The last time I had been on a date, I was a freshman still enrolled in high school. That date was to the big homecoming dance. Or the big let down as I called it. He was stumbling around drunk and extra handsy. But he was the captain of the basketball team. The catch of all catches in the high school world. If only people actually got to know who they were vouching for before they did. That pedestal was the only thing holding him up the entire night.
At the start of my junior year, I took the General Education Development test and passed. Needless to say, neither of my parents were thrilled with me. I basically dropped out of high school without discussing it with them. Forging my signature didn't do me any favors. Then the inheritance made things more unbearable. I was out early, so I could enroll early. I could invest it in the stocks or bank accounts. Reasonable and financially sound ideas for more money than I knew what to do with.
Buying the warehouse was the last screw you to them. Reminding me every day that art was never going to pay the bills had gotten to me. I needed some place that had less negativity and freedom. My cousin had come by and helped me clear out the junk from the previous owner. It took nearly two years for the rundown building to become something I was proud of. A place that I could spend hours at and not notice the day wasting away. Paint stained jeans. My hair in a chaotic style.
Sitting in the bleachers, I wished I had been back in my church. Lucas' practice was supposed to be over half an hour ago. It didn't seem like their coach was ever going to let them go. Watching Blaine and Finn lift each other up after a bad was admirable.
I thought he would never move on from Melody. They were together for a few months, but he was so deep that I don't think he knew what day it was if he'd been asked. They were cute, too. She was no Blaine though. That girl was fierce and selfless. She was willing to do anything to keep those around her happy. Melody, well, she was Melody. She wasn't mean or rude, but she wasn't anything spectacular.
The coach's raised voice had me focusing on the field again. He was in Shane's face, finger curling around the bars of the facemask. It was the most entertaining part of watching this circus of meat heads. The great Shane Russel being put in his place amongst his fans. The smug bastard had it coming.
"You must be Zoey." My head spun around to find a gangly boy standing on my bench. Sunglasses hid his eyes from me making it difficult to tell if he was looking at me or the scene unfolding on the field. He waved a finger near his head then pointed back to me. "It's the hair. Laine said you usually have an unnatural color."
"Is that how she describes it," I asked, watching him take the seat beside me.
"Of course not," he laughed. "She said it's a bright ass purple. I was trying to be nice."
"Bright ass purple is more accurate." I offered him my hand. "And you're right. I'm Zoey."
"Cam." He nodded back toward the field as they lined up to run the ridiculous play again. "You here to see Blaine and Finn?"
"Not exactly," I sighed. "Do you know Lucas Lester?"
"Unfortunately. Being Laine's friend comes with those perks." Pushing the glasses to the top of his head, he looked at me with a serious expression. His lips were set into a thin line and his eyes squinted as they focused on mine. "You're here to see Luke?"
Scratching my forehead anxiously, I let out a desperate chuckle. A shrill chirp saved me from having to say anything else. The team gathered in a half circle around the men dressed identically. One by one they removed their helmets as they chanted their answers to the questions raddled off by the head coach. A pair of hazel eyes kept darting to me, and the corner of his mouth curled up when he caught me looking back.
"Good luck with that," Cam whispered as he leaned toward me. He leaned away before pushing himself to his feet. As if on command the whistle chirped two more times and chatter began. I followed Cam down the bleachers and over to the gate that led to the field.
While all the sweaty players headed for the opposite end of the field, Lucas drifted toward me. Cam gave me one last look over his shoulder before heading over to Finn, Blaine and another player. When I didn't cross over the invisible boundary, Lucas propped his elbow on the post and smiled at me.
"You showed."
"I was curious." I shrugged, my hands finding their way into my back pockets. "The great Lucas Lester wants to take me on a date. I mean. I didn't know you knew what a date actually consisted of."
"I'm offended." That wide, knee buckling grin I knew he was famous for appeared. "Of course I know what a date consists of. There's chatting, dinner, maybe some drinks and an activity."
"Activity," I snorted.
"Bowling. A movie. Dancing." He raised a mocking eyebrow as he stooped a little lower, leaning on the post, to look his eyes on mine. "Why? What were you thinking of?"
"Go clean up before I change my mind." I shoved at his protected chest, biting back a laugh. Our little exchange was drawing a lot of attention. Normally, I wouldn't have been bothered by people openly staring. It was the laser vision burning a hole through my back that was the problem. The obvious staring doubled when his hand snatched mine to pull me on the sacred ground. "Luke."
"It's a short cut." He nodded toward the opposite end of the fenced-in area and I followed. "In all seriousness though. Since we're still playing all the get to know you games, I figured I would leave the plans up to you."
"You do realize the only time I'm this far south is to visit my family, right?" I crossed my arms over my chest as we walked. "I don't know anything about your town."
"You aren't going to make this easy, are you?" I could feel the corner of my mouth tugging up as I shook my head. A deep, throaty laugh drew several pairs of eyes to us again. I elbowed him, ducking away from the lethal look a blonde was giving us. "Tell you what. I'll stop embarrassing you, if you can tell me what you like to eat."
"Italian?"
"Is a type of food, and an entire culture." He teased as we neared the field house. "You've got ten minutes to figure out a real answer."
"Twenty." His brow rose again. "I'm not going anywhere with you smelling like that."
There was a quick nod of understanding as he walked backwards toward the door. That shit eating grin screwed tightly into place. He did one of those idiotic chin tilts before entering the building. I saw Cam leaning against the building and walked over to him. One of the girls who had been practicing on the sidelines beat me to him. The only reason I kept going was because of the kind smile she'd given me when she saw me approaching. It wasn't laced with venom like the girls I had passed on my way over.
"Zoey? I'm Heather. Welcome to the group." Her blonde curls bounced as she spoke. With his glasses propped on his head, I was able to see him roll his eyes. She smacked his chest before pouting.
"I'm afraid to ask what group that is." I let out a little laugh when she perked back up.
"The significant other of footballers." She pointed at herself, then Cam. "Offensive lineman. Special teams kicker."
"Wide receiver," Blaine's voice spoke from behind me. She gave me a knowing smirk and pointed to me. "Defensive end."
"Male QB," Heather hissed, drawing a circle in the air. I dared to glance over my shoulder. A swarm of cheerleaders were waiting on the other side of the doors. Looking back to Heather, the surprise was etched into my face. "It's a very complicated team. Lots of drama."
"Why join then?"
"Cute outfit. Free entry to games. Gossip."
"We get it," Cam groaned. The two started bickering and I looked to Blaine. She gave me a single shoulder shrug before tilting her head toward the parking lot.
"So, where are you going?"
"I have no idea," I sighed.
"If it helps," she smirked, dropping the tailgate of a pick up, "Chinese takes some negotiating, and sushi is a hard pass. Other than that though, he'll eat just about anything."
"He mentioned doing something after." I sat on the tailgate with her. "What do I do with that?"
"Pick anything you want. Luke is pretty determined to show you that he's not who you think he is." Her attention fell to her feet as they swung back and forth. "His last girlfriend and I didn't get along. Honestly, no one liked her. It took a lot for him to see that it was toxic."
Her voice trailed off as she looked up toward the gate. A blonde and raven haired girl strolled through the opening with their arms linked. Three boys hovered near them, joking and chatting with them. The blonde's eyes narrowed on Blaine then turned to daggers as she caught sight of me. Twenty bucks she was the one burning holes into my back when I was talking with Lucas.
"Toxic you say," I mumbled, staring at the girl who was clearly adding me to her mental shit list.
"Call me selfish, but he stopped checking in on me. Stopped hanging out with the guys. None of us knew what to do. I went to stay at Shane's without telling him. He ran all over town before finding me. The guys stopped him from lecturing me about running away by forcing him into an intervention."
"Is this supposed to make me feel better about going out with your brother?"
"Probably not." She shrugged. "I haven't seen my brother this stupidly excited in a long time."
"He is?" My eyes went wide as I looked at her. The same smile I saw when she looked at Finn was plastered to her face.
"I think he's nervous, too." That surprised me more than anything she had just said. More than probably anyone said to me in a long time. Her shoulder bumped mine then she did that stupid chin tilt her brother did earlier. A thud behind me made me jump and that deep, throaty laugh was joined by a string of giggles from my left.
"Did you decide if Italian was your choice," Lucas asked when he rounded the bed of the truck to stand in front of me and his sister.
"I was thinking Chinese instead," I challenged. Blaine jumped down from the tailgate when my cousin showed up.
"Sounds great." The dryness of his tone paired with the sideways glance he threw at his sister made both of us smile. "Don't you have some place better to be, Laine?"
"Your place, or mine," the feisty brunette asked my cousin as she started to tug him away from the truck. My hand grabbed at Lucas' bicep when he took a step in their direction.
"Go over there and I'm going home." He was stuck between that single step forward and coming back to me. My thumb swept over his arm and I felt the muscle beneath his skin react. I didn't miss the heavy sigh or grumbled curses in my cousin's direction as he stepped back and invaded my space.
"Happy," he mumbled. The dull expression softened when his stare landed on my hand. It was still on his arm, still stroking over the exposed skin. There was a second where he cleared his throat before speaking softer. "Were you serious about the Chinese?"
"Not at all." I smiled up at him while letting my hand drift away from his arm. I was starting to creep myself out. Before my fingers could curl around the edge of the tailgate, his hand found them.
"So, Italy?"
"Italy." He gave me a firm, approving nod then guided me to hop down. There was a little hesitation as he walked me to the passenger door. His eyes darted over the lot, then he tilted his head as he looked at me.
"Where's your car?"
"At Finn's."
"You walked here?" I shrugged as he opened the door for me. "If you don't want to go, I completely get it. I did kind of put you on the spot."
"There was a day where I considered changing my mind. I woke up the next morning, and weighed my options again." I climbed up, and looked at him. The stubble I remember being there last week was gone. The dark brown buzz cut was darker from the recent shower. Those beautiful hazel eyes were golden as he forced a smile. "It took a drive, and a walk, for me to realize that no one has asked me out in an embarrassingly long time."
"You're going with me to dinner because I was the only option? Way to kill a guy's ego there, Zoe."
"I heard you were a big baby, but I didn't think it was true." He shuffled his feet so he stood taller, and his arms were crossed over his chest. The physical challenge to prove him wrong. "I'm going out on a date with you, because you made me laugh jackass. If you're done pouting, get in the damn truck so we can go eat."
"Yes, ma'am," he stammered out. The door slammed shut and he made his way around the front of the truck. I could see that he was still processing what I had to say. Girls had to come easy for him. Especially after seeing his last girlfriend, I knew it was true. They flocked to him and did everything they could to hold his attention. I wasn't like them. He was going to have to keep working for that. If it's what he truly wanted, and if I was the one he truly wanted it from.