Stolen Jerseys / ✓

3.00: chapter twenty-nine

S C O T T

I didn't know how I got roped into having dinner with Elle and her family.

One minute, she had been getting her stuff and preparing to go back home. And the next, Elle was giving me a goodbye hug and telling me to come by at around seven so I could have dinner and meet her mom. She was gone before I even got a chance to answer and now I was absolutely freaking out.

"Connor!" I yelled, jogging into the living room. I tugged on the edge of my hair and groaned, pushing it back from my face, "I can't do this."

Connor rolled his eyes and dropped his phone. Swinging his legs off the edge of the couch, he turned to me and nodded, "You got this," he assured, grinning brightly at me, "kind of. I mean, like, don't fuck it up or her dad really could murder you this time."

"Not helpful," I growled, sitting down and pulling my shoes towards me. I bit my lip and quickly laced them up before leaning forward and groaning again, "I'm nervous. What if Elle decides she doesn't like the way I eat or something?"

Connor shrugged, "You do kind of shove the whole fork in your mouth."

"Connor!" I snapped, picking up a slipper from the basket and flinging it at him. Connor somehow managed to duck it and my glare intensified, "Screw you."

I rolled up the sleeves of my black and gray t-shirt and blew out a deep breath, trying to calm myself down. I knew tonight would be fine - Elle had already agreed to be my girlfriend, and Coach Monroe didn't exactly seem to hate me. But, during my time in the shower and getting dressed, I had managed to think of every bad possible scenario.

I stood up and Connor stepped in front of me. Kelly had work tonight, and Connor had opted to just stay in and watch movies and eat leftover pizza. So he was totally relaxed, while I got to run around like an idiot and freak out for tonight.

"It'll be fine," Con promised, ruffling my hair and shooting me another bright smile, "My parents loved you when they met you!"

I shot Connor a dry look, "We weren't dating, you idiot!"

"That offends me," Connor said, and I scoffed, pushing him out of the way. I snatched up my keys and wallet, shoving them both in my pocket, "Really, it'll be fine. Just be yourself.. Or, well, a more charming and nicer version of yourself!"

"So be myself," I started, grabbing the door and pushing it open. I stepped into the hallway and turned back to Connor, eyebrows furrowed, "but not myself?"

Connor shrugged and nodded, clamping a hand on my shoulder, "Basically," giving me a soft push, I took a few more steps into the hallway, my heart hammering like mad in my chest, "Go get 'em, tiger!"

I turned and started jogging down the hallway, only to stop again when Connor called my name. I sighed and bit back a curse, turning back and quirking an eyebrow in his direction, "You might want to hurry because it's, like, six-fifty."

The second Connor said that, I was sprinting through the apartment complex. I ran across the parking lot and went to shove my keys into the drivers side door, but to no avail. This time I cursed out-loud and looked down, seeing the 'C' scribbled in Sharpie across the silver metal. Of fucking course I grabbed Connor's keys, and now I didn't have the time to run back up and grab mine.

I dashed across the parking lot, wrinkling my nose in distaste at Connor's beat-up Jeep. I just groaned for what felt like the tenth time in that hour and shoved his keys in, quickly opening the door up and getting in. It took a few tries to get Connor's car to actually start up, but, the second it did I was driving out of the parking lot and towards Elle's.