“Jeez, you could play a little hard to get,” Rose muttered behind me.
I ignored her. Playing hard to get was so not my style, just like those death-traps she called stilettos weren’t my cup of tea. I was all for feeling beautiful, but being with River helped me realize that the best way to be beautiful was to just be me.
Cheesy? Yes. Definitely. But what could I say, I’d learned a lot about myself by being with River, and I knew he felt the same about me.
Take him and his dad, for example. While no one would call their relationship ‘great,’ by any means, they were making progress, and I’d like to think that I’d been a help. His dad liked me, and River said that my presence at their house reminded him of when Paxton lived at home because there was a buffer, someone to calm his dad down and turn the conversation toward something less inflammatory before the two of them could plunge headlong into another fight.
Of course, it helped that River had gotten a full-ride scholarship thanks to his soccer playing. A lot of the tension over River’s focus on the sport eased up once River finally proved that soccer wasn’t just a game for him but a way to forge a future—a future of his own making, not his father’s.
I leapt down the stairs, not bothering to hide my excitement. I paused with a groan when I spotted Caleb standing at the foot of the stairs instead of River. “Caleb,” I whined. “What are you doing here? River’s going to be here at any minute, and I’m not ready.”
He arched his brows as he took in my blown-out hair, the pretty dress, and the no-nonsense shoes. “You look ready to me. The only thing missing is your baseball cap.”
“Ha ha,” I said. “What did you need?”
He held up two corsages with a look of such anguish it was impossible not to laugh. “What color is Val’s dress? Did she tell you?”
Before I could answer that she had, in fact told me, he was babbling on about how she’d told him, but he forgot and she’d kill him if he showed up with the wrong color. I bit my lip to keep from laughing again. Val wouldn’t kill him…but she would make him sweat.
And yeah, that’s right, Val and I were totally friends these days, just like Caleb and I had slowly but surely worked our way back to a solid friendship. Still, good friend or not…
I reached for his arm and started pushing him none-too-gently toward the open front door. “Give her the white one,” I said. “And go. You need to pick her up soon, and River will be here soon and—”
“He’s here.” River’s voice was low and soft but it shot through me with a happy little jolt like it always did. I dropped my grip on Caleb’s arm and stood there gawking as if it was the first time I’d seen him and not the millionth time this week.
He looked good. No, he looked amazing, all decked out in a suit, his hair slicked back so it was neat and tidy for the first time ever. I sighed happily as I watched him study me in the same way and with the same goofy grin.
Yeah, we were that couple. Unabashedly in love, and we didn’t care who knew.
Caleb groaned. “I’m getting out of here before you start making out right in front of me.”
River held the door open even farther and gestured for him to leave with a flourish. “Don’t let me stop you.”
“As if you could,” Caleb shot back.
I sighed as I gave him another push toward the door. This was exactly why I hadn’t wanted Caleb to be around when River showed up.
Here was the thing—they were kinda sorta friends.
I know, I know…it definitely wouldn’t look like it to the average bystander, especially if anyone caught the way the two of them were puffing their chests out and glaring at each other as Caleb walked past him to go back to his own house.
But sometimes appearances could be deceiving. Like me and Caleb, for example. Two years ago, anyone who’d seen us together would have thought we were a solid couple. Heck, two years ago, I would have sworn we were in love.
And take River. By the brooding looks he gave, one might think he wasn’t happy.
He was. He liked to tell me just how perfect his life had become the moment I’d agreed to be his girlfriend.
Personally, I thought he gave me too much credit. It wasn’t like I had anything to do with how hard he’d worked to earn that scholarship. And while I might have helped things between him and his dad, he’d been the one to set aside his anger and make the first attempt.
But yeah, he was happy and his life was good, and I loved to watch him become the best version of himself.
And then there was me. Anyone who didn’t know me might have thought I’d always had it all. I was lucky, there was no doubt about that. I’d been blessed with the best family and friends a girl could ask for, not to mention some wicked skills that had made me the highest scorer on the basketball team this year. And don’t get me started on soccer. I’d grown to love the game almost as much as River and Caleb, but I played with them for fun, whereas they lived for their rivalry.
Anyway, my point was—I’d always thought I’d had it all. But it wasn’t until River came along that I’d realized what it meant to fall in love, to be in love…to be with a partner who not only supported me, but who gave me the space to be my own person. He loved me for me and he’d never ask me to change. He loved my dorky references, he loved that I watched musicals, he loved that I was just as competitive as he was on the field, and he loved to come out and support me when it was my time to shine on the basketball court.
I’d thought I’d known what love was…but then along came River. I sighed happily as he pulled me into his arms.
“Hannah, you look amazing,” he said the moment Caleb left.
I grinned. I felt amazing. Sure, I loved my T-shirts and jeans, but every once in a while, I loved dressing up, too. And tonight, well tonight was special.
He wrapped his arms around me tighter and pulled me in for a kiss.
“Be careful,” I whispered with a smile. “Rose just finished applying my makeup.”
He growled softly, a lopsided grin taking his look from debonair to devilish. “Is that a challenge?”
I laughed. “More like a warning. You’ve never seen Rose on the warpath. She’s very invested in me looking good tonight.”
“You look amazing tonight,” he said, dropping a light kiss on the corner of my lips. “But then, you always look amazing to me.”
“Thanks,” I said, tugging on his lapel. “You look pretty amazing yourself.”
He gazed down at me, his eyes dark with passion and love. “Want to skip the prom and go hang at the lake?”
“No,” I laughed, because I knew he was teasing. “It’s the prom, River. We have to go.”
He gave me a rueful grin that made my heart ache. “I know, I know. And I want to dance with you tonight. I do. It’s just…” He trailed off with a sigh and I knew what he meant.
There was little time left for the two of us to be alone, and we’d been trying to eke out every moment we could.
Soon, he’d be leaving for school in Boston, which wasn’t all that far away, but he’d be spending all of his time training for the soccer team.
“I’m going to miss you so much,” he said, his thoughts clearly heading in the same direction as mine.
“Me, too.” My heart hurt just to think about three months away from him. But… “I’ll be there in September, and then we’ll have all the time in the world to be together.”
“True, but three months still feels like an eternity.
I gave him a mischievous grin. “Think of it this way. At least you and Caleb will have each other until Val and I arrive in the fall.”
He groaned, but I knew his misery was feigned. Mostly. While River had been recruited to Boston College, Caleb had been accepted to Boston University. Once again, they were destined to be rivals.
As for me? I was heading to Northeastern, also in Boston. And no, my decision wasn’t entirely based on River, although the proximity was a definite factor. But River had made it clear that he
’d travel to the ends of the world to visit me when I went off to college, if that was what it took to stay together.
Luckily for both of us, he’d only have to travel across town.
I went up on my tiptoes to kiss him properly, lipstick be damned.
I was caught.
“Ugh. You two…” Rose hurried down the staircase behind me, alarmingly fast in those monumental heels of hers. “Can’t you guys give it a rest until Hannah has a chance to show off my talents?”
“Yes, ma’am,” River said teasingly as Rose rolled her eyes, knowing full well that neither me nor River was going to let lipstick stand in the way of our precious alone time, which obviously included kisses.
Lots and lots of kisses.
“I’m heading out,” Rose said, pausing in the doorway to look back. “I’ll see you there?”
“Wouldn’t miss it,” River answered for both of us.
After she left, River resumed his efforts to utterly ruin my lipstick until we were both breathless. “What do you say?” he asked quietly, taking my hands in his. “Should we go show those losers how to dance?”
I grinned. “You know I’m always up for a challenge.”
* * *
Thank you for reading! If you enjoyed it, reviews are always welcome. Keep reading for a free sample of the second book in the series, Playing to Win, by Stephanie Street.
Be sure to sign up for Maggie Dallen’s newsletter to receive a FREE sweet novella, along with all the latest news on upcoming releases, sales, and sneak peeks.
Sign up here: http://eepurl.com/bFEVsL
For a list of Maggie Dallen’s completed YA series, see below:
High School Billionaires
Tall, Dark, and Nerdy
Too Nerdy to Handle
The Man, The Myth, The Nerd
Geeks Gone Wild
Love at First Fight
My Virtual Prince Charming
Once Upon a Comic-Con
Kissing the Enemy
The Perfect Catch
The Perfect Match
The Perfect Score
Briarwood High
Out of His League
A Whole New League
The Perfect League
The Holiday Kiss
The Prom Kiss
The Candy Cane Kiss
Summer of Love
Senior Week Fling
Senior Week Crush
Senior Week Kiss
Playing to Win
Jordan
Hannah: Good luck at your first day of school!
Me: Thanks. I’m not worried about school as much as hockey.
Alex: Don’t sweat it. You got this.
Hannah: Yeah. You’re a tomboy. Way better than any boy!
Best friends were a girl’s lifeblood, right? I didn’t know what I’d do without mine. We had to work a little harder than most to stay in touch since we lived in different places and went to different schools, but that was okay. I knew no matter what, they had my back. I could tell them anything and they’d understand.
That’s why I texted them as soon as I found out I’d made it onto the boys hockey team. Hannah played intramural soccer on a co-ed team, so she had a lot of great advice about dealing with the guys on my team. But even she’d never been the only girl on a team before. And like Alex, I had a lot of brothers. Boys weren’t completely foreign, but still. I was nervous.
Me: As long as I remember Rule #1 I’ll be just fine.
Alex: *groan*
Hannah: Here we go…
Me: Hey! Some of us *cough, Hannah* would have less problems right now if they stuck to The Rule.
Hannah: Don’t bring me into this. I’m doing just fine.
Alex: As much as I love you guys, gotta go. Some of us have been in school for a week already and have stuff to do.
Hannah: Yeah, I have to go, too. Seriously, Jord, don’t stress. Everything will be amazing. You will be amazing.
Me: Thanks. TTYL
Talking to my camp besties was just what I needed. Not that Alex and Hannah were my only friends, they just offered an outside opinion when I needed one. And after our experience at Camp Haversham, I knew they understood what it was like to compete with boys.
I was a tomboy, no denying it. But I could be girly, too. I wasn’t built like a tomboy, for sure. With long blonde hair and an hourglass figure, no one could mistake me for a boy even in all my hockey gear.
There would be no hiding my obvious female attributes on the all-male hockey team. And starting that afternoon, right after school, I’d get a solid look at what being the only girl on the ice was like.
“You ready, Jordan!” my younger brother, Payton, shouted up the stairs.
“Just a sec!” I shouted back as I took one last look in the mirror. The first day of my senior year. I never thought the day would come. High school seemed to drag on forever, but now it was almost over. My last first day until I went off to college. Taking a deep breath, I fluffed my blonde curls one last time and headed down the stairs.
Payton waited, impatiently shifting from one foot to the other. In his hands he held a duffle bag and his hockey stick. Mine rested against the wall near the front door.
“Okay, let’s go.” Payton didn’t have to be told twice, rushing out the door to put his gear in the trunk of the beat up car I’d inherited when my older brother, Joe, moved out last month. It had been passed down to him by our oldest brother, Bobby, so you can imagine it had seen better days. I didn’t care, though, it ran and that was all it needed to do.
After stowing his stuff, Payton hopped into the front seat. At twelve, he was the baby of the family. I could tell he was a little excited to finally get to sit in the front seat of a car, any car, since in our family the oldest always rode shotgun.
The drive to the middle school didn’t take long and it was on the way to the high school. Payton would be starting seventh grade today. I felt kind of bad when I thought about how much younger he was than me. In two years when he started high school, none of us would be around to show him the ropes. Joe could be a real pain in the butt, but he’d stayed by my side, walking into school the first day of my freshman year until I reached my locker. I’d gained some mad popularity points for getting escorted around by a cool senior, even if he was my brother. Payton would fly solo, but I guess he was used to that.
“Have a good day, Pay!” I called out as he slammed the back door closed after getting his stuff out of the back seat. He didn’t acknowledge me, but that wasn’t unusual. I just hoped he’d keep it together this year. He’d been grounded for most of the summer for one thing or another he’d gotten himself into. I knew Mom and Dad were hoping the start of hockey season would keep him too busy to get into trouble.
The high school parking lot had almost filled by the time I pulled up to the spot that had been dubbed ours since Bobby started driving. Built like a tank and blessed with about as much subtlety, nobody messed with my big brother, Bobby. At twenty-one, he lived on the other side of town and went to school at the community college while playing for the minor league hockey team based out of the next town over. He and Joe shared an apartment, but Joe mostly lived alone during hockey season while Bobby traveled.
Anyway, no one ever parked in our spot. Until today.
In the place where us Parks siblings had been parking our car for the last six years, sat a sleek looking Audi.
Thankfully, the driver still sat behind the wheel. Shoving my car into park behind his, I got out and prepared to tell him to get the heck out of my spot.
“Hey! What do you think you’re doing? That’s my spot,” my voice trailed off as the door to the offending car opened and out stepped the most beautiful guy I’d ever laid eyes on. With jet black hair and deep olive skin, he had an exotic look. Swallowing hard, I took in his dark eyes framed by thick lashes any girl would pay big bucks to have. Normally, I’d think lashes like those were a waste on a guy, but not this one. He deserved every accessory the good Lord
blessed him with, if just for my own viewing pleasure.
His perfectly sculpted lips twisted into a scowl. Even his scowl was gorgeous. He could probably scowl like that on the front of a teen heartthrob magazine and make a lot of money.
Then he opened those beautiful lips. “You’re spot? Funny, I don’t see your name on it.” And the words coming out weren’t so beautiful.
My mouth opened and closed in a decent imitation of a fish before I finally formed a coherent thought. “Yeah, but that doesn’t make it any less mine.”
Dark eyes washed over my body, making me acutely aware of the dark wash skinny jeans I’d chosen to wear that day, as well as my bright red Chucks and white tank top. One of Joe’s flannel shirts tied around my waist completed the outfit.
I’d never been self conscious of my wardrobe choices before, but the way this guy’s brow wrinkled made me want to rethink everything. Which was crazy. I’d been raised to be confident, taught to never change myself to make someone else happy. If they didn’t like me the way I was, well, not my problem.
Squaring my shoulders, I recommitted to owning me. Jordan Parks. Tomboy.
“I say it does.”
My mouth dropped open. Hypnotic, lyrical voice aside, the words coming out of this dude’s mouth grated over my nerves like a loss on the ice. There was nothing I hated more than losing. Not a game. Not an argument. Not my dang parking spot.
Fists clenched at my side, I took a step closer to the parking lot interloper. “That. Is. My. Spot.”
Dark eyes never leaving mine, he leaned down, towering over my five-seven frame. I obviously didn’t scare him.
“Not today, it isn’t.” For five seconds too long, I let myself get sucked in. My gaze might have even flickered to those perfectly shaped lips as fleeting thoughts of what they might feel like pressed against mine crossed my mind. Basically, I lost it just long enough for him to think he had the upper hand.
Unfortunately, in this case, he totally did. Without a word, hot guy turned back to his car and opened the back door. He reached inside before his hand emerged a second later gripping the handle of a guitar case.
Playing the Enemy: The Trouble With Tomboys #1 Page 16