Crush

Out

Oliver

Jenson hollered at the players on the field, while I clapped, keeping my eyes on Asher. The only way I knew it was him from this distance was by the number on the back of his shirt.

He was on fire today. It was as if he was playing for his life out there. I wouldn't be surprised if he'd be the talk of the talent scouts that were dotted around the stands.

Glancing down a couple of rows in front of us, I saw Mason with his latest girl tucked into his side. Seriously, he'd been seeing girl after girl after girl since before Christmas. It was like he was determined to sleep with every single female in our grade before he graduated. I shook my head at him, but couldn't keep the smile off of my face.

Chloe caught my attention, standing one row behind and a couple of seats across from Mason. She was smiling sweetly at me. I smiled and waved. She waved back. She'd been a constant in my life for so long, I didn't feel like I could just stop talking with her. She was still my friend, still someone I liked. Even after I dumped her, she didn't spread shit about me. She was just so ... sweet. Nice. She always sought me out, hung out with us and sat near me. I couldn't see me finishing high school without her being in the picture somewhere.

Amber was sitting next to her. She kept glancing up at Jenson, a longing look in her eyes. But he seemed oblivious to her. She was just another girl to him. Whatever it is that they'd had last year was long gone.

Jenson leaned over, wrapping an arm around my shoulder and pulling me to his side. "Your boy's fucking awesome!" he shouted in my ear. "What the fuck has gotten into him?"

I shrugged, but couldn't keep the smile from my face when Jenson had referred to Asher as my 'boy'. He was. I just didn't want to tell Jenson yet. I didn't feel ... ready. Almost. One day, maybe. But not right now.

"If he carries on like this, we'll totally smash the other team!" Jenson let me go as he started to cheer at the players on the field.

"Well, you managed to slaughter our basketball team. Why not take our football team down, too?" a familiar voice spoke into my other ear.

I whipped my head around to come face to face with Nick.

Oh.

He smiled at me. "Hi, Oliver."

"Hi, Nick."

I hadn't seen him since our first and only date a few months ago. When he'd almost gotten beaten up by Asher.

"How's it going?" He cocked his head to the side.

I shrugged. "Okay. You?"

"I'm good, Oliver." He looked good, too. Wearing his team colours on a hat and scarf. I noticed his coat fitted his muscular frame perfectly. His smile was easy, his dark eyes gleaming, his dark hair perfectly styled. Still nice to look at.

"Hey!" Jenson leaned over me to peer at Nick. "What are you doing on this side of the field? Shouldn't you be standing with your fans over there?" He motioned to the opposite side of the stands. "We wear blue and gold on this side." He pointed to his hat and scarf, sporting the colours of our school's team.

Nick chuckled and held up his hands in a defensive manner. "I'm not here to cause a fight, you know. Just wanted to come and say hi."

"Yeah, well now you've said it, you can go," Jenson grumbled.

I elbowed his ribs. He was being rude.

Nick raised his brows at me.

I shook my head. "You're welcome to stay," I said to Nick. "Ignore him." I nodded in Jenson's direction. "He hasn't been fed properly today."