Page 54 of Catch
I nodded at Parker. “Her. She’s so nice. She helped me in the locker room with my pads.”
“She’s hot, too.” He smacked my knee and pointed at the field. “But let’s get back to the game. We’re up.”
We won by three points. The crowd was wild, the coaches almost fought, and I was exhausted. We downed Gatorade and listened to Coach tell us all the good we did. I peeled off my uniform and sprawled out on one of the benches in the women’s locker room wearing my compression shirt.
“We meet again.”
I looked up and smiled when I saw Parker, but dropped it when two other cheerleaders, Missy and Amberlynn, walked up behind her.
“Good game, Sutton,” Amberlynn said.
I waved thanks to her, too tired to speak.
“I don’t know how you do it or why you do it. You probably have a million bruises.” Missy always spoke her mind, and nine times out of ten, she was a bitch.
When it was apparent they were going to undress right in front of me, I sat up and grabbed my clothes to take a hot shower. I wanted to rest longer, but I didn’t want them to feel uncomfortable. Sometimes I thought Missy did it on purpose just to see me squirm. When I came out to my dad, he told me to never be alone in a locker room with only one other person. At least there were three private showers. I grabbed one and hurried up. I could soak my sore muscles tonight when I got home.
“Hey, Sutton. Are you going to Tom’s?” Amberlynn yelled.
“Yeah, I’ll be there.”
“Okay, you’re here alone. We’re leaving and we’ll see you soon,” she said.
The private stall had a lock, but I was still vulnerable, so I rinsed out my hair and quickly dried off. I wondered if Parker was going to Tom’s. Just in case, I took extra time to style my hair and put on a tiny bit of makeup.
The parking lot at Tom’s Pizza was full, but I found a spot on the side of the road. It was the place to be because not only did it serve cheap, mediocre pizza, it also had a bowling alley, an arcade with games from the nineties, and dance-off machines. I high-fived several people on my way inside. “Great game, McCoy!” and “Awesome win!” followed me until I found a spot in my booth.
“I called you,” Hayley said. She scooted over closer to Harrison to make room for me.
“I haven’t even looked at my phone,” I said. I grabbed a slice of pizza and ate it in four bites. That game took all my energy and I needed to replenish ASAP.
“Max has been asking a lot of questions,” Harrison said.
I looked at him. “What kind of questions?” He looked innocent, but I knew what he meant.
“You know, about a certain cheerleader,” Hayley said.
I shrugged like it wasn’t a big deal and grabbed another slice. “Yeah, so?” I gave her the now is not the time look.
She caught on and changed the subject. “Your lip is a little swollen,” she said.
“My whole body is banged up so I’m not worried about a little cut.” Honestly, I was more worried about my ankle that I rolled at the end of the game. I needed to ice it.
Over Harrison’s shoulder, I saw Parker walk in. She looked amazing. Her blond hair was down and flowed around her shoulders. She was wearing jeans and a thin blue sweater. A jacket hung over her forearm, and she clutched her purse to her side to prevent it from hitting people. The place was packed and loud. When our eyes met across the restaurant, I felt something stir inside me. We didn’t know each other, but we weren’t strangers. We were friends waiting to happen. Maybe it was because she was the first girl who had literally made me forget about everything, or maybe it was because I wanted us to be something. Either way, I knew it wasn’t just me, because she gave me a small wave and kept eye contact before getting pulled in a different direction.
Chapter Twenty-two—The Troubled Quarterback
Present
“Can you come over?” Parker’s voice sounded shaky.
“Are you okay?” I stood out of panic and excused myself from the meeting. Maybe Grayson got hurt or maybe he hurt her.
She took a deep breath. “We’re fine, but we need your help.” It was almost eight at night. We were flying to San Francisco in two days.
“Sure, give me half an hour and I’ll be there.” I walked back into the team room. “Listen, I have an emergency and I have to leave. Are we good on everything?” Everyone nodded.
“Are you okay? Do you need any help?” Brandon’s face was etched in concern.
