Stay For Me - Megan Smith Page 0,53

me playing on my phone. The poor girl is bored out of her mind and I can’t blame her because so am I.

A guy carrying peanuts and popcorn walks by. “Fallon, you want some popcorn?” Eli asks knowing it’s one of Fallon’s favorite things to eat.

“Yes!” She cheers.

While Eli is handling getting Fallon popcorn I’m trying to roll up my sleeves so I don’t get a farmer’s tan.

“Wearing these clothes out here is going to mess up my tan lines.” I whine. Who would have ever thought that I would be worried about something like tan lines when not four months ago I had the weight of the world on my shoulders worrying how Fallon and I were going to eat the next week.

Jaylinn rolls her eyes. “What a horrible thing to have happen.”

“I’ll take care of those tan lines when we get home.” Eli whispers in my ear before nibbling on my ear.

He sits back in his chair with the smuggest look on his face. I back hand him in the stomach and he just laughs. Ever since Eli and I made it official we’ve been making out like a bunch of hormone-driven teenagers. We haven’t had sex yet but we’ve teetered the line a few times. It’ll happen when the time is right. Neither one of us are in a rush.

As Jaylinn and Eli go back to watching and cheering about the game, my mind wanders back to Brian. He never would have done something like this for Fallon and me. I wonder where he is and what he is doing now. I can’t believe he would just let me go. After everything he’s always kept over my head, after all the times he hit me and threatened me, he just disappears. That’s not like Brian, not even close. I know one day he’ll show up just like my mother will and neither will be a welcome sight.

“Layla,” Eli jabs me in the side with his elbow.

All the people are exiting the stands, Jaylinn and Fallon are standing waiting for me.

“We’re going to grab some pizza once Cooper is finished.” Eli tells me and holds a hand out for me. “Come on.”

The four of us make our way out of the stadium and back into the parking lot where we were doing a little pre-gaming. Eli and Jaylinn crack open a beer while I get Fallon a juice box. As I’m standing there taking the plastic off the straw I get this tingle that goes straight down my back and leaves me a little breathless. My eyes cut across the parking lot to the playground on the other side, nothing but kids. My eyes cut back to the other side and it’s just lines of cars trying to exit the lot. Turning to see if anyone else notices anything I spot a familiar looking white Dodge Charger just over Eli’s and Jaylinn’s shoulder.

I put my hand up to shield my eyes from the sun so I can get a better look.

“Layla,” Eli says looking behind me then turning back to me. “What’s the matter?”

Not moving or saying a word, I watch as the car drives by. From the tinted windows, to the rims on the car, I know it’s Brian; without a doubt. It snaps me out of my trance. My heart is pounding, I feel a trickle of sweat running down my spine and my hands are now in fists breaking Fallon’s straw.

“Layla,” Eli says coming to my side. “What is it?”

My eyes find Jaylinn who is staring at the same car I was, she knows who it is, too. When she meets my eyes I give my head the faintest shake of my head. If you weren’t looking for it you wouldn’t have known what I was doing. I don’t want him ruining this day for me. He doesn’t get to do that anymore.

Eli grabs my hand, takes the straw and puts it in Fallon’s juice box. Shit, Fallon. I look down to her and she’s looking up to me. If she seen Brian’s car she hasn’t said anything and I pray that she doesn’t.

Eli hands Fallon her juice box. “Hey, could you do me a favor?” He asks her.

Fallon nods.

“Go in to the back seat of the car and grab the baseball so we can have a catch.”

Fallon skips away over to Eli’s car. I know now that she hadn’t seen Brian’s car as she wouldn’t have been skipping.

Eli stands and faces me again. “Layla,