Somethin' About That Boy

by Vale, Lani Lynn

  Symphony’s eye twitched.

  Just then, I finally realized that I was sitting in Banner’s lap.

  I. Was sitting. In Banner’s lap.

  I made a move to stand up, but his hand on my hip tightened slightly, making me somewhat uncomfortable due to the bruise forming there already.

  But I saw why he didn’t want me to go when Symphony shoved the chair so hard that it would’ve slammed directly into me had Banner not caught it with his fast hands.

  He hissed when it hit his bare knuckles, and he narrowed his eyes.

  “I’m the person that says whether someone is in or out at this school,” Symphony said. “I’ll…”

  “You’ll keep walking,” Titus finally broke in. “You’re done here, Symphony.”

  “But Tite…” she started, realizing what kind of shaky ground she was on.

  ‘But Tite’ I mocked her in my head, using the same high-pitched voice that she’d just used as if it would help her case.

  God, the girl was annoying.

  “Walk away, Symphony,” Titus said as he bit into a piece of pizza. “You’re done here and you know it.”

  That was when the girls at Symphony’s back called her name, urging her to come sit with them outside.

  When they finally left, only then did Banner release me.

  His large palm slid off of my sore hip, making it feel like he’d ripped off a Band-Aid, and I moaned.

  I stood up, cupping my hip, and grimaced.

  “What is it?” Banner asked, suddenly worried.

  Blue, being ever so helpful, lifted up one side of my shirt and showed off the spectacular bruise that was forming on my hip.

  “Holy shit,” Abbott said. “That’s bad.”

  Banner, not liking that he couldn’t see, physically turned me until he could see my hip. Then grimaced.

  “I’m sorry,” he said, touching the bruise lightly at one corner. “That’s gonna be bad tomorrow.”

  I shrugged and regained my seat.

  “I bruise easily,” I said, reaching for my pizza as I tried to tell myself not to blush at having his hands on my bare skin.

  The lunch for my group was awkward to say the least.

  I knew for a fact that Tempy had a thing for Slone, and Echo had a thing for Tatum.

  Not to mention that Titus was staring at Blue as if he wanted to eat her alive.

  Then there was Banner, right next to me, making me very aware of just how close he was to touching me.

  He had touched me.

  In fact, his hands had been on my bare skin, just a few short inches away from much more, interesting parts of my anatomy.

  “…Gonna piss Kerby and Alero off,” I heard Titus say.

  Kerby and Alero were the quarterbacks for Kilgore High. Why were they talking about them?

  “Don’t really care who I piss off, to be honest,” Banner said. “I just want to play.”

  Titus nodded. “We got your back. And Kerby is a bit of a dick anyway. I was honestly not looking forward to this school year at all having to deal with his shit.”

  Ahh, so he was a football player.

  Made sense.

  Anyone that hot had to be.

  I took another bite of pizza and washed it down with a gulp of white milk right out of the small container.

  I’d royally screwed up the opening of the cardboard milk carton, and was drinking haphazardly out of the side, trying to do it without spilling.

  When I moved on to opening the next one, a long muscular hand reached for it and opened it for me without saying a word.

  I looked over just in time for him to work his magic and hand it back to me with the little triangle open at the top, and not mangled in the least.

  I blinked at him in surprise, causing him to wink.

  Feeling funny now, I took a small swig of the milk, tried not to think about his hands being where my mouth was now, and continued to eat pizza.

  “Why did you move here?” somebody asked.

  I assumed that particular question had been directed at Banner, but I wasn’t going to look over to find out.

  Keeping my head down as I ate, I tried not to think about Banner’s closeness, either. Or the heat of his body that I could practically feel seeping into my left side.

  To keep myself distracted, I kept looking around the cafeteria.

  Everybody was looking at us.

  Not one person wasn’t aware of our table in some way.

  That was when Symphony, pissed off, went through the lunch line and kicked up a fuss with my mother when there was no more pizza.

  Seeing what was going on, I made to stand up, but my mother made eye contact with me across the room, telling me in no uncertain terms that I was to stay exactly where I was or else.

  I stayed, but I wasn’t very happy about it.

  Eventually, the teacher that worked the lunchroom to make sure there were no problems came over and told Symphony to leave. But that didn’t make me feel any better either.

  God, I hated her.

  With a passion.

  “I gotta go,” I murmured, taking a bite out of the piece of pizza in my hand and before I grabbed my bag.

  Shouldering the heavy duffel, I picked up my tray and headed for the trash, grabbing that last half-finished slice before putting my tray away.

  When I was heading out the door, I made sure to make eye contact with Symphony as I walked out. And moaned as I viciously tore into the bite of pizza.

  She narrowed her eyes as if she was saying ‘challenge accepted.’

  Bring it on, little girl

  I said with my eyes. You don’t mess with my mama and get away with it.

  I was pushing through the doors and out into the sunshine moments later, very aware of what I’d just done.

  Symphony wouldn’t be able to let this go. Not with how she was practically shut down in front of the entire senior class.

  I was so lost in my thoughts, and what this would mean for my senior year, that I didn’t hear the fast footsteps approaching until they were right on top of me.

  “Perry.”

  I looked up and over my shoulder to find Banner right there.

  I blinked, stopping, and stared at him.

  “Umm.” I paused. “Yes?”

  He held out my sweatpants.

  “You forgot these.”

  Then, without another word, he left, shoving his huge hands into his pockets as he moved.

  He didn’t even have a backpack.

  Where did he keep his shit?

  Chapter 4

  People say I act like I don’t give a shit. Newsflash, I’m not acting.

  -Perry’s secret thoughts

  Perry

  My breath was sawing in and out of my lungs on the last quarter of a mile.

  I could see Tempy in the distance, at least two, if not three minutes ahead of me.

  Not that I was surprised by her ability to outrun me. At least I was keeping her in sight.

  Flo, on the other hand? I couldn’t even see her anymore. That meant she was at least five minutes ahead of me.

  I wasn’t dead last, however.

  Rebel and Echo were behind me, and Blue had straight up tried to skip practice altogether because she was on her period and cramping. Meaning she was at the back and barely hanging on.

  The last half a loop was around the outside of the football track. And I hated running this part of the loop.

  Mostly, I ran to feel free. I loved running. It was my me time.

  I ran to escape people, not see them.

  Yet, Coach always had us running around the school’s loop just to be safe.

  The school’s loop consisted of running out of the gym, around the high school parking lot, down and around the elementary and intermediate. Around the bus station, then back around the back side of the high school. Which then led us right around the football field to pass their fiel
dhouse before we were once again back at the gym door.

  Overall, it was a little over six point two miles. Which ended up being ten kilometers.

  And right now, I was totally and completely regretting having fucking pizza for lunch.

  I was tasting the sauce as I put on a burst of speed when I saw the football team.

  That’s why I didn’t like running when I was near them.

  Because if I didn’t put on the speed, then they’d see me practically dying over here and they might have a reason to laugh.

  Another reason that I put on the speed was because of fucking Symphony.

  She always made a habit of being by the fence so she could yell at us words of encouragement.

  Today was no different.

  “Whew, Perry,” Symphony yelled. “Might want to unload that trailer when you run next.”

  I narrowed my eyes and lengthened my stride, doing my best to ignore her.

  “Bet your ass is regretting that pizza today, isn’t it?” Symphony asked.

  I hated her.

  And, worse, she was on the cross-country team with us.

  Then, if that wasn’t bad enough? She was just as fast at it as I was, so on the days that cheerleading didn’t interfere with cross-country, she came to practices and made my day—or continued to make it—a living hell.

  I was thankful when I finally made it back to the gym.

  Not thankful when I saw the look on Flo and Tempy’s faces.

  “What is it?” I gasped, going into the tripod position with my hands on my knees, hunched over and trying to draw in more breath.

  Tempy made a grumpy face.

  “We’re running bleachers,” she murmured softly.

  I blinked, then turned to see Coach Little staring at us with an evil grin.

  It wasn’t often that we had to do more work after a long run like this, but a lot of the time he did when he saw how bad we’d eaten that day.

  He was a staunch supporter in fueling your body with what made it run the best. And now that I thought about it, I had seen him come in with a couple of other coaches and glance at our table.

  Shit.

  “Fuck,” I muttered darkly.

  Tempy snorted.

  Blue groaned and fell onto the grass face first.

  I snickered and walked up to the water cooler, my eyes going to the football field briefly when I did.

  I looked over and saw Alero standing on the side of the field looking extremely pissed off and very unhappy.

  I wondered if that was because of the new guy, but before I could look more into it, the rest of our group arrived and Coach Little led us to the bleachers.

  “I want ten sets of cross-country bleachers,” he said to all of us. “Once you’re done with that, you can go home.”

  I grimaced and looked at the bleachers as if they were spawns of Satan.

  “Son of a bitch,” I muttered, then started up the bleachers.

  Though Tempy and Flo were faster than me at runs, I had more raw power in my legs, meaning that the bleachers were definitely part of my territory.

  That’d been why I went first.

  By the time I was running down the other side all the way across the stands, nobody was in sight of me.

  Nobody but one particular guy staring me down from across the field.

  Which, of course, was when I tripped.

  I cursed and pushed myself up, moaning when I saw the blood dripping down the length of my shin.

  When I next looked up, it was to see Banner standing at the gate holding out a set of towels.

  “Here,” he said.

  I took them, pressing it against the blood.

  When he went to hop over the partition that separated the bleachers from the fence, I nearly swallowed my tongue.

  “No, I’m fine,” I said as I waved him off. “Thanks for the towel.”

  Then I started to run again, tossing the bloody towel into the trash on my way.

  The next time I came down the opposite end, I firmly kept my eyes in front of me.

  Which made me quite sad seeing as Banner in all his shirtless glory was a sight to be seen.

  ***

  “Here you go,” the trainer said, handing me a couple of big Band-Aids.

  “Thank you,” I murmured, taking them from her.

  She handed me a stack of paper towels that were slightly damp and sent me on my way.

  I surreptitiously ignored one man that was so close that I could almost reach out and touch him, instead keeping my eyes on the others of my team.

  When I got there, I plopped myself down and groaned into my hands.

  Blue laughed.

  I looked out over the field again, seeing Banner rearing back to throw the football, and nearly swallowed my tongue.

  “So my mom and everybody were talking the other day,” I said, panting lightly. “About sweatpants season. And although logically I knew what they were talking about, I just didn’t ‘get it.’ You know?”

  “Dear sweet baby Jesus,” Tempy breathed.

  “Dude,” Blue breathed. “That’s… when did they start wearing sweatpants to football practice?”

  Not all of them were wearing sweatpants.

  Today was a no-pad day, and it was on the nippy side.

  Whereas most of the boys had decided just to do the t-shirt and normal black knit shorts, there were a select few that’d forgone them for a pair of sweats that said ‘Kilgore Bulldogs’ on the right thigh.

  And, of course, at one point they’d lost their shirts because they got too hot.

  It was nippy out here, but not nippy enough to warrant sweatpants and a shirt.

  Still.

  I couldn’t find it in myself to be upset about this development.

  Especially since it looked like they were now my own personal wet dream.

  Well, one of them in particular.

  Mr. ‘I have a staring problem’ was my drink of choice.

  “I just…” I licked my lips. “Holy shit.”

  Banner was in gray sweatpants that hugged his bottom half like a glove in all the right places.

  Tight on his ass, clingy at the thighs, and definitely snug around his pubic area.

  And they were a little loose on his waist, making it to where they hung slightly down, revealing the deep V of his abs that led to his pubic region.

  And holy abs, Batman. Banner was ripped.

  I’m talking, I can count every single ab and indention in his entire body, ripped.

  He wasn’t built like a normal teenager.

  There was no long lankiness to his limbs. He was hard muscle, big, and stout.

  Absolutely perfect.

  And his black hair was falling into his eyes, making me want to slick it back with my hands and then kiss the hell out of him.

  Even his shoes looked good on him.

  “Titus is looking just as fine in his sweatpants,” Blue breathed. “I wish he didn’t make me hate him when he opened his mouth.”

  I snickered and ripped into the Band-Aids after I wiped all the blood off of my shin.

  Once they were in place, I crumbled the paper into a ball and stood up just in time to come face to face with Symphony.

  “What are y’all looking at?”

  The acid words from the head cheerleader had us all turning to look in their direction.

  I reached around her and threw my balled-up trash into the bin behind her.

  “We’re looking at the field, Candace,” Blue said. “Actually, I take that back. We’re staring at the men in the sweatpants. What’s it to you?”

  “What’s it to us?” Symphony snorted, giving Blue a disgusted look. “It’s just embarrassing, that’s all. I mean, you just sit there and look at our guys and expect us to be okay with it? No. That’s not how life works.”

  I looked at Symphony skeptically.

  “Unless you work incredibly fast,”
I said sarcastically, “the one I’m looking at isn’t one of yours.”

  Honestly, none of the ones we were looking at were theirs.

  There was Graham and Tatum. Slone and Titus. Abbott. And then the new one, Banner.

  “And, correct me if I’m wrong,” Flo said, “but you were the one that got told to go away today. So if anyone has a right to look at them, it’s the ones they allowed to sit at the table with them.”

  “Listen, Floyd,” Symphony said, drawing her name out as if it was a dirty secret and not actually her name. “They’re ours. End of story.”

  The girls behind Symphony, all of which hadn’t said a word, nodded their heads as if what she said was the gospel.

  “Whatever you say,” Flo said. “Whatever you say.”

  Symphony’s eyes narrowed on us, and me in particular.

  Why was it always me that she focused on?

  “You couldn’t get them to pay attention to you even if you tried.”

  I snorted. “I could if I wanted to.”

  “Then prove it,” Symphony ordered. “Lunch is one thing. Going out on a date is another.”

  I nearly rolled my eyes.

  “What do I get if I get him to agree to a date?” I asked curiously.

  Symphony snorted. “The pleasure of knowing you were right, and I was wrong?”

  I shrugged. “I already know that. There’s nothing in it for me if I do this.”

  Symphony didn’t answer.

  It was Candace that said, “Your mother sure does hate it when we’re mean to her. Maybe we give it a month.”

  I narrowed my eyes.

  If there was one thing that she knew I did not like, it was that.

  I hated that they picked on my mother. Even more, I hated it that my mother just let it slide because she didn’t care.

  Well, I fucking cared when it came to her.

  I cared a lot.

  “Fine,” I said, heading for the stairs. “A month.”

  Then I walked to where I could now see the sweatpants club crowded around the water cart.

  “She’ll never get him to say yes,” Candace said to I assumed Symphony.

  I gritted my teeth and walked up to the water cart.

  I didn’t bother to act like I was there for any other reason.

  Banner’s eyes caught mine the moment that I got close.

  “You okay?” he asked, eyes on me.