And, well, Danny and I both always think we’re right.
That’s where Phillip comes in.
I am convinced that the United Nations should send Phillip to the Middle East. He would have a Peace Treaty signed, with all parties thinking they got the best deal, in under an hour. It is simply due to his fine negotiation skills that Danny and I don’t kill each other.
He is truly amazing. Smart too. Somehow, I think since he never gets involved in the arguments, he always stays warm and dry, while Danny and I are running around in the snow with nothing on but a T-shirt, jeans, one sock and, if we’re lucky, maybe a mitten.
The fun part about playing the game in the winter—we have played in the summer but the game is over pretty fast—is that you have lots of layers to strip off before you’re out of the game.
Our moms used to yell at us because they were afraid we’d freeze to death. It’s a major embarrassment to be called inside by your mom. Much worse than losing outright. But, thankfully, they gave up on us, assuming we’re old enough to come in the house before frostbite sets in.
I quickly put on multiple layers. First a swimsuit, then T-shirt, bike shorts, sweatshirt, sweatpants, snow pants, jacket, mittens, socks and boots. I pull my hair back in a ponytail, throw on a baseball cap, and then I add sunglasses and a scarf for good measure.
You have to be very careful about how many layers you put on, because there is a fine line between perfect and too many.
Too many layers and you can’t bend your elbows or knees.
And if you can’t bend them, it makes it very difficult to throw, catch, and run. Then you can end up stripped so fast that the extra layers didn’t really do you any good in the first place.
When I get outside, I see that it’s not just Danny and Phillip who are going to play, but some other guys have shown up too.
As you can imagine, strip football is a bit of a novelty game and is developing quite a following. You’d think since there is stripping involved that it would be a coed game, like strip poker, but this game is for guys only.
Well, except for me. And it’s more of an I’m a manly, macho, tough guy, and I can stand to be out in the cold weather playing football with practically no clothes on kind of game.
The boys have already split into two teams, by the time I plod over through the snow. We had a beautiful white Christmas, and there are about four inches of new snow blanketing the grass.
The teams seem to be split, Juniors versus Seniors, with Phillip, Neil, Joey, and I, on one team and Danny, Dillon, Kevin, and Brandon, on the other.
We huddle up and start on offense. Joey plays quarterback and makes a perfect throw to Phillip. Phillip catches it, but fumbles it and off comes a coat. The game continues like this. Every few plays someone loses an article of clothing. I’m doing pretty well. I have only lost my jacket, cap, and scarf. Phillip, who I knew was way too bulked up, has lost all three of his jackets and is now performing much better.
Our team is also winning 21-14!
Lisa shows up with Katie. The two of them are dressed like they are going to some posh ski resort in Aspen or somewhere. Katie has on trendy furry boots, and Lisa has some sort of sparkly stuff on her cheeks. I swear, they are such girly girls! It cracks me up!
They keep working on making me that way, and apparently they’ve had some success because just the other day, I bought a pair of jeans with rhinestones on the pockets.
Mom loves them!
They also tell me that I must wear at least mascara and lip gloss every day.
So I do. And I am getting pretty proficient at eyeshadow, as well.
Did I mention that both of them decided to try out for cheerleading last year and made it?
Of course, I don’t hold that against them. They both tried basketball with me as freshman, and it was kinda sad. I would much rather be a cheerleader than a benchwarmer too.
And they feel it has definitely raised their popularity factor.
They have Lisa’s trunk open and are getting out what, upon first glance, appears to be full tailgating paraphernalia, but is really just two lounge chairs, a table, and a couple thermoses full of hot chocolate with, knowing them, a little peppermint schnapps.
Which will earn them bonus points with the boys.
I politely ask them if they would like to play with us, knowing full well, there’s a snowball’s chance in hell that they will.
This is when Danny, for no apparent reason, starts purposely picking on me.
Well, actually, there is a reason.
Lisa drives him nuts.
She really hoped that once she became a cheerleader she would have a shot at dating Danny, but it hasn’t happened so far. And between you and me, I don’t think it ever will. Even though she’s now a cheerleader, she’s still not Danny’s type.
But Lisa is an eternal optimist, and Danny is currently girlfriend-less.
Stranger things have happened.
So Danny starts throwing the ball to Dillon, who I’m guarding, and, shhhh, sorta crushing on right now. He is soooo cute!
Oh, sorry.
So, I’m a tall girl, but Dillon is about 6’4”.
Yes, Mom was right. The boys finally caught up. Anyway, he’s a full six inches taller than me so, aside from my being distracted by his cuteness, Danny’s passing the ball so far above my head that I have no chance to defend it.
And it’s really pissing me off.
Soon, we are losing by a score of 21 - 28, and I’m left with just my socks and boots, snow pants, and swimsuit top.
Danny throws a great pass to Dillon in the end zone.
And, well, you know what they say. Desperate times call for desperate measures—or maybe a little creativity.
Dillon jumps up and catches the ball, but he lands just outside the out of bounds line.
Really! I swear.
Okay.
So my fingers might be crossed behind my back, but whatever.
I say, “No good. Out of bounds.”
“No way!” Danny raises both of his arms straight up in the air, “Touchdown.”
I shake my head at him. Dillon isn’t exactly sure where he landed. I was really the only one who saw.
Danny comes bounding down toward me, looking for Dillon’s boot prints, which I have already conveniently obscured.
“TD.” Danny smirks. “What’s it gonna be this time, Jay? How about the swimsuit top?” he teases, daring me to take off my top.
Like that would ever happen, other than maybe in his dreams.
I walk up to him and hand him the football. “In your dreams, sweetie. He was out of bounds. No touchdown.”
“Prove it, because the field judge, me,” he smiles a fake smile, “saw him land in bounds.”
He is so competitive and a liar, I am sure. He couldn’t have seen.
“Oh yeah? Well the line judge didn’t have a clear view,” I say, nodding toward Phillip. “The side judge over there was watching the cheerleaders.” I point at Neil, who’s flirting with Lisa and Katie. “And since there is no instant replay,” I smile a shit-eating grin, “I’m just gonna have to call a do over.”
“It’s only fair,” I add.
“You’re a cheater,” Danny says, squinting his eyes at me.
I raise my eyebrows at that boy and say, “Yeah? Well that’s better than being a liar.”
I mean, really, it is.
Phillip finally comes over to intervene, and I get my way.
Yes!
We do the down over, and Danny does the exact same play.
I told you! He’s after me!
But this time I’m expecting it, and I jump up as high as I can in front of Dillon and manage to just tip the ball away from him.
“That wasn’t your fault, Dillon,” I tell him. “Danny loses something on that one. It was a terrible throw.”
Dillon is on my side instead of his teammates on this one because all he has left on are his jeans and his boots, and he really doesn’t w
ant to give up a boot.
I jog back up to midfield and tease Danny. “That didn’t work out quite the way you planned, did it, Danny boy?” He hates to be called that. His mom called him that when he was little. “So what’s it gonna be, Danny? Your shirt or a shoe?”
That boy gets a nasty look on his face, but then the look changes and he smiles a wide, slightly evil smile at me.
Devil Danny is back, I think, and he’s standing right in front of me.
I glance at Lisa. She can barely contain her excitement. I mean, this is what she has been out here braving the cold for.
Danny stands in front of me and very, very slowly pulls his T-shirt up over his chest. He is doing a strip tease just for my benefit. Although, I’m willing to bet that Lisa will warp things in her mind and be convinced that he was showing off for her.
Most of me wants to collapse in a fit of giggles when he gets the shirt off and swings it above his head like a lasso. But I have to admit, when he takes his shirt off, even though I have seen it a million times, it kinda takes my breath away.
Just for a minute.
Somehow, he is still tan and the sweat on his naked chest glitters in the sun, just like it glitters in the snow all around him.
Which shouldn’t be that much of a surprise, really. I mean, Danny pretty much glitters all the time. His last name is really quite appropriate.
God, he has a great chest!
I know Lisa, Katie, and I will discuss it in excruciating detail later. It’s not even that Danny’s all that big, but the muscles in his arms and shoulders are just perfect, his body is lean in just the right places. Which brings us to that faint little line of blonde hair running from his chest, down through that beautiful six-pack of abs, and God knows where else.
Don’t even want to think about that.
I realize that Danny has tossed his sweaty shirt on my head. I take it off and fling it over to Lisa, who catches it and cuddles it with affection.
I stand there and grin at that boy. “Chilly, honey?”
“Absolutely not, darling. You?”
We always pretend to love each other after a fight, because it makes Phillip happy. In these games, it seems that Danny and I always argue until we are cold enough to call a truce and gang up on Phillip.
Later in the game, Danny hands off the ball to Brandon, who promptly fumbles it. With this fumble, he is down to only his jeans and one wet sock. I’m sure his feet are quite cold.
Brandon wants to call the game, but Danny fervently tries to talk him out of it, because their team is winning. If a player bails out, that team automatically forfeits the game, regardless of the score.
I just smile, watching him trying to convince a freezing and shaking Brandon that he’s not really cold. He tells him It’s all mental and, Tough it out.
“No way, man. I can’t take it any longer,” Brandon finally says.
Yay! We win!
Our team huddles up and we hoot, holler, and high five each other.
“Do you see my sweatshirt?” I ask Phillip.
My teeth are chattering now that I’m not running, and I realize how cold I am. Phillip bends down and lifts my sweatshirt up out of the snow, where Dillon had carelessly flung it. It’s all wet and cold.
We both look sadly at it.
Then he does the sweetest thing.
He says, “Here, Princess,” and takes his own warm sweatshirt off and pulls it over my head.
Now I know everyone gets all hyped up over Danny, but Phillip, who is his workout partner, is a few inches taller than Danny and carries more weight. Quite honestly, Phillip’s muscles are bigger, and I kinda like them even better. I get a little peek at his abs because when he pulls up his sweatshirt to take it off, his T-shirt rides up with it.
Yummy. Very yummy.
You know, being friends with cute boys does have its benefits.
Phillip wraps those muscular arms around me and rubs his hands up and down the sides of my arms, trying to warm me up. He’s saying something to me about a great team, but he’s standing so close to me that for a minute I kind of get lost in his eyes.
I swear, he’s so sweet that if he weren’t my friend, I think I might have kissed him. “Thanks, Phillip,” I say, blinking away that thought. “I think we need to hit the hot tub!”
“Come on.” He grabs my hand and drags me behind him. “Let’s get a head start.”
When we’re halfway to my house, he yells. “Last one in the hot tub is a loser.”
Then he looks back at Danny and his team and says, “Oh sorry. I forgot. You already are!”
I grab my phone and am just getting ready to dial Phillip’s number for our nightly phone call when the phone rings in my hand and startles me. I look at the caller ID, expecting to see Phillip’s number, but instead I see Renner, David.
Who the heck is David Renner?
Was that the name of the hot guy Lisa and I met at the sporting goods store the other day? She used to detest going to the sporting goods store with me, but she’s recently discovered that it’s one of the few place guys actually like to shop. I mean, how many guys has she ever met in her girly stores?
Exactly none!
So, while I was trying on jogging shorts, she was trying on boys. Well, not literally, but she did get herself a date and, well, supposedly one for me too, with this guy’s friend. Who, I might add, is clearly not capable of getting his own dates. I mean, he is not very fortunate in the looks department. So, aside from the fact that I already have a boyfriend, I’m sure I will be coming down with something highly contagious this Friday.
Then it hits me.
Renner.
Allison Renner. Phillip’s girlfriend, right?
Is he calling me from her house? No, it’s past ten, his school night curfew.
As if he needs one. I swear, he’s the only person I know, and quite possibly the only teen in the entire universe, who prides himself on being home before curfew.
I look across the street and see his bedroom light’s on.
I answer with a polite, “Hello.”
“JJ this is Allie,” Allison says, using the name her friends call her.
No shit.
“Hey, Allison, what’s up?” I answer, trying to sound pleasant, but purposely not using the name her friends call her.
Cuz this is weird. I mean, she and I aren’t good friends.
Honestly, we’re not friends at all. In fact, I really don’t care for her much. She’s very annoying and talks a mile a minute. It’s like she hardly needs to breathe. The boys at school make crass remarks about what else that would make her good at. Boys are sick. Anyway, she acts like she owns Phillip, and they’ve only been dating for like three weeks. I don’t think she’ll last much longer, though.
I’ve never spoken to her on the phone before, so naturally I get the feeling I’m being set up. You know, like when your friends call you on a three-way call, but pretend that only one of them is there and she tries to get you to say bad stuff about the other friend, who is secretly listening, and then they both get mad at you?
“Um JJ I have a quick question for you it’s about Phillip well I’m sure you guessed that and I mean I know you guys are neighbors and good friends and well I really need you to tell me something because I really like Phillip and I don’t want to be stupid and not believe him but I also don’t want to be stupid and be like cheated on.”
God, she talks fast!
“Allison, Phillip is not cheating on you!” He wouldn’t! He’s not that kind of guy. I mean, granted, he’ll be dumping her soon, but it will be because her clinginess is driving him mad. As in, she is always complaining he spends too much time with me. But that’s beside the point. “What would ever make you think that?”
“Well I just called him and he answered the phone in this sweet sexy voice and he never talks to me like that,” she pouts.
“What did he say?” This should be good. Did he call her another girl’s name?
�
�He said, Hey Princess,” she says, imitating his velvety smooth voice.
Oh shit.
Double shit.
Surely he didn’t. He would never tell.
I’d kill him!
I glance over to his house and see his bedroom light flickering off and on, on and off.
I’m assuming that is some form of SOS.
I hear the IM tone from my computer, and I’m sure it’s a message from him. I’ve got to stall this girl. “Um, Allison, did you ask him who this Princess is?” I ask as I run over to my computer.
“Yeah I did.”
“Well, what’d he tell you?”
There is an IM from Receiver (Phillip). It’s just one half of a word. ASH.
I send him back an IM from Cess. Everyone thinks it stands for Excess, to which I tend to do everything, but Phillip set up my instant messenger account, so it’s really short for Princess. I write: U OWE ME, USE CALLER ID NXT TIME STUPID!
“Um JJ you know who it is don’t you so could you please tell me first so I know if he’s lying to me?"
“Sure, Allison,” I say, bored. “Phillip’s sister, Ashley’s, nickname is Princess,” I lie.
Totally lie.
Her Royal Queeness, possibly.
Her Royal Highness, Ruler of the World, perhaps, but never a lowly princess.
“Oh, thank goodness,” she gushes.
She’s all happy now and rambles on, “I mean I wanted to believe him but I just didn’t know what to think and I mean his voice sounded all sweet and gentle and I guess it would make sense that he’d talk to his sister that way.”
Not.
They fight like crazy.
He really loves her, but he says that it’s his job to annoy her. And he does.
But I’m not really listening to Allison ramble. I’m lost in thought. I never realized it before, but Phillip does have a special voice he uses when he speaks just to me. It’s one of the reasons I love talking to him before I go to sleep. It’s sort of soothing.
I don’t think I would’ve ever qualified it as sexy.
Puh-leez. That’s just silly.
Kiss Kiss Page 137
