sigh, I take a step forward, ridding us of the space she so strongly believes she needs. “It’s kind of hard for me to forget the one person I can’t stop thinking about.”
Her eyes lock on mine, her lips parted, and I wonder if she can hear the magic beating wildly inside me. She sucks in a breath, then seems to refocus. A smile plays on her lips as she looks down at her phone and mumbles, “I wonder if they have any game video yet.”
She’s tapping away at her phone, and I’m tapping away at my mind, my bravado. “Ava?”
“Yeah?”
“You’re so fucking beautiful.”
And it’s killing me.
Connor: You asked me yesterday if it would be enough; meeting you and getting to know you, and I cracked a stupid joke when I should have told you the truth. And the truth is this: yes. In the simplest of terms and the most complicated of circumstances, yes. You are enough. I wake up every single morning looking forward to the couple of hours I get to spend with you, to the few minutes I get to see you smile and hear your voice and feel you next to me. Even on the days when our time is limited, just knowing you’re there and you exist is worth it. And even if I have to spend the rest of my life wondering what it would be like to kiss you just once… these moments with you… they’re worth everything. YOU are worth everything.
Chapter 25
Connor
The entire school is abuzz, hallways are filled with orange and black streamers, and everywhere I go, I get swarmed. Pats on the back from the boys, flirtatious compliments from the girls. Even the teachers are pulling me aside to talk about the game. Or more specifically, my performance. Coach has already had me in his office, along with the school paper’s sports reporter. The headline for the next issue: “Ledger: The Powerhouse Import.” Even the principal wants to meet so we can set up a media schedule for all the local papers wanting to do a story on me. And then there’s the team. It’s as if I had to prove beyond all our practices that I was actually good enough to garner their respect. Which I get, but at the same time, fuck you.
“You have to eat lunch in the cafeteria today,” Rhys says, catching me in between classes.
“What? No. I have lunch with—”
“Ava, I know. But it’s kind of a tradition the day after a game. Win, lose or draw we have to show that we’re a team. Coach’s orders.”
“But—”
“It’s five minutes, Connor; it’s not going to kill you. Besides, the cheerleaders do a thing for new players.”
“What thing?”
He shrugs. “I’ll catch you at lunch, okay? Don’t be late!”
I don’t think I’ve ever cringed as hard as I am right now, watching the cheerleaders chant my name only a few feet in front of me. Next to me, Mitch keeps backhanding my shoulder, his eyebrows raised, like “How good is this?” And maybe to other guys this is a wet dream come true, but to me… I just want to be with Ava. And Rhys—fuck Rhys—because the five minutes he said it would take has turned into twenty, and I need to go. As soon as the cheerleaders have finished their routine, I thank them and start to leave. Rhys pulls me down by my arm. “Stay.”
“Did you like it?” Karen asks, shooing Mitch out of his seat so she can sit next to me.
Not wanting to be rude, I plaster on the most genuine smile I can muster. “Yeah, it was great.”
She nods, takes a bite out of Mitch’s leftover apple. “We worked on it all morning.”
“Cool.” I stand again, and again, Rhys pulls me to sit back down. “I have to piss. You want me to do it right here?”
“Oh. Why didn’t you say so?”
This time, I’m allowed to leave, and I practically sprint over to the football field. Ava is waiting in her usual spot, and I race up the steps two at a time. “I had to sit with the stupid team in the cafeteria and the—”
She holds out a container, cutting me off. “I made you lunch,” she says, pouting. “But it’s probably cold now.”
“I’m so sorry,” I rush out, sitting in front of her. “I got stuck. I had to sit through the cheerleaders—”
“The welcoming routine,” she mumbles. “Shoot. I forgot about that.”
I want to crack a joke about how she