Page 39 of Find Me
Colt looked to Creed. “Fuck Ethan, let’s just stay in and watch a movie.”
What?!“We can’t do that. He’s our friend and we promised him we’d go to support him.”
“I agree, fuck Ethan,” Creed said, siding with his brother.
That made me glare at both of them.
“I bet this makes you wish you had gone out for football instead of swim, now doesn’t it?” Knox said and chuckled. Finding what he said funny, Keelan chuckled, too. Creed and Colt scowled at their brothers.
I breathed in through my nose and out through my mouth to calm myself. “I don’t go back on my promises. If you’re embarrassed to be seen with me like this, then we don’t have to go together, but I’m going regardless of how absurd I look to support my friend.”
All four of them went quiet. My eyes dropped to the carpet as I tried to keep my hurt from showing.
“You got it all wrong, baby girl,” Keelan said, making me look back up at him.
Before I could ask him to elaborate, Colt stepped toward me. “I know you find it hard to believe, but you’re extremely beautiful, Shiloh,” he stated and rubbed the back of his neck—his nervous habit. “You could dress up like a clown and still look gorgeous. We aren’t embarrassed to be seen with you. We’re just…”
“You’re wearing another man’s jersey, looking hot as hell, and we don’t like it,” Creed said bluntly.
My brows shot toward my hairline. “But this is my jersey. Not Ethan’s.”
Creed shook his head. “Doesn’t matter. It has his number on it. You might as well be advertising to the whole school you two are dating.”
Staring at Creed, I squared my shoulders. “What about not caring about what people think? Ethan’s seen the jersey and loved it.”
“We know. He’s been gloating about it since last night,” Creed grumbled.
I didn’t back down. “I’m not changing.” Creed and I glared at each other, neither one of us wanting to give in.
Colt sighed. “We better get going or we’re going to be late.”
Creed broke the stare-off to frown at his brother. “Fine,” he said and dove for me.
I yelped as I was thrown over his shoulder. “You better not drop me!” I yelled as he carried me out of the house and over to his truck.
* * *
The bleachers were packed when we got there. Thankfully, we managed to snag a good spot toward the top on the home team’s side of the field. The only problem was the small section of bench available—it was only big enough for two. The twins didn’t see anything wrong with it and both sat down before Colt wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me into his lap.
I didn’t know much about football. Colt and Creed did their best to explain how the game was played and what things were when they popped up throughout the game. It was a little confusing, but I still had fun. After the game ended, we waited around for Ethan and a few of the twins’ other football friends to come out of the showers. Excited, I kept my eyes glued to the locker room door. I didn’t want to miss Ethan’s reaction when he saw who else was waiting for him.
As soon as he came out, he spotted us right away and began heading over. He noticed me staring at him and I tilted my head to the right. His eyes moved in that direction and I had the pleasure of watching his face light up when he spotted Isabelle standing a few feet from us. He beelined for her with a big smile on his face. He invited her to hang out with us and our group moved to the student parking lot. Once we got there, our group almost doubled as more football players joined us. I couldn’t remember most of their names. Daniel was the only one whose name I remembered. That was because he was in our gym class and had played volleyball with us the other day.
I was flanked by the twins as we all talked. Well, all the guys were talking about the game while I tried to get to know Isabelle. She was about my height and had long, straight, dirty blonde hair. She was a little shy and had a genuine sweetness about her.
“I like your nails,” I told her. They were painted yellow with black stars.
“I like your jersey. Is that Ethan’s number?” she asked as she eyed it.
I smiled because it was a good sign that she remembered Ethan’s number. “Yes. I lost a bet with the guys and had to show up as their personal cheerleader.”
“Oh,” she responded, which made me remember what the twins had said about what wearing Ethan’s number would imply.
“It’s all in good fun. The guys arejustfriends,” I said, hoping she’d understand.
She gave me a small smile and Ethan inched closer to Isabelle. “Are you hungry?” he asked her.
Wanting to give my friend a little privacy, I moved away, bumping into Colt. He gave me a smile and wrapped his arm around my lower back, pulling me even closer. His eyes flicked over to Ethan and Isabelle, who were now walking away toward Ethan’s car.Yes!I felt so happy for Ethan, but it was short-lived when Cassy and her friends showed up.