Page 16

CHAPTER 16

BLINDSIDE BY JAMES ARTHUR

Brianne Archer:

I stand on the sidelines in full makeup and uniform. We’re through the first quarter of the game. It’s starting to get slightly windy in Washington but not cold enough while we’re on the sidelines. When I’m continually moving like this, it’s hard not to keep myself warmed up. I stand with Dakota on my left, both of us cheering together. Leah calls out a formation and Dakota’s hands move to my body.

It’s easy to find comfort in him. I trust him with my body. I trust him touching me because I know for a fact he’s going to catch me if I fall. I know he’s going to make sure I’m in the least amount of harm while we’re on the field.

“Ready, Baby?” he asks, his lips brushing my ear.

“As I'll ever be,” I tell him.

I double up and he holds me with one hand, easily. I truly have never had a better stunt partner than Dakota. My whole life, the only time I was ever able to practice solo stunting was with coaches at the cheer gym. So the fact that it comes second nature to Dak and I is a miracle. It’s like it was destined to happen.

I shake my pom poms, waving with a smile on my lips. The entire stadium is full of screaming, fans roaring at us from the stands. It makes my adrenaline pump when I’m stunting. I really get a good look at them from up here and part of me is filled with nerves during these parts of games. Sienna is sitting close to the front with Lawson’s mom and brother. She waves at me and I smile back.

A few weeks ago, Lawson got hurt during one of our scrimmages. He’s been recovering and trying his best to get himself back on the field since then. This is Lawson’s first game officially back. Last week, he played only in the last quarter to test the waters. He managed to get a touchdown and win us the entire damn game so he’s definitely back. Parker isn’t allowed to play right now. He’s been on the sidelines since him and I started our practices. According to Bellamy and Kamryn, Coach Corbin wants him to improve before he’s back playing to avoid injury or messing anything up for his future.

All of the girls that are up in stunts right now chant along including me. I clap my poms and when we finish, Dakota tosses me for dismount. I double down and land in his arms with ease. We stand facing the game for the time being since the quarter is almost over. My brother and Lawson stand in the center of the field, their teammates surrounding them as they point and yell. The team breaks and I sigh, my chest tight with anxiety and butterflies for some reason.

Since I started helping Parker in the dance studio, all I’ve wanted to do was see some type of improvement on the field. He hasn’t played, so I can’t. He’s definitely going to carry the team next year if our lessons work and if he can handle it with his moody bullshit. I grind my teeth as I prepare myself for the next play. I yell at myself mentally for even caring about Parker’s well-being but at the end of the day, if he doesn’t improve, it’s my ass on the line.

“Baby B!” I snap my attention to the side.

Leah Ashley is staring at me. She uses her hand and motions for me to smile. I snap back into attention and put a smile on my face.

“Why are you so flighty?” Dakota talks to me and I shake my head.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“You’re such a liar,” he sighs.

“Pay attention,” I talk through my teeth.

“You’re gonna pop a blood vessel if you keep smiling that hard,” he tells me and I roll my eyes, jumping into the cheer that Leah calls. We all turn back to the stands and away from the boys, chanting in complete unison.

“Tumble passes!” Leah cheers.

We all vacate, pushing our pom poms toward the stadium seats. We spread out in groups. Some of our less talented tumblers move toward the sides, stunting in groups or with partners. They all hold up blue and gold signs that say ‘Go Hornets!’ I’m the last to tumble because I’m the only girl on the team with the tumble skills I have, with the exception of Leah, who never tumbles because she’s helping coach us.

I watch Dak go across the sidelines and his precision always impresses me. He’s incredible and his smile is award-winning. I cheer for him along with everyone else and then, count myself down to ease my own nerves. I could do this tumble pass in my sleep. The team around starts clapping for me and I run to get power in this pass. Round off, full, whip, double. I land perfectly and turn to the front, snapping my hands on my hips. I wave and smile, doing what Leah told me to do after my pass. Sass and confidence—that’s what she asks for.

“B, watch out!”

I turn over my shoulder at Dakota’s yell, but there’s physically no way I can move before there’s a football player coming straight at me from the field. I can’t do anything because I freeze. It’s a blur of blue and gold. Whoever it is, their arms are wrapped around me. We roll once and I land underneath him. I hear shouts but my world stops when Parker stares at me. On the way down, we tangle. His hand found the back of my head, and his arm kept me from being absolutely crushed. There’s a second player, one I don’t know by name, that looks like they were pushed from hitting me, I’m assuming by Parker, but I have no idea.

I guess he’s never beating the Spider-Man allegations because this is the second time he’s completely caught me from being crushed. Or maybe he’s just clumsy and needs to pay attention. Pay attention so I don’t end up in his arms, staring into his completely panicked but absolutely stunning hazel eyes. Isn’t that partially why I’m training him? So he’s more… Dainty? Or something. I feel a slight throb in my arm and leg but push it to the side of my mind.

“Brianne, say something so I know I didn’t just completely crush you, I… I was trying to help, I saw him coming and I tried to… To fix it,” he says, keeping his hand on the back of my head.

He pushes us up and he puts his other hand on my face and moves me around, looking at me all over. His hair is messy and long and my stomach is heating up at the concern lacing through his features right now.

“How did you…” I mumble, knowing he wasn’t playing.

“I saw the play and I tried to intervene and I messed up. I’m so sorry. Are you okay? Say you’re okay…” he speaks and commotion breaks out all around me.

My senses are immediately overloaded when not just Parker, but everyone, surrounds me. Dakota, my coach, Leah. The football coach is running up with Bellamy, Lawson, and Kamryn. My other teammates surround me as well. My eyes scan everyone else and I force a smile, immediately wishing for the attention to be anywhere else, especially not with Parker holding me the way he is.

“I’m fine guys,” I speak out over all the noise.

“Brianne—”

“I’m okay, Parker,” I smile and nod, nudging his hands off of my face, not liking how intimate it feels, especially as Bellamy approaches.

I don’t know where the nickname comes from. I don’t know where his concern is coming from either…

“Don’t lie to me Brianne, did you—”

“I’m fine,” I snap at him and he clenches his jaw.

Bellamy extends his hand to Parker and helps him up. Once Parker is out of the way, Bellamy moves to me but Kamryn pushes him out of the way.

“No, move out of my way,” she huffs.

Kamryn is a sports medicine student. Her job is to decipher the situation, fix what she can, and send me to the hospital if I need to go. I don’t need it though.

“I’m fine guys, seriously I promise,” I smile.

“I think she might have hit her head, I… I didn’t mean to, I tried to stop him because I saw where he was headed and—”

“I didn’t hit my head!” I talk over everyone and Kamryn snaps her fingers.

“Everyone walk away except coaches, now! Yes, you Bellamy.”

She turns over her shoulder to look at my brother and he looks at me with sympathy before listening to her. The football coach, my cheer coach, and Leah all stand around me. Leah crouches next to Kamryn and looks at me.

“You okay, Baby B?” she asks and I nod.

“I promise, I’m fine. He barely brushed against me, look, no scrapes, no—”

I do have some scuffs from the roughness of the track but it’s nothing that won't heal in a few days. I’m fine.

“Just let me check, then you’re good to go,” Kam tells me.

I give her a nod but try to stay smiling so no one thinks anything. So no one gets any ideas. I’m fine. I need everyone to think that, if I’m not, I can handle it. Bellamy is supposed to be focusing on his game and I’m going to fuck that up.

“Everyone else is gone, tell me the truth. What hurts?” she asks me quietly and I sigh.

“Right knee and left elbow. It’s not a big deal, though,” I admit. She rolls her eyes.

“You’re just like your brother. I’ll be discreet but I’m going to look,” she tells me, picking up on the fact that I don’t want any more attention on me.

Kamryn flashes her small light in my eyes, checking me out. She presses and rotates my joints, quickly doing her once over. She nods and puts her hand on my knee that’s now slightly throbbing after only a few measly minutes.

“You seem alright. If you get lightheaded or dizzy, sit down and we’ll send you to the hospital. You could have a concussion if you really did hit your head. As for your knee and elbow, it seems like you’re just banged up. You’ll probably have some nasty bruises but you’re okay,” she tells me.

“I didn’t hit my head. Parker is just stupid,” I tell her and she smirks.

“Her sense of humor is intact, I think she’s all good,” Kamryn gives me a wink and stands, extending her hand to me.

She helps me up and Leah gives me a single pat on the back.

“If you want to sit the rest of the game, that’s fine. Don’t pass out on me,” she mumbles and walks back to her spot in our formation.

Kamryn and both our coaches go back to their respective spaces. Bellamy catches my eye before he runs back out on the field and holds up two thumbs, checking on me. I give him two thumbs and a bright smile.

“Just say yes or no if you’re alright, we can talk later,” Dakota mumbles, our attention on the football field.

“No, but I’ll be fine. Overwhelmed, not hurt,” I tell him and we continue on, doing what we came here to do.

Parker confuses me as I watch him on the sidelines with Bellamy and Lawson. He’s completely snapped back into the plays and the game. But the second he was here, over me and looking at me, it seemed like not a single thing mattered. And he could see right through my smile and me trying to get the attention off of me. He’s not been very perceptive the past few weeks, so why now? Maybe I’m just overthinking his every move and making it up in my head. Maybe I need to get Parker out of my mind because he doesn’t care. He just didn’t want to have the burden of flattening me on the sidelines on his shoulders. He made it obvious that I was a moment, not a chapter. I’d be dumb if I didn’t pay attention to that.

* * *

Dakota and I get back to my apartment before the boys do and I’m thankful for that because I need to decompress in my room for at least two minutes before I’m bombarded by them and before they ruin the peace in the space. Well, I don’t intend on peace either, but my noise is comforting, theirs is… It’s a lot.

“I need to scream,” I grumble to Dakota as I throw my cheer bag on my floor.

“I figured as much. Go ahead,” he mumbles, setting his bag down softly.

I scream and stomp my foot, letting out… I don’t even know what I let out but it feels good. I take a deep breath when I finish and nod. I start stripping, turning away from Dak as I walk toward my bathroom.

“Solo shower or do you need me to sit in?” he asks and I scoff.

“I have to talk to you. You didn’t even need to ask that. What kind of best friend are you?” I ask, reaching into my shower to turn the water on.

I take my cheer skirt off, throwing the tight sequined skirt on the floor. Dakota kicks off his cheer shoes and when I get into the shower that is still warming up, he enters the bathroom. I can hear his voice from outside the shower as he sits on the toilet, a common setup between the two of us.

“Spill, Baby,” he tells me.

“Freaking Parker. I’ve ignored him for three weeks and—”

“Why are you ignoring him? And don’t tell me stupid reasons, only the serious ones…” he tells me, and I groan.

“They are NOT!” I open the shower curtain, peaking my head out. “Stupid!” I shout. “He’s my brother's friend. That is reason enough—”

“Obviously not considering you fucked—”

I scream to stop his words, slamming the curtain shut.

“We said we weren’t talking about that anymore,” I argue.

“You said that. I never agreed to not talk about it,” he laughs.

“Whatever. That’s plenty of a reason but if you’d like more, he hasn’t even tried to speak to me, even when we’re dancing together. He got what he wanted, right? He came to my birthday to get lucky, considering he was talking to my brother and Lawson about how he needed to get laid. Why else would he come? He was flirting with that waitress, then me. Then my dumbass took him home and we slept together. That was what he wanted. Now, we’re moving on. But during all of our dance lessons and then today? It feels like there’s something more… Like he cares, why?” I ask.

“Maybe… Don’t shoot the messenger, but maybe it’s because he does care…” Dakota mumbles and I roll my eyes.

“Don’t be ridiculous. Yes, things have been tense, but he hasn’t spoken to me at all and—”

“No, you’re ridiculous. Maybe stop being skittish and freaky and just talk to him. He’s a football player, not a bear, B,” he tells me and I sigh.

“I’d rather be around a bear,” I joke.

“I get it, but you’re being dramatic,” Dakota argues.

“I just don’t think it’s as deep as you’re making it. He slept with me and scored. What are his intentions still talking to me? Friends with benefits? Does he want to hook up casually?” I ask. Is there something he wants? Besides what he sought out the night of my birthday…

“I’m not Parker Thompson. I don’t know. Even if I did, I have a feeling you wouldn’t listen to me,” Dakota sighs.

“I’m sorry, Dak. I’m trying to listen, I just get in my head and then it’s hard to listen to anything but my own voice. Because when that voice goes off in my head, it’s nonstop and then, it’s talking over itself. I have like twenty voices at once telling me different things and—”

“I get it, B. That’s why I love you,” he laughs and I sigh.

“Like a brother…” I mumble, turning off the shower.

“Like a sister,” he replies.

I hold my hand out of the shower and Dakota hands me my towel. I take it, wrapping it around my body. Dak and I switch. He gets in the shower and I get dressed. I’m in the bathroom, talking to him and doing my skincare, brushing my hair, and then my teeth. The bathroom is steamy by the time he finishes and I leave my room to let him change. I hop down the stairs and walk into the kitchen, ignoring Bellamy and Lawson in the living room. Kamryn and Sienna are with them.

“You okay, B?” Bellamy asks and I throw him a thumbs up.

“Fantastic, wonderful, swell. Congrats on winning by the way,” I smile over my shoulder.

“All in a day's work,” Lawson’s smirk is present in his voice. I roll my eyes as I reach into the cabinet, grabbing for my Stanley cup.

“Do you ever use a different cup?” Lawson asks.

“No,” I scoff.

“Good, if anyone ever fucks with you, you can use it as a weapon. That thing is like… Industrial,” Bellamy chimes in, which makes me smile.

Someone knocks on the door, and I turn over my shoulder to look at my brother and the others on the couch.

“Who?” I ask and he shrugs, stands up and walks in from the living room.

The front door is directly next to the kitchen. I fill up my water cup from the fridge as Bellamy opens the front door.

“What’s up, Parky?” he asks and my stomach bottoms out.

Don’t blush. Don’t panic. Don’t freak out.

“I just… I wanted to make sure I didn’t completely kill your sister. I feel like a dick. I’m not even playing and I—”

“Parker, she’s good. I promise she’s fine,” Bellamy leans on the door and I look at my brother standing a few feet away at the front door.

“I just hit her pretty hard and I just want to make sure I didn’t… I don’t know, I feel like an ass,” he admits and I watch my brother nod his head toward me.

“All good, Parky. We’ve all taken someone out on the sidelines before…” Bellamy’s eyes are on me and Parker leans into the doorway. Then, his eyes are on me too.

“All good. All in one piece…” I speak softly, a small wave toward Parker. Something like relief spreads over his features now that he’s looking at me. “Just don’t do it again,” I joke and the corner of his mouth turns up, only slightly. Only for a few seconds.

“You wanna come hang out?” Bell asks Parker and I take that as my out.

“I’m going upstairs. Goodnight guys,” I wave to everyone around us.

A chorus of goodnights rings around the room. My chest is hollow and full all at once mostly because I have no idea what to do or feel. He doesn’t care… but he came all the way to my house to make sure I didn’t lie about being okay. He definitely could have texted me or Bellamy. I probably would have never answered. But… the sentiment is there. The concern in his voice was deafening. The relief on his face when he saw me was hard to fucking miss.

“Dakota… I think I’ve got to talk to Parker again,” I tell him as I walk into my bedroom.

He’s lounging on my bed and he’s smiling.

“As long as it ends in the two of you making out, I’m all for it,” he jokes and I swat him as I climb onto my bed with him.