I’M SITTING ON the bleachers, watching Jayla and Nikki wrap up soccer practice. They were running drills, but now they’re scrimmaging and somehow they ended up on opposite teams, which means I don’t even know who to cheer for. Yay, sports! It’s their first outdoor practice, and it’s unusually warm for April. The sunshine feels nice, relaxing even—or it would be if I wasn’t sharing a bleacher with electricity personified.
Ridley sits beside me stiffly, the opposite of relaxed. He’s chewing on his lip and bouncing his knee, which he’s taken to doing whenever we leave the safety of our rooms or the store. I was shocked when he agreed to join me cheering on the girls today.
I slide our fingers together, wishing I could send him some serenity by osmosis or whatever, and he lets out a shaky breath. “Are you sure it’s okay that I’m here?”
“Definitely,” I say, and hope it’s reassuring. I’m positive it’s okay; they basically insisted on it. Even Nikki said it was time to break out of the relationship bubble, and she’s all about romance. Not that this is romance lately—it’s more like he’s falling apart, and I’m putting him back together, and in between we kiss and I do homework. It’s a lot . . . but I don’t mind. And it’s partially my fault for insisting he keep up the charade.
The scrimmage finally ends, 6–4 Jayla’s team, and I head down to the edge of the field with Ridley. Jayla is leading a meeting, bringing the whole team back together and fulfilling her co-captain duties. Ridley shifts nervously beside me; we’re supposed to be hanging out with everybody after this.
“Should we just go home?” I ask him.
“No,” he says, a little too quick, and then squeezes my hand.
Nikki and Jayla grab their gear and jog over to us. Jayla’s rubbing her side where she took an elbow at the end of the last half, but she’s still smiling. “What’s up, Batboy?”
Ridley nods but doesn’t say anything. Nikki holds out her hand, and Ridley looks at it for a moment before shaking it, like he isn’t sure exactly what to do. “I’m Nikki,” she says, all out of breath.
“Nice to meet you,” he says, so quietly that I squeeze his hand again. “I’m Ridley.”
“I know,” Nikki says.
“Right.”
Jayla tilts her head but swallows whatever snarky thing she was about to say. I’ll have to remember to thank her later.
“What’s the plan now?” I ask.
Jayla picks up a giant mesh bag full of soccer balls. “I was thinking we’d head back to my house, hit the showers, get a pizza, and hang out, unless you guys want to actually go do something.”
I glance at Ridley, not sure exactly how much socializing he’s up for. “We could go back to your place for a little while and go from there.” I told them I wanted this to be like a quick first visit to ease him in, but I guess they aren’t going to let me get away with that.
“I’m gonna help Coach pack everything up,” Jayla says, tossing me her keys. “You want to go meet me at the car?”
“I’ll help Coach too,” Nikki says, but not until Jayla elbows her.
The girls run off, and we head over to the parking lot, where I hit the unlock button over and over again until I finally hear the beep and find her car.
“Am I that obviously freaked out?”
“What? No,” I say. I turn the car on long enough to put the windows down, and then pull Ridley into the back seat with me.
“They pretty blatantly just gave us time alone, so.”
I nestle in, leaning my head on his shoulder. “This isn’t a test, you know.”
“I know,” he says, but it doesn’t sound like he believes me, and there goes his knee again.
I put my hand on it to stop it. “They just want to get to know you a little.”
“Why again?”
“Because you’re important to me.” I chuckle. He’s made me say this three times already today.
“I will never get tired of hearing that.”
“Good, I hope you don’t.”
He leans in and kisses me . . . at the exact moment when Jayla and Nikki yank open their doors and drop into the front seats.
“Okay, lovebirds,” Jayla says, “keep it PG back there or I’ll split you up. If there are any suspicious stains, my dad is not gonna believe I didn’t put them there.”
“Oh my god, Jayla,” I say, kicking the back of her seat.
“I’m just sayin’.”