10. Ryan

10

Ryan

W e won our first home game of the season, but I can’t celebrate or even think straight right now.

Why was she in Locke’s jersey? Did they hang out? Did he give her one?

I wouldn’t be surprised if he made it his mission to hook up with her. Girls are conquests to him, and he does a great job of reeling them in. I saw Violet when she walked to her seat with Liza. I knew she would be here. She would never miss one of Hartley’s games. After my mom became too weak to come to my games, I stopped having a reason to search the crowd during pre-game warm-ups.

She didn’t see me, but I watched her every move. I saw her laughing with Liza and applying glitter to her face. I saw the jerks around her, staring at her slim figure and jersey falling just above the waistband of her shorts. This is the first time I’ve seen her hair down, and it’s longer than I realized. Her skin is sparkling with glitter, and I catch myself wondering what I did to get myself into this kind of mental torture.

Coming back to reality, I look away to stretch so she doesn’t catch me staring. I don’t talk much before games. I listen to my pre-game playlist and focus on the game plan. I envision myself scoring and running through every scenario that the defense could throw at me. When I look up, I catch those pools of ice blue locked in on mine. Before I can give her a smile, she darts her eyes down and messes with her phone. I caught her looking at me. I shouldn’t care, but being on the football field does something primal to me. The thought of having someone watching me amps me up.

When I scored that first touchdown, I knew who I would be looking for in the crowd. I took my helmet off to get a better look at the stunning girl in the third row. Surprisingly, she waved at me, and my heart nearly jumped out of my chest. The moment didn’t last because that’s when I realized whose jersey she was wearing.

You’re kidding me .

I looked away before I turned into a complete psycho over a girl who wasn’t mine wearing my teammate's jersey. Violet has me so out of my mind that I almost forgot to give my mom her heart to the camera. She’s messing with my head.

It was one kiss, Ryan. Get your head in the game.

I’ve never gone this mental over a girl. I need to clear my head, so I jump into the shower as soon as the post-game meeting is over. I need to find someone else to erase this girl from my mind, not only because of Hartley but because she’s got some kind of pull on me. Welcoming that into my life is a distraction that is best pushed away. I need a distraction.

I told Hartley before the game that I didn’t want to go out tonight, but I’ve changed my mind. I’m too amped up and annoyed to go home. Downtown Tap will be littered with girls wanting to dance with a football player after the first home game of the season. This is what I need to get past the girl with swimming pools for eyes, soft, dark brown hair, and lips that taste like vanilla.