Chapter Thirty-Three

Jake

Mrs. Monroe rushes us all off the field, and Coach tells me, “One minute, Lexington,” before taking the rest of the guys into the locker room. Haley and I stand under the entrance tunnel. She’s leaning against the wall, and I’m all sweaty, kissing her again quickly.

“That was incredible.”

“You seemed to remember how I didn’t do it, and I don’t want to not do things anymore. I want to be with you.”

“Haley,” I say her name to get her to focus. “Every day, I will keep being someone you deserve.” Someone in the crowd starts pulling at me, but I don’t care. “You’re the most important thing in my life—even more important to me than this game is.”

Her eyes widen. “Don’t say that.”

“It’s true. I didn’t think I had anything else, but you’ve shown me I’m wrong. I’m yours, I have been for longer than I knew.” I pause, and her eyes are tearing up. She’s so beautiful and incredible. “Did you mean it when you said you were in love with me?”

“Yes,” she says. “I am in love with you.”

It’s the most amazing thing I have ever heard, so I pull her into me and I kiss her. We stay that way for a few seconds, and when we pull away I smile.

“Good, because I’m very in love with you.”

Haley smiles and kisses me again.

“You better win after all this,” she says.

“I’m already winning,” I say.

“Go,” she says.

But I nod, steal another kiss, and rush back into the locker room.

Once I enter, the team cheers for me, and I tell them all to shut up.

“Focus,” Coach says. “This isn’t over yet.”

Howell slaps me on the back, and I take a long drink of water while Coach carries on with the plan to win the game. This is the best day I’ve had in a long time.

We’re headed back on the field when Coach stops Griggs and me.

“Griggs,” Coach says. “You’re out for the rest of the game, and then you and I are gonna have a talk.”

Griggs starts to argue. “Why? What did I do?”

I look between them, and Coach shakes his head. “An anonymous source told me you were responsible for spreading around some pictures. I think you and Lexington and I need to have a talk about that.”

“You sent those pictures of me and Haley?”

Griggs looks down. Normally, I’d argue with him, maybe even do something stupid like throw a punch, but this time, I don’t care. I’m not angry. I needed someone to push us to tell the truth. I pat Griggs on the back instead. He pushes me off. I nod toward Coach, who even seems surprised by my response.

“We’ve got this,” I say and rush back to the field and the roaring crowd.

On the field, the team gets back into formation, and the timer starts. I look toward Haley on the sidelines, and her eyes are on me. I guess they always have been. And luckily for me, I have somewhere to look now, too.

Did you love this Entangled Teen Crush? Check out more of our titles here!

Don’t miss more books by Danielle Ellison! Sign up for our newsletter here!