouldn’t, but he couldn’t seem to help himself. Something drew him to Lila.
“Thanks,” she muttered before Gretchen came up.
“I’m starved,” the blonde said, linking arms with Lila and Van. “Let’s start the grill.”
Van pulled his arm out of her grasp and went to the cooler to get a Coke. Ryan joined him. Doug worked at the grill, getting the charcoal lit. Lila, Gretchen, and Tanya were ferrying supplies from the bags to the tables.
“You really knocked the shit out of her,” Ryan chuckled, popping open a Mountain Dew. “But it was a helluva catch. I didn’t think she’d get it.”
“Dude, I feel like an asshole, just plowing into her like that.” Van snuck a look at Lila. He felt worse because of what he knew about her ex-boyfriend. Ryan didn’t need to know that though.
“Maybe you can go make nice with her later.” Ryan wiggled his eyebrows at him. “Bet, remember?”
Van walked away, not up for Ryan’s humor. He joined Doug and Karen at the grill and watched as they stacked on the hot dogs and hamburgers. He glanced over at Lila, where she stood talking to Tanya and William. She’d put back on her sweatshirt, hiding her full curves. He remembered how she felt under him, her softness and warmth. He quickly turned his attention back to the grill when she looked over in his direction.
After lunch was demolished, Van saw Lila and Tanya take off down one of the hiking paths. Van sat down next to Gretchen on top of one of the picnic tables. “G-Love,” he greeted.
“Hey V,” she answered, scooting over to give him more room. “How’s it going?”
“Good.” He leaned his elbows on his knees and stared out at the field. “I’m not looking forward to training next week.” They were going to be adding more miles to their daily runs in preparation for the spring season. He knew it would take his body a little time to sink into a new rhythm.
“You’ll be fine.” She nudged him with her shoulder. “You gonna come study with me tomorrow? I promised Lila I’d focus on that if she came out here with me today.”
Van slanted his eyes to look at his friend. “You having problems with classes?”
The blonde shrugged. “I’m not as driven as Lila. I’ve been a little distracted.”
“How bad?” Van knew Gretchen wouldn’t be able to run on the team if her GPA dropped too low.
“I got a C on my Spanish midterm. Barely.” She sighed. “I need to hit the books.”
“You had me worried there, for a sec.” Van tapped his leg into hers. “I was afraid you were going to tell me you were flunking out of every class.”
Gretchen grimaced. “You know me better than that.” She picked at a splinter of wood that had come loose from the top of the table. “I’m just trying to keep my B average. Got to keep my ‘rents happy.”
Van nodded, not exactly having that problem. If his mother took an interest in his school performance, she’d never expressed it. And his dad tended to be too busy with his new family to really call and ask how things were going or how his grades were looking. Granted, Van didn’t really want to talk to him about much of anything these days. “Sure, I can come by.”
“Cool. Lila will probably head to the library. Not sure if I’ll go there, or just stay home.”
“You should go to the library,” Van advised with a gentle smile. “Otherwise, you’re just going to end up watching whatever you have on your DVR.”
Slapping his arm, Gretchen glared at him. “That’s not fair! I only did that once last year!”
Van got off the bench, jogging away from Gretchen with his hands up in surrender.
“I’m just saying!” he called out laughing.
She chased after him, and he streaked away, happy to be moving again. He headed to the trailhead, figuring he could lose G in the woods that bordered the trail. He took off, careful of the roots that pushed up through the earthen path. He zipped past Tanya who was on her way back.
“Don’t tell Gretchen you saw me,” he gasped as he passed her.
Tanya waved him on, a smile on her face. He knew where he was heading—there was a rocky area where he’d done some free climbing before. Lots of places to hide there. That’s if he hadn’t lost her by that point. It was a few more minutes before he reached the base of the rocks and he stopped to listen for sounds of pursuit. He wondered if Gretchen had gotten bored and walked back with Tanya.
“Van?” Lila’s voice came from somewhere above him.
“Yeah?” He looked up. Lila’s head peeked over the rim of the rocks, staring down at him. Her braid dangled next to her face. “Hey, Lila.”
“What are you doing?”
“Hiding from your roommate.” He cocked his head. “What are you doing up there?”
“Thinking.” She peered down the path. “Come on up. She’ll never find you up here.”
Van scrambled over the boulders, his feet naturally finding the easiest way up to the top. He hoisted himself up and over the last rock, only to find Lila’s sneakered foot in his face. She moved a little closer to the edge as he flattened himself against the rock. She didn’t change her gaze from the landscape, seeming to drink in the green tops of the trees and the sloping hills that faded into the horizon.
He checked the path, but saw no sign of Gretchen. He flipped over onto his back and pillowed his head on his hands. “Safe.”
“Is she stalking you? She does that sometimes.”
He turned his head so he could take in her profile. “I made fun of her study habits,” he admitted.
“Oh, that’s a hanging offense.” Her mouth quirked up at the corners. “Your sense of self-preservation is on the fritz.”
“Clearly,” he agreed. “What brings you up here?”
Lila pulled her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them. She kept her eyes on the view. “It’s relaxing up here. I feel very far away from…everything.”
Van pushed himself up. Instead of the landscape, his eyes traced the lines of her face: Her round cheeks, her pert nose with the slight bump, the dark eyebrows that winged above large, liquid eyes, the soft line of her jaw. As if she could feel his eyes on her, Lila turned her head, her eyes narrowed in an unspoken question.
“What?” She reached up a hand to touch her cheek. “Do I have dirt on my face?”
“No,” he said, surprised at the hush in his voice. He spoke low, as if she was a skittish animal he was afraid to startle. “I just like looking at you.” Van knew he should stop, that he should just get up and go back to the others. But he didn’t want to.
Lila ducked her head, her cheeks flushing a light pink. “Um, okay.” She sounded like she didn’t believe him. A passing breeze whipped the stray ends of her dark hair across her face. She tucked them behind her ear.
They sat in silence for a few minutes. Finally, Lila turned to him and asked, “Why are you doing this?” Her hazel eyes were murky with questions.
He pulled back a bit. “Doing what?”
Her eyes bored into his. “This? Being nice to me.” She gave him a pointed look. “There are plenty of other girls you could be bothering with, but here you are.”
“Is that a problem?” Van stared at her, feeling bothered by her question. “Am I bothering you?”
“I just don’t get what you want from me!” Lila took a steadying breath. “You want to make out with me, but then tell me you don’t want to get serious without even asking what I might want out of it. You treat me like a friend, and then you say stuff like you just did. I’m getting whiplash over here.”
Van scowled. He wasn’t really doing all that, was he? He hadn’t thought he was. He was just trying to be a nice guy; Lila certainly seemed like she needed one. He had to admit to himself that he felt a certain amount of protectiveness for her since he found out about her ex-boyfriend. He couldn’t explain why, he just did.
“I don’t want anything from you,” he said, taken aback by her honesty. She pursed her lips and looked at him as if she didn’t believe him. “What?”
Lila shook her head. “I’m sorry Gretchen ever said anything to you.”
Now he was really confused. “What do you mean by that?” He tried not to sound offended but some of it seeped through.
“Look, if you didn’t know about me and Tyler, would you still be so interested? Would you have stopped when we were making out? Or would I be just another one of your girls?” She stared at him frankly, daring him to lie to her.
He had already opened his mouth to answer when her last words caught up with him. “One of my girls?” What the hell did she mean by that? Had Gretchen told her some things she shouldn’t have?
Lila got up, brushing off her jeans. “Look, it doesn’t matter.” She stepped over Van on her way to climb down. “If you want to be my friend, great. But if I’m some kind of pet project for you, then I’m not really looking for that. I don’t need saving, okay?”
“I never said you did.” But wasn’t that part of her allure? Her seeming vulnerability? Isn’t that part of what drew him to her?
She gave him a look that spoke volumes of what she thought of that statement. “I’m heading back. See you later.” Then she was climbing down, making her careful way back to solid ground.
Chapter Fifteen
“Whoa, dude!” Ryan shouted as Van slammed on the brakes to avoid rear-ending the car in front of them. “Brakes!”
“I saw him,” Van replied, though he really hadn’t. The car lurched to a stop as the car in front of them turned into an overlook to take in the autumn scenery. He hit the gas again, this time making sure to pay attention to the slight traffic around him.
“What’s with you? You’ve been distracted for hours.” Ryan had slewed around in the passenger seat to stare at him. “Did something happen while you were on the trails?”
He shrugged, not wanting to talk to Ryan about his conversation with Lila. He couldn’t get her out of his head and it was driving him a little bit nuts. Maybe if he just had sex with Lila, he’d get over this mild obsession with her. But then Gretchen would kill him, and he valued the tall blonde’s friendship.
“Seriously, man,” Ryan pressed, “what the hell is going on with you?”
“Just got a lot on my mind is all.” Van didn’t want to talk about Lila.
Ryan didn’t say anything, just kept looking at him. When Van didn’t say anything, he tried again. “I’m not saying I want to hug it out, but it might help if you unloaded some of it.” He grew serious. “Is it your mom?”
Van gripped the steering wheel tighter. That was part of it. Part of why he was so screwed up, about why he was scared to death of anything turning serious. “She’s like she always is. Depressed. Medicated.” Ryan knew everything about his mother; he’d been there when Van’s father left them. He’d had a ringside seat to Van’s mother falling apart.
“She still trying to convince you to move back home?”
Nodding, Van kept his eyes on the road. “Not going to happen, man.” He didn’t like admitting it to himself—he did his level best to try not to even think about it—but there were times when he wished his mother wasn’t a problem at all anymore. Sometimes he wondered what it would be like if she took the wrong mix of pills and just didn’t wake up. It was horrible, but there it was.
“You talk to her lately?” Ryan’s tone was casual, but Van knew he was fishing for answers about why he was in such a pissy mood.
“Try not to.” He took one hand off the steering wheel to run it through his hair. “It’s not about my mom.”
“So what is it? You got girl problems?” Ryan’s usual leering tone was absent. �
�Money trouble? What?”
Van shrugged. “Pick one. Or none. I don’t know, man.” He felt twisted up in five different directions. “It’s just…not easy.” That was the closest he could come to saying what was going on in his head.
“That’s nice and vague,” Ryan noted, turning his gaze to the scenery passing by his window.
“You ever get told something about someone and then wish you’d never found out?” Van asked suddenly.
Ryan turned back to look at him. “Why am I getting the feeling this is not a hypothetical question?” When his friend didn’t answer, he went quiet. “I don’t know—I mean, I don’t think so.” He paused and raised a brow at Van. “So what did you find out? And about who?”
Van kept his eyes on the road ahead. “Nobody. It was just a question.”
Chapter Sixteen
Lila knocked on the half-open door of the music rehearsal room. Jason waved her inside from his seat near a piano. She peered around the room but didn’t see Greg. He’d called her the night before to see if she was available for a practice session and given her the time and location. She put her guitar bag on the floor and walked over to Jason.
“Greg’s running a little late,” he told her, not looking up from tuning his guitar. “He’ll be here in about five.”
“Oh, okay.” She looked around at the room, feeling the stillness seeping into her. The rehearsal room was small, really only large enough for the piano and a few chairs so close to it that you sat with your knees bunched up around your ears. The walls were soundproof, so that when the door was closed, the sounds from within couldn’t be heard outside of the room.
“How’d you manage to get this place?” she asked, realizing she knew very little about Jason other than that he played music.
He looked up at her with his mouth full of strings, looking like a bipedal catfish. He took them in his fist and answered her. “I’m a music major. We can reserve these rooms as needed. Pretty cool, right?”
“Very.” She was at a loss for what to say next. “What do you plan to do with a major in music?”
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