by Cait Marie
Lila’s mouth dropped open. Gavin wasn’t that person. He didn’t have a violent bone in his body.
When she said as much, Kaley agreed. “Exactly. Everyone was so shocked they didn’t know what to do. He threatened to beat Kyle if he ever talked about you again. Then, he told the rest of the guys around to stay away from you. When someone asked why he cared and pointed out that all he ever did was tease and argue with you, Gavin just said that was different. Dylan dragged him outside after that, but I think we all suspected the truth at that point.”
“I never knew that part,” Lila whispered. She looked to the Millers’ house. He’d lived so close the whole time, and she never knew how he truly felt. “I should get inside. Thank you for driving me.”
“Yeah, of course.” Kaley smiled and waved as Lila got out of the car. Before Lila could shut the door, she added, “Feel better!”
18
Friday
Soft fingers trailed down Lila’s arm, sending a shiver through her body. She didn’t need to look to know it was him. Gavin’s touch and scent were utterly familiar. She turned and buried her face into the warmth of his embrace.
“What time is it?” she asked, glancing around the darkening room.
“Nine. Mom closed the shop early tonight.” His breath stirred her hair. “How are you feeling?”
“Better.” The relief from the pain rejuvenated her. She felt better than she had all week. Slowly, she moved up higher to see his eyes. “You’re in my bed.”
“Mhmm.” His grin made her stomach flutter and her heart pound.
She traced a random pattern along his chest as she inched her fingers up to the side of his neck. With her palm against his jaw, she fought the giggle threatening to burst from inside. “If my dad finds you up here—”
“Your parents know I’m here.”
Raising a brow, she asked, “They let you up here without a fight?”
“Your mom loves me.” He slid a hand around the back of her neck to bring her closer and kissed her gently. “She convinced your dad that it was fine. Besides, I’m not staying long.”
“Oh…”
Smiling, he pressed his lips to hers. When he broke away, he said, “If you’re feeling up to it, you can come with me.”
She propped her head up on a hand while she rose on one elbow. “Where are we going?”
“You know I’m not telling you.”
Lila rolled forward, forcing him to his back. His eyes widened as she straddled him. His throat bobbed when she leaned down with both hands on his chest. The absence of pain mixed with the longing in his gaze made her bold. His hands moved to her waist, skimming her sides beneath her shirt. Their breath mingled as she hovered just above him.
“Lila,” he whispered.
She smiled, loving that he’d started calling her by her first name again. She closed the remaining space to press her lips to his. His mouth parted as his fingers drifted higher. Breathing him in, she was acutely aware of every place their bodies touched. She knew it would be all too easy to lie in that bed forever with him.
Pushing herself up, she looked down into his eyes darkened with desire. She felt the want deep in her core and smiled. Quick as lightning, she kissed his cheek and climbed off him. He groaned while she moved to turn on the light.
“That was really rude,” he said as she pulled out some new clothes from the dresser.
“Maybe you should learn to stop keeping secrets.” Over her shoulder, she winked. “I’ll be back. I’m going to change.”
Before she could open the bathroom door, he was there. His hands wrapped around her front, pulling her back against him. Her breath caught in her throat. He brushed her hair to the side and kissed the sensitive area between her neck and shoulder.
She’d waited so long to feel that kind of connection with anyone. The thought of losing it brought tears to her eyes. As if he could sense the moment the mood changed, Gavin let go. She didn’t turn back to see him. Instead, she went into the bathroom and closed the door to hide the heartache forming.
When she walked back out after changing and getting control of her emotions, Gavin stood from the edge of her bed. She looked down at her simple outfit, realizing she didn’t know if the leggings and cardigan-covered tank top were all right. “Is this okay? Do I need something nicer or something that can get covered in paint?”
He shook his head and picked up her phone from the bedside table. Putting it in his hoodie’s pocket, he walked over to grab her hand. “It’s perfect.”
She laced her fingers through his and followed him downstairs. In the living room, her dad stood from his recliner at the sight of them, glancing down at their clasped hands. Her mom got to her feet a bit slower. She pulled Lila into a hug, asking if the headache was gone.
It felt good to not lie for once. “Yes, I feel totally fine. Better than I have in a while actually.”
When her mom moved back, Lila’s dad stared at them with crossed arms. Her mom nudged him in the ribs, and he swept a hand across his dark beard before dropping it to his side with a sigh. “Have fun, but please be safe. If you start feeling bad, come home.”
Lila stepped forward to wrap her arms around him. “Thanks, Dad.”
They broke, and she took Gavin’s hand once more as they headed toward the door.
“Gavin,” her dad said behind them, and they turned back. “Take care of her.”
“Always.” Gavin squeezed her hand.
Her dad nodded. “Be back by midnight.”
“Dad,” Lila started, “that’s in less than three hours. I’m almost eighteen.”
To her surprise, with another sigh, he said, “Fine. One.”
Suppressing an eye roll, Lila agreed and dragged Gavin from the house. At his car, he opened the passenger door for her. “You know,” he said, hanging on to the roof of the car as she pulled her seatbelt on, “we don’t need four hours for where we’re going.”
“I’m sure we can figure out something to pass the extra time.” She grinned at his surprised look.
He cleared his throat and closed her door. She chuckled as he moved around to get in on his side. In the faint moonlight, she thought she could see a blush on his cheeks, and she bit her lip to keep from laughing harder.
As they pulled into the high school parking lot, she finally let it out. That was not what she thought they were checking off. Gavin parked near a small gathering of cars, and she looked over in confusion.
“I called in some backup,” was the only explanation she got before he jumped out.
As she unclicked her belt, Dylan opened her door. He held out a hand to help her up. “My lady.”
She shook her head. “Hi, Dylan.”
Before she could say anything else, he pulled her into a hug. Not a fun, joking hug like he was known to do. It was genuine. He held her close, not letting go.
He knew.
“Dylan, I’m fine,” she whispered, squeezing him tight. “It’s going to be okay.”
“Of course, it is,” he said, leaning back a little. “You’re not mad he told me?”
She knew she should be upset. After all, she’d kept the tumor a secret for a reason. But she couldn’t bring herself to be mad. Gavin was struggling with everything, and if talking to Dylan helped, she’d take it. “No.”
She glanced over to see Gavin watching them from his place near another car. Some of his teammates surrounded him, as did Kaley, Cass, and May. The latter three smiled and waved when they saw her. Dylan put an arm around her shoulders and led her to the group. Cass and May had returned from their vacation that morning, according to him. They’d go back to working at the Scoop the following week.
When they got close, Gavin reached out to pull her to him. “All right, enough. Give me back my girlfriend.”
She looked at him with raised brows. “Girlfriend, huh?”
“Yep.” He kissed her before twisting her around to face the group as he wrapped his arms across her stomach. Against her ear, h
e whispered, “If we’ve only got a few more days, I’m not wasting time.”
Lila stilled.
“Shit, I’m sorry.” He tried to turn her back toward him.
She only moved enough to kiss him and then lay her head against his shoulder. The people around them continued laughing and talking, oblivious. But Kaley met her eyes with a smile.
“All right.” Dylan clapped his hands together to get everyone’s attention. He held up a set of keys. “Are we doing this or what?”
“Dylan, how did you get those?” Lila asked. When he opened his mouth, she added, “You know what, never mind. I don’t want to know.”
He rolled his eyes. “I asked for them. Why does everyone assume the worst?”
“Because you’re sketchy as hell,” May said with a laugh. She screeched as he lunged for her.
Without any more debate, they walked to the side doors of the school. Dylan unlocked one and held it open for them to all enter the dark corridor beyond. Lila’s chest tightened at the sight, her steps faltering. Gavin quickly pulled out his phone and turned on the flashlight, but the atrium flooded with light before the rest could do the same.
Lila looked over to Dylan, who stood casually leaning against the wall beside a panel of switches. She looked around at the quiet school, slowly walking toward the nearest hall. Everything was familiar—the lockers, the classrooms. She spent the past four years in that building, but as she glanced at the others walking beside her, she realized she knew nothing about the school. With Beth Ann as the only exception, she didn’t know the students.
Her entire life she dreamed of moving to a big city and one day seeing her name in lights. When that dream changed, she’d turned her focus on getting into a good school with a business program. No matter how different the path her life took, one thing had always stayed the same: for four years, she focused so hard on getting out of that school that she missed out on friendships and fun.
Dylan put an arm around her shoulders, dragging her back to the present. “Ready for this?”
“You seriously broke us into the school just so I can run through the halls?” Lila asked.
He pulled her to a stop while the others continued. Without him asking, Dylan tossed the keys to Gavin who opened a classroom. Dylan tugged her to the side of the hall, out of the way, as they began pulling out stools on wheels.
“First of all,” Dylan said, “it’s not breaking in if we have the keys.”
“Which you stole.”
“I didn’t steal them.” He turned to face her with one shoulder propped against the lockers. She mirrored his stance as he continued, “I asked Mrs. Cay for them.”
“And she just handed them over?” Lila crossed her arms. There was no way their vice principal just gave him a set of master keys to the school.
The corner of his mouth turned up. “I told her it was a bucket list thing and promised not to do any damage—that we just wanted to run through the halls one last time.”
“She did not believe you enough to allow this. There’s no way.”
Kaley laughed as one of the upcoming-senior baseball players, Zach, twirled her around on a stool. One of the others started playing music on their phone.
“Someone’s going to call the police on us,” Lila said.
“Already taken care of.”
Lila’s eyes snapped back to Dylan’s.
“I told you, I talked to Mrs. Cay,” he said. “She called the police station to tell them to ignore any calls they might receive.”
“Why would she do all this?”
He rubbed the back of his neck with one hand and looked down at his feet. Well, Lila had her answer. She swatted his chest, hissing, “Dylan.”
“Ow!” He jumped out of reach in mock pain. “I didn’t know how else to get this one done.”
She started to walk away, but he grabbed her elbow. When she stopped, he moved in front of her. “I’m sorry, Lila. Really.”
“I know.” With a sigh, she met his eyes.
A shadow moved across her vision. “Everything okay?”
Lila bit the inside of her cheek and smiled as she looked over to Gavin. “Of course. I was just making sure we wouldn’t all get arrested for being here.”
Gavin laughed and kissed her cheek. Dylan’s shoulders visibly relaxed. Before she could move to one of the stools, he said, “Wait, give me your phone.”
“Why?” She reached over to pull it out of Gavin’s pocket.
Dylan snatched it from her hand with a grin. “Because Beth Ann won’t answer me, but she will definitely answer a FaceTime from you.”
Sure enough, a few seconds later, her cheerful face filled the phone screen. After they all waved and yelled hello, Dylan explained what they were doing. Gavin pulled Lila to the middle of the hall and had her sit.
“All right, ladies and gentlemen,” Dylan said in a mock-announcer tone.
Lila could hear Beth Ann in the background laughing and saying, “Seriously?”
He ignored her. “In the first race of the evening, we have Lila and Kaley taking their places on the starting line. At their backs, Gavin and Zach will be the running men.”
Kaley pulled up her stool beside Lila’s. They shared a look, then they both started laughing. Gavin’s hands went to Lila’s waist to stop her from falling over, which just made her laugh harder. He leaned down close to her ear. “Tuck your feet up under you.”
She looked at him over her shoulder with a raised brow.
“Less wind resistance,” he said with a shrug, as if it was obvious.
After she did as he told her to, she gripped the edges of the seat. The race was not going to end well. It was an accident waiting to happen. Gavin’s hands covered hers, and he gave her another quick kiss on the cheek as Dylan began counting down.
“I won’t let you fall,” Gavin said, reading her mind.
“Go!” Dylan yelled.
Lila took a deep breath and held it. They took off, and it escaped as a scream that echoed off the lockers right alongside Kaley’s. The wheels shook beneath them as they raced down the hall. The others stood at the end, cheering them on.
Lila didn’t think she’d ever had a bigger smile. Definitely not in that school.
19
Friday
Zach clapped a hand on the back of Gavin’s shoulder and dragged him away from Lila. She gave him an encouraging smile as he joined his other teammates walking across the parking lot. One of them stopped at their car and grabbed a football from the front seat. He tossed it to Gavin, and they all spread out, jogging toward the football field. Gavin yelled to Dylan, who turned and ran backwards, waiting. The ball soared through the sky, barely visible in the parking lot lights. Cass and May laughed and ran to join in. It amazed Lila that the baseball players could toss a football around so well, but she knew Gavin loved several sports. It was why he wanted to go into sports medicine.
An arm looped through Lila’s. Kaley smiled at her as they followed at a slower pace. “Do you want to talk about it?”
It took a great amount of effort for Lila to keep a steady tone. “What do you mean?”
“I know we’re not close, but I’m not an idiot,” she said. “I know something is going on.”
Lila slowed their steps more, putting distance between them and the others. She didn’t know how it happened so suddenly, but Kaley was her friend. And she didn’t want to hide from her. “I’m not going to Bennu in the fall…” she began.
Kaley opened her mouth, but Lila didn’t let her ask. Instead, she told her everything.
Gavin waited by the open gate with a sad smile as Lila and Kaley hugged in the parking lot. Everyone had entered the football field, and Dylan ran up to the booth to turn on the lights. The girls parted and began walking toward him again. With Lila’s eyes on his, Kaley leaned in to whisper something. Lila flushed and shook her head.
When they reached him, Kaley let go of Lila’s arm. As she walked into the small stadium, she called over her s
houlder, “I’m just saying, Lila.”
With a wink, she disappeared around the corner of the bleachers. Gavin looked to Lila, who refused to meet his gaze. She was clearly embarrassed by whatever their friend said, and it was adorable. He took her hand to pull her closer.
They walked onto the field—the space lit up bright just as it was during games. Their small group ran around, tossing the ball. Laughter carried across the area. Dylan ran back down, yelling for Gavin and Lila to join in too.
For a while, they played touch football. Lila was awful, but no one cared. They might not know the details, but his friends knew that night and the next were all about her. They’d agreed without asking too many questions.
Gavin lifted a hand and pointed two fingers from his eyes to Lila standing across from him on the opposing team. She tried to put on a mean face, but just like the past seven years, she failed to look intimidating.
Dylan yelled, “hike,” and the ball snapped to him. He took a few steps while the others spread out, trying to protect him as Lila and May ran down the field. With four older brothers who played football, May knew what she was doing. Gavin ran after Lila though, knowing Dylan would throw to her.
They neared the end zone, and it wasn’t a long pass, but Gavin slowed just enough for the ball to reach Lila. He held his breath, secretly rooting for her to make the catch. The ball sailed low enough for her to grasp against her stomach. She looked down with wide eyes then back up.
“Run!” Dylan screamed.
She didn’t hesitate. She turned and ran toward the endzone. Gavin sped up—it wasn’t hard catching up to her. She screeched as he reached for her, and she dodged to the side. He wasn’t going to stop her. It was her win, and as she crossed the line, he could feel the joy emanating from her.