Page 143

“You don’t need to say anything to us,” Jonah says, and I peer up at him. “Call Texas Tech and sayyes.”
“Do it!” Sammy chants in a whisper. “Do it! Do it!”
“Get your phone out of your goddamn pocket…” Jonah urges, then joins in on his girlfriend’s chant. “Do it! Do it!”
I crack the faintest of smiles, and Harlow lets out a stunted squeal as she grabs her dad’s arm, holds it close to her chest. I reach into my pocket and pull out my phone, peeking over at Jonah one more time. The sight of his grin only amplifies mine, and I shake my head, find the right number and hit dial. Jonah grabs my phone, puts it on speaker, and remains beside me as Wayne, my contact there, answers. “Jace… please tell me you’re calling with good news.”
I exhale all the air in my lungs and find Harlow again, her eyes nowclear of the tears she’s shed. “Go,” she mouths, and she’s bouncing in her seat, her excitement only heightening my own.
“I’d be honored to be a Red Raider,” I say into the phone. “But I just have one request…”
“And what’s that?” Wayne asks.
“I’d like to wear the number five.”
88
Harlow
“And as soon as he hung up, we alllostit. We were all hugging and laughing and just so happy for Jace. And then Jonah—he ripped off his shirt, and he was wearing a Texas Tech jersey underneath. He wassoexcited—more excited than Jace, but you know Jace… he doesn’t really show much emotion. I swear, it was the most amazing moment of my life. I was on the biggest high, I couldn’t sleep, so I just waited for Jace to show up, but he never did.” I adjust on my stomach, the blades of grass tickling my legs as I watch Penelope munching away. I lean in closer, lower my voice. “You want to know a secret? I thought he was going to kiss me last night. He didn’t. But I wanted him to. If he doesn’t do it soon, I might have to. Just give him big, fat smooches all over his handsome face. Mwah mwah mwah. So many smoochie woochies.”
“Smoochie woochies?”
I freeze, my heart flying to my throat, blocking my airways, and I snap my eyes closed. Embarrassment flames at my cheeks, heating my body faster than the Texas sun beaming down on me. “How much did you hear?”
Jace chuckles, and I feel him kneel beside me. “Enough to know how badly you wanted me to kiss you.”
I roll to my side, open one eye first, then the other. Jace saves me from further shame by focusing on Penelope. “Do I just…” he asks, his hand hovering an inch above the turtle.
“Just gently pinch her sides if you want to pick her up.”
The freckles on his nose shift when he scrunches his face, and it’s more adorable now than ever. I sit up, picking up Penelope and motioning for his hand. Slowly, he holds it up between us, palm up, and I place Penelope there. Jace lowers his head, so he’s eye to eye with her. “She’s cute…I guess.”
“Shh,” I joke. “She can hear you.”
“In that case,” he murmurs, then speaks to Penelope directly. “Do you mind if I borrow Harlow for a bit?” He turns his head, as if pretending to listen. “She said it’s no problem.”
I roll my eyes. “She can’ttalk, silly.”
Jace chuckles again, holding Penelope out for me. “My bad.”
“What’s up?” I ask, reclaiming my pet.
“I just wanted to show you a few things at the house that I’ve set up for my grandpa.”
“Okay.”
“Season tickets, baby!” Dad announces, opening the screen door. “Oh hey, Jace!”
“Hey.” Jace jerks his head in greeting, and Dad lets the door close between us. “Season tickets for what?” Jace asks me.
“Foryou, of course.” I get to my feet, looking up at him.
“I can probably get that for him.”
I shrug. “Did you drive here?”
“Walked.”