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She pulls back, and I reluctantly release her. She doesn’t go far though, just moves to the side while her dad beams, “Electric, son! You were electric!”
“Thank you, sir,” I reply, shaking his hand. “Thank you for coming out to watch.”
“Are you kidding?” he says, eyes wide. “I wouldn’t have missed this for the world.”
I lower my gaze, unsure of how to react. I’ve had strangers praise me before, but this feels… different. Thismeanssomething.
“Are you going to go party with your team?” Harlow asks, and my eyes snap to hers.
“No.”
“Why not?”
I shrug. I’ve neverpartiedwith my team. I assume they go somewhere and drink, and since I don’t drink, or party, I’ve just never thought of it. Besides, I need to go home and study the games while they’re still fresh in my mind. At least, that’s what I used to do.
I focus my attention on Mr. Greene and ask him, “Would it be okay if Harlow and I hang out for a bit?”
He chuckles. “Of course. That’s more than fine, Jace.” He switches to Harlow. “I’ll see you at home?”
Harlow agrees, holding my arm to her. “I’ll see you kids later.” He shakes my hand again. “Great job, Jace. I can’t tell you how much I missed that atmosphere. Come over for dinner tomorrow night, okay? I’ll grill again.”
“Yes, sir.” I smile full force. “I’ll be there.”
He starts to leave, but I call out, “Sir?” He turns, walking backward away from us. “Does Harlow have a curfew?”
Against my chest, Harlow giggles. I get why it’s funny; I do. Even though we’ve spent multiple nights together in her bed, I don’t want to appear disrespectful. Especially to her dad.
“She’s a big girl,” her dad says. “And I trust you.”
“Got it.”
As soon as he’s far enough away, I turn to Harlow and place my hands on her hips, slowly guiding her backward until her back hits the side of my van. Then I hold her face in my hands, and kiss her as if she holds the key to my sanity.
My hope.
My light.
Because she does.
45
Harlow
Jace has never kissed me like that before, at least not in front of people. And there werea lotof people in that parking lot anda lotof 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.”