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Wes gave me a squeeze, and with his lips close to my ear, he whispered, “Maybe we can tell him you’re too busy being my lucky charm instead.”

I swallowed, my body tingling as I felt his breath against my neck. “Yeah, maybe that will work.” I tried to whisper, but my words seemed to become stuck in my throat.

Anna shot me a curious look, and I smiled back at her as innocently as I could. She shrugged and turned away as the girl next to her said something. I let out a breath. Wes was totally getting under my skin right now in all the good ways, and I hoped it wasn’t too obvious.

The game started, and thankfully Wes’s attention moved from my neck to the field. The teams seemed better matched tonight than the last game I’d come to, and Weybridge was finding it difficult to score. I wondered if it was because Noah wasn’t playing. He was a force to be reckoned with both on and off the field, and our guys seemed to be struggling without him.

Sawyer was playing well, but there was only so much he could do on his own. The rest of the team was lagging, and I had a feeling I wasn’t quite as lucky a charm as Sawyer thought.

When the whistle blew for the halftime break, both teams had yet to score. “I was thinking of grabbing a hot chocolate to warm up,” Wes said. “Do you girls want one?”

“That sounds great,” I said.

“Only if it’s spiked with Baileys,” Anna replied.

Wes lifted his eyebrows in reply. “I don’t think the school canteen spikes hot chocolates with Baileys…”

“I’m joking, obviously.” Anna laughed. “Although that would really help warm us up. But yeah, I’ll take a regular hot chocolate. Thanks, Wes.”

He started off down the bleachers, and I watched him go with a smile on my face. Wes could be really sweet.

“You guys should just date already,” Anna said, drawing my attention back to her.

My cheeks flushed. “It’s not like that between us.”

“It should be, and I bet he thinks it is. He’s completely in love with you.”

“No, he’s still getting over Sarah, and I’m just a distraction.”

“He doesn’t exactly look like he’s crying into his pillow at night over her. They might have been together for ages, but they’ve barely spent any time together lately. Even over the summer, they didn’t see each other. To be honest, I think they’ve kind of been over for a while.”

“We’re just friends.”

“The whole snuggling into each other as you watch a soccer game isn’t exactly giving off the just friends vibe.”

“It’s only because I’m cold.”

“Does he know that?”

I fell silent. Maybe Anna had a point. Things had been changing between Wes and I. We had kissed several times now, and he’d been flirting with me all week. We were definitely straying beyond the friendship zone. It was just a few impulsive kisses though. Did that really mean we automatically needed to be more than friends?

Thankfully, the dance team started their halftime performance and brought an end to our conversation. I didn’t have an answer for Anna’s questions. The truth was, I didn’t really know where I stood with Wes. He’d told me he was happy being just friends, but what if he wanted more? What if I wanted more?

“Did I miss much?” Wes asked, returning with the hot chocolates.

“Thanks,” I murmured, taking the drink from him before I shook my head. “Cress and the team only just started.”

“Good.” He settled into his seat, wrapping his arm around me again. He did it without any hesitation, and Anna’s words started rattling around in my head once again. I really liked Wes, and I’d have to be crazy to deny there wasn’t something between us. But Noah was still taking up too much space in my heart, loitering there like some kind of unwanted roommate, and it wouldn’t be fair to Wes to pretend otherwise.

I cheered loudly with Anna when the dance team finished their routine. Cress was waving up into the crowd as she made her way from the field, and her smile widened when she caught sight of me. I immediately felt bad for missing her other performances in my attempts to avoid seeing Noah and vowed to always come to his games even if I hated his guts just so I could make Cress smile that way.

As the teams returned to the field, Anna nudged me with her elbow.

“What?”

She nodded toward the field, and I saw Noah making his way onto the pitch. My stomach tightened at the sight of him. He looked tired, and he must have still been feeling unwell because there were dark bags under his eyes.

“I didn’t think he was playing today,” Anna said. “I thought he was sick.”