Two Birds, One Stone

6. High House

Liam's thoughts are going to seem like a confused jumbled mess in parts of this chapter. That's because they are. Bear with me, everything will be explained eventually.

Time for another game of spot the reference/switch(es) neta

I was smiling when I drove home after another Saturday night spent at the lake with Jamie. I fell asleep feeling giddy.

     That giddiness carried over to the rest of the weekend, and into the next school week. I didn't ask myself why I was feeling it, because I was content enough to just be happy without reason.

Or maybe I didn't ask myself because I didn't want to think about answer.

     We got to the point where we were texting each other whenever the chance presented itself, sneaking out of our classes to find somewhere to run off to. Jamie talked to me more now — there was a funny, cheeky side to him that he worked hard to keep unseen, but either I was getting better at reading him or he was getting worse at hiding.

I left wherever we ended up with that same stupid smile every time.

It had been another stormy week, and when Friday's game rolled around, I was crossing my fingers that the rain would last.

     As I ran off of the field at half-time, pulling my helmet off of my head and shaking out my hair, I noticed a soft drizzle was bouncing off of my arms. Almost instinctively, I looked into the bleachers for Jamie. When I caught sight of his uninterested face, topped by white-blonde hair, my lips parted in a small, surprised laugh; it was the first time I'd actually spotted him during a game.

     Jamie met my eyes. I grinned at him and winked, and though it was hard to tell from such a distance, I could've sworn he was turning pink as he averted his gaze.

     I wasn't sure when he'd started doing cute shit like that, but he absolutely needed to stop right this instant.

     "Who ya winking at?" Bryan asked, slinging an arm around my shoulder and pursing his lips suggestively. He was still breathing heavily from the intense first half of the match.

    "Your girlfriend," I said slyly, and Bryan let out a loud laugh and punched me hard in the stomach in response.

Which hurt like a bitch.

    "She's not my girlfriend," Bryan said bashfully. "Not yet."

     When I stopped fucking wheezing in the after-effects of his jab, I managed to say, "Why don't you just grow a pair and ask her out already?"

      He shrugged shyly. "I don't know, I want it to be, you know, special," he admitted. I snorted.

     "You're such a romantic," I teased. "But hey, don't change. It's a good thing."

     Bryan smiled. "Thanks, man."

     "Word of advice," I said, grabbing my water bottle from the bench. "You're thinking too much. All you've gotta do is whip out that BBC and—"

     "Liam!" Bryan exclaimed.

     "What?" I said innocently, and after taking a long swig of water, added, "Girls love the British Broadcasting Corporation."

     It was still raining as the game ended, so I once again waited around after showering and changing until the area was empty. Then, as I did every time, I made my way toward the bleachers, but this time, I wasn't looking for somewhere to leave my bag.

     And this time, Jamie was already there when I arrived. He was reading a book as usual, though this one was a larger hardcover. I cleared my throat and Jamie looked up, shutting his book immediately when he saw that it was me.