How To Play the Player (COMPLETED)

Idiots Anonymous

I nodded but couldn't speak. This was by far the kindest gesture I'd seen out of Liam in the little time I'd actually gotten to know him. Which meant that the Playbook must be putting small chinks in his armor every day. It was working.

"Hey!" I grasped Liam's forearm before he and Andy started across the field to join the rest of the team. He looked back over his shoulder at me, one of his dark eyebrows raised, blue eyes prompting me to go on. "Good luck, Tin Man."

*

Despite the uproar of the crowd nearly defeaning me, as I watched the last thirty seconds of the Fourth Quarter, all I could hear was my own heartbeat as my eyes followed Liam. He backed away, eyes scanning the field for anyone open, Just as he catches sight of Andy and throws a perfect spiral that lands in his best friend's expectant arms, he's sacked by an opponent and hits the ground so hard his body grows still and his helmet flies off. I excused myself as I squirmed through a few men and a eight year old girl with her hands over her ears, ready to get away before the hearing loss could become permanent. I waited on the sideline for a few minutes, watching the rest of our team tackle and praise Andy, my eyes on Liam. Nobody seemed to notice him on the ground until I broke passed a cheerleader and began to walk across the field.

"Reese!" Andy shouted, shoving through his teammates. "What the hell are you doing?"

I made a gesture toward Liam and he immediately ran over to me, crouching down beside his best friend. "Dude, are you okay?"

"I'm fine." Liam mumbled, and though I wouldn't admit it aloud, I was relieved. "They just knocked me on my ass is all."

It was definitely a little more than that, though, because the second Andy tried to help him sit upright, he grasped his shoulder and polluted the turf with vomit, inches from his friend's shoes. Andy rubbed his shoulder and I was pushed back as a medic rushed to his side. Before I could try and reach out to comfort him myself, I felt arms snake around my waist from behind and I was spun around to face Jay with the biggest, goofiest grin on his face. Even when he leaned down to kiss me, something that should of made my heart explode, I couldn't help but want to turn back and check on Liam.

*

The final verdict was a minor concussion and a bruised rib for Liam. He was told by Coach to rest and keep off his feet as much as possible, which we all knew wouldn't really happen. He'd be parading around school acting as if nothing happened Monday morning. As most of the crowd and the rival school's team exited the parking lot, we ended up sitting around or in Liam's truck and staring at the vacant parking lot. Andy and I kept looking back to Liam, who was sitting in the bed of his truck massaging his temples, lips pursed, eyes occasionally finding ours before he'd drop it again. Brianna was sitting on the tailgate, Andy standing and leaning against the car beside her as they passed a joint back and forth. One that would occasionally fall into Liam's hand, and more times than I'd like, into Jay's as well.

Jay and I weren't near Liam's truck at all, but stood almost in the middle of the lot, his arm draped loosely over my shoulder as he passed the joint back to Andy in front of us.

"Who you taking to Homecoming tomorrow, bro?" Jay broke the comfortable silence, eyes on Liam over Brianna's head. "We all know you'll probably get Homecoming King again, might want to consider making a good impression with your date if you want Prom King."

It was likely my sleep deprivation getting the best of me, but I swear for a second that Liam's eyes flickered to me before he shrugged and exhaustedly said, "Probably Nicola or Shay. You know I don't really care about it."

I guess it wasn't a trick of the mind, because Jay unbuttoned Liam's Letterman and pulled it off me before throwing it into the bed of the truck, a few inches in front of Liam's hunched figure. Then, jokingly, but with a very subtle bitterness seeping in, he said, "You do know Reese is my girl, right?"