Chapter 45

Jace has never kissed me like that before, at least not in front of people. And there were a lot of people in that parking lot and a lot of eyes on us. Well, not us, but him. Because why wouldn't there be? He's a motherfucking baller. But he's also never been one for PDA, which is fine with me. He doesn't sit with me in class because he says my friends and their "chatter" are too distracting. But he'll sit with me and my friends during lunch. Sometimes he'll join in on the conversation, and other times he'll play his games, headphones on. Everyone's gotten so used to him being such a little loner boy that no one even bats an eye or takes offense when he does it.

Jonah joins us sometimes, and even a few of his teammates have sat with us. We've been to Ryan's house a couple more times when the entire team's hung out there, but he can only stand it for an hour before making an excuse to leave. We've cooked more meals together, and he's stayed over a few times, in my bed, but we don't go further than kissing, and… if I'm being honest, it's killing me slowly.

Once we get in his van, he asks what I want to do. I tell him he should meet up with his team. That they'd appreciate the captain to at least show up to celebrate the win with them. It takes a little convincing until he finally agrees, and according to my back-and-forth texts with Jonah, they're all meeting at a diner nearby.

As soon as we get to the parking lot and see all the cars and all the people, Jace turns to me, his eyes alone conveying what his words don't need to. The place is packed, not just with people from our school, but the other competing schools too.

"One hour," I tell him.

"Forty-five minutes."

"Deal."

He turns at the waist, reaching between the seats to get something from his gym bag. When he faces me again, he's holding up the medals he'd just won. One is for the tournament, the other MVP. My smile is instant, and I reach for them, but he holds them to his chest. "Stay still," he demands, and so I freeze. He chuckles, spreading the ribbons wide and carefully placing them over my head until they wrap around my neck. "They're yours."

"What?" I grasp them tight, hold them to me. "Jace, no! You can't give me your medals."

He shrugs, kisses me once. "I got my prize right here." And then he gets out of the van, leaving me speechless and completely under his spell.

Jace devours his food while I've had two bites, and then he just sits opposite me, quietly watching me eat. It's the same as when we eat at home, only he usually goes for seconds. Sometimes thirds. "Are you okay there?" I ask around a mouthful of food.

"You take the tiniest bites," he muses. "So cute."

It's so strange—the parts of people you fall for first. I can't ever imagine the word cute coming from Jace's mouth when he's with his team, or anyone else, for that matter. It's like a side of him only I'm privy to, like all our conversations, and I wish I could pack up all these moments into tiny little boxes and carry them in my pocket always.

The outside of the diner is packed. Most of the older students from our school are in one section, taking up the majority of the picnic-style tables. Sammy waves me over to where she and Jeannie are sitting, and I lead Jace toward them. "Rivera!" Ryan calls out from a few tables away.

"I should probably go over there," Jace murmurs, and I turn to him, smiling.

"Look at you, learning to socialize. I'm so proud."

He rolls his eyes, and I take the opportunity to kiss him quickly. "Go."

I greet my friends with hugs, and Sammy immediately gets to gossiping. "Look at her," she says, pointing to a girl I've never seen before all over Jonah.

"Is that his girlfriend?" I ask.

"She wishes," Sammy mumbles, but she says it in a way that has me eying her suspiciously.

"Sammy, do you have a crush on Jonah?"

"Gross," she responds, at the same time Jeannie throws her under the bus. "Since she first laid eyes on him."

I gasp, my jaw unhinged.

Jeannie adds, "That's why she went for Jace at first, to make Jonah jealous."

"Stop!" My eyes are so wide they might fall out of my head. "You should tell him. I bet he'd be down."

"Ya think?" she says, motioning toward Jonah, who's now in a lip-lock with the stranger girl.

"Oh."

"But he doesn't know you like him," Jeannie offers. "Maybe he wouldn't be with anyone else if he knew."

"That's true," I agree. "You want me to dig for intel?"

Sammy shakes her head. "If he wanted me, he could have me. He just doesn't see me in that way."

"That you've noticed," I push. "And what if he's with that girl to make you jealous, like you did with Jace, which is a whole other conversation we need to have, by the way."

"It was before you existed," she laughs out, and I laugh with her.

"What about you?" I ask Jeannie, and I realize, as I stand here, gossiping about boys, that I feel like a teenage girl, with actual friends—something I'd always wanted but never experienced before. "You got your eyes on anyone? Ryan's cute, and he's single, right?"

Sammy and Jeannie share a look, like they often do. "Harlow," Jeannie deadpans, and Sammy giggles.

"Yeah?"

"I'm gay."

"Oh." How did I not know this? "Wait. Didn't you finger-fuck yourself to my boyfriend?"

Sammy cackles.

"I'm attracted to both," Jeannie explains. "Just not actual penises."

I nod, giggling. "Solid reason. But… the question still stands."

She shrugs. Then says, "The girl making out with Jonah ain't bad."

We lose it in a fit of laughter, and when I'm finally settled, I turn to look for Jace. He's sitting with his team, their heads all bowed in the middle, like during a time-out, clearly talking about something far more important than we are.

"You Rivera's girl?" someone asks, and I turn back around, only to come face to chest with a boy.

I crane my neck, my eyes meeting that of Jace's main opponent from Fremont. "What's it to you?"

His friend joins him now, two buffoons versus me.

Sammy cracks, "Oh, look, it's dumb and dumber."

His friend ignores her, tells me, "I heard you don't like us."

I scoff. "Maybe if you were actually skilled in defense, you wouldn't need to take cheap shots to try to take your opponents out of the game."

A warm body presses up to my back, and I know it's Jace without having to look. He slides his arm to my front, hand flat on my stomach as he pulls me closer to him.

The guy who first approached lifts his gaze from me to Jace. "What, your woman has to speak for you?"

"You didn't ask him anything. You asked me," I retort. "Dipshit."

Sammy cackles, and he glares at her before facing me again. "You got a mouth on you, huh? You know where that mouth would be better used?" He grabs his crotch. "Right?—"

"One more word, and you're done." Jace's voice slices through the air, sharp and deadly.

The atmosphere turns silent, and one by one, Jace's teammates surround the two Fremont players.

"Let's go," Dumber says, tugging on his friend's shirt. At no point does anyone square up or ball fists. They just… give up and leave.

I turn in Jace's arms. "Sorry," I mumble.

Taking my hand, he leads me to where he'd been sitting before. "You didn't do anything," he says, guiding me down to his lap. The rest of the team is chatting with Sammy and Jeannie now. Jonah and his girl sit next to Sammy, and she shifts inches away from him, looking disgusted.

I lose focus when Jace traces my neck with his nose, sniffing the perfume he loves so much. I twist slightly, meeting his lips halfway. His kisses are soft, chaste, just enough to drive me crazy. I pull back an inch. "Did I tell you how much it turns me on to watch you play?"

He nuzzles my neck again, and with his lips against my flesh, he murmurs, "I don't think you mentioned that."

I hold his head to me, lace my fingers through his hair.

"Shame my dad's home. I could've shown you proof…"

"Fuck." He rears back, tapping my ass. "Lift up a second."

I do as he says, giving him the room he needs to adjust himself and sit back down just as his phone rings.

Heaving out a heavy sigh, he reaches into his pocket for it and answers it quickly. "Hi, Mae." He listens intently, his gaze dropping. "I'm in Fremont right now, so I'll be a little bit." … "Thanks, Mae." He hangs up. "We gotta go."