“Oh, so now you’re taking up for the stuck-up snob over–”
Kyler quickly interrupted, realizing the predicament he was being placed in. Regardless how he felt about Sean, they were still teammates. “I’m not taking any sides, but the both of you have too much to lose if this altercation escalates and gets back to Willis.
That appeared to make Sean back down. He huffed something, no doubt another silly insult, under his breath and continued along with Cash and Louis at his heels.
Kyler turned to say something to Lilah, although right now he wasn’t particularly happy with her either. What was she thinking going after Sean like that? However, when he tried to talk to her, he saw that she and her friends were already on their way. It was a bit of a relief. Anything he thought of saying to her at that moment would probably only cause more venom to bubble through her already boiling veins.
He sighed and shook his head. “I don’t know which one is worse.”
“Sean just can’t let things go. He’s worse than an elephant. He remembers everything, even the stupid stuff,” Dawson said as he crammed an insanely large textbook into his bag.
Kyler cocked his head to one side and raised a brow.
“Oh, that’s right. You weren’t here yet,” Dawson laughed.
“I guess we weren’t either,” Gavin added, motioning to him and Miles. Both looked as equally confused as Kyler.
“Yes, you were. It was the seventh-grade dance.”
Kyler hadn’t moved to Raymere Grove until his eighth-grade year, so of course he knew nothing about some silly dance the year before. Did anybody remember those things?
Miles began to giggle. “No,” he tried insisting, but after thinking for a moment, “You don’t think he’s still upset about that.”
Dawson was dead serious now. “It’s Sean. Before that, I swear he had a shrine to the girl. Now he probably has her yearbook picture blown up as a dartboard.”
Kyler waved his hands back and forth. “Wait. I’m so confused.”
Dawson sighed, and threw his heavy bag onto his back. It was nothing for him; he could handle it. “We had a spring formal in seventh grade. Let’s just say, Sean was more than a little obsessed with Lilah.” Even though it was years ago, when they were just kids, Kyler found that the statement struck a nerve with him. “No offense now,” Dawson began. Kyler noticed that he slightly distanced himself a step or two to the side. “Lilah has always been…” He glanced to the Gavin and Miles for help, but they were silent.
Kyler shrugged. “I’m not going to take offense. I’ve dealt with her mouth before.”
At that statement Gavin doubled over in laughter. It took Kyler a second to realize his choice of words and how they could have been taken, that is, if you had the perverted mind of Gavin.
He playfully punched Gavin in the side. “You know what I mean.” Although he could feel his face warming at the mentioning of Lilah’s mouth. “Besides, she’s just my tutor. I’m not going to go all caveman and try to defend her honor.”
All three of them grew silent. It made Kyler uncomfortable. It was like they were in on a secret and he wasn’t. He would have made a bigger deal about it, but he really wanted to know the whole story with Lilah and Sean before the warning bell rang for first period.
“Anyway,” Dawson finally began again. “The dance. Lilah went with her friends and all of us jocks went together. No one really did dates at that age. Well, Sean asked her to dance, several times, but you obviously know how she is, and she ended up rejecting him, several times. Finally, near the end, I think she got annoyed with him asking and she agreed.” Dawson saw Kyler grit his teeth, only furthering his suspicions that Kyler definitely thought of Lilah as more than just a tutor. “Then he tried to kiss her.”
“What?!”
Dawson held a knowing smirk on his face, which caused Kyler to quickly compose himself. “So, what happened then?” He tried to hide the growing anger in his voice, but it was difficult.
“At first, Lilah just walked off.” Dawson paused and Kyler waited. With Lilah, it couldn’t have been that simple. Dawson laughed, the memory now replaying itself. “About a minute later, she returned with not one, but two cups of red punch and dumped them on Sean, right in front of all of his friends.”
Kyler smiled at the fact that the story had a happy ending. It was something he could also absolutely picture Lilah doing. He was only further pleased that it was Sean on the receiving end of it.
“Ever since then, his whole attitude about her changed.” Dawson shrugged. “The funny thing is, I don’t think it was a big enough occurrence in Lilah’s life for her to even remember, but I guarantee you, Sean does. I mean, he’ll still admit that she’s hot, but I think he hates her most because she doesn’t worship the ground he walks on. I think he realized that wasn’t happening that night in seventh grade.”
Kyler disliked Sean just because of his attitude and the way he treated people. Sean had never been extremely accepting of him when he moved to Raymere Grove. It only got worse in high school when he started to shine on the football field. After finding out that Sean tried to force a kiss from Lilah, and that was probably the reason for his behavior toward her, it was a little different now. Now he had a really good reason to hate Sean.
✽ ✽ ✽
“Oh, I almost forgot,” Lilah mentioned Thursday after tutoring. It was already after 6:30 and Kyler had to be on his way to work. For some reason, Lilah was a little more relieved than she ought to be that he was working and not going on a date. “I had your hoodie washed. I can get it to you tomorrow.”
He really didn’t care about the stupid thing. He almost wished that she would have kept it. He was just about to tell her that, but came up with a better idea. “That’s fine. Just give it to me at school tomorrow.”
“Okay, when?”
“I guess whenever you see me,” he answered. It was vague and he knew that Lilah didn’t like vague.
Before she could argue with him, he opened the door to the black car waiting for her. He leaned on the door until she got in.
“I hope work isn’t too bad,” she told him through the rolled down window.
“Pretty much the same thing as always, but thanks.” Maybe it was just him, maybe he was looking for something that wasn’t there, but it really looked like she didn’t want to leave yet. “Have a goodnight, Lilah.”
“You too.”
With that, the window went up and the car slowly pulled away. Kyler couldn’t help but feel guilty. All he was doing was wasting her time now until he got his act together. If she ever found out, she’d be furious with him, and no matter how he tried to look at it, he still ended up feeling like he was lying to her. It would be so easy to tell her the truth, technically it wasn’t even a big lie, but right now, his time with her was too valuable.
Plus, she didn’t seem interested in a relationship at the moment, and with what her parents were going through, she might not be for a while. His plate was also fairly full, and he wouldn’t be able to give her the attention she deserved. The season was almost over; he’d just wait until then. While the team had started off strong, somehow they just couldn’t keep it together. One more loss and they could kiss going to state goodbye. Everything hinged on the next game.
Chapter 26
Lilah passed by Dawson and Gavin at their lockers on the way to her first period class. Usually Kyler and Miles were around as well. Without looking like a stalker, she glanced around the busy hall, but there was no sign of either.
Lilah: I didn’t see you this morning.
Kyler: I was around.
Lilah: Well, this is taking up room in my bag. When will I see you?
Kyler: Lunch?
Unless they had any classes near each other, which Lilah didn’t know if they did or not, except for the one after lunch, lunch seemed to be the only logical time. Any other time would mean she’d end up being tardy to her next class.
Lilah: Before or after? Where?
/>
Kyler: …
Lilah: Seriously?!
Kyler: I take it you’re not having a good morning.
Lilah: Only one person is affecting that.
Kyler: So I have an effect on you?
Lilah: Class is about to start! Just tell me.
Kyler: You avoided my question.
Lilah: I hate you.
Kyler: You know where I sit.
Lilah: You want me to come to your table??? With a piece of your clothing???
Kyler: Yeah?
“What’s so funny,” Miles asked, looking over Kyler’s shoulder toward the screen.
“I’m just messing with Lilah.”
Miles gave a grunt. It was him saying something without actually saying anything.
“What’s that supposed to mean,” Kyler asked, a little more defensively than he probably should have.
Miles shrugged. “I just didn’t think the two of you would be as close as you are.”
“Don’t start. She’s just–”
“Your tutor,” Miles interrupted. “You keep saying that, but I’m not sure that you even believe that just part.”
Lilah hadn’t responded and class was already starting. Kyler could only imagine the tizzy that she was in.
Kyler: After that scene with Sean in the hall the other day, I didn’t think you’d be so scared.
Lilah: I am not scared! GOODBYE!
Oh yeah, she was mad at him. He couldn’t remember if she had ever used all caps when texting him.
He sat back in his seat and waited for his name to be called at the end of the attendance. He only hoped that Sean would be around when Lilah met him at lunch. Was it juvenile? Yes. Did that change his mind any? Absolutely not.
✽ ✽ ✽
When Lilah seemingly accepted what appeared to be a challenge, she didn’t think about the part where her friends would ultimately find out, and have a million questions.
Kyler had to be messing with her. He took his time getting to lunch and he was pretty much the last one arriving at his table. Just as he sat down, he made eye contact with her. The smirk on his face made Lilah realize that it was definitely a challenge, and she couldn’t stop her heart from racing.
It was miserable attempting to eat anything. She was clearly nervous. Why was she nervous? Though she could talk to anyone, often she preferred not to. At the top of that list were the jocks and cheerleaders.
She thought about waiting until after lunch, knowing that she and Kyler had class in the same hall; however, something told her that he’d find a way to avoid her, and it was Friday, meaning she wouldn’t see him for several more days. She didn’t understand why he was so dead set on lunch.
Then another idea hit her. It was just a silly piece of clothing that he obviously didn’t need. He had a better coat hanging across the back of his chair. In fact, he had never even asked for it back. Surely he could just wait until Monday or Tuesday when they had tutoring.
Kyler: Do I even want to know what you’re overthinking?
Lilah glared at Kyler upon reading the text, and reached inside her bag, digging out the neatly folded garment, fresh with a hint of lavender from the wash.
“What’s that,” Jolee immediately asked.
“Since when do you wear hoodies, and especially so large,” Alice chimed in.
“It’s Kyler’s,” Lilah admitted. That was all she would admit to. Anything else would be a complete fabrication.
“What,” Alice gasped. “He gave you something of his to wear.” Her words were far louder than Lilah expected, and she tried to hush her up by throwing out a quick excuse.
“The library was really cold yesterday. I forgot to take it off and give it back when we left.”
Jolee was more speculating than Alice. “Mhmm,” was all she said. Her eyes skimmed across Lilah’s features looking for signs that she was lying.
Lilah rose from the table, her knees now feeling gooey. “Seriously. It’s not the big deal the two of you would like to imagine.” Those were her last words as she swallowed and made her way to her impending doom.
Before she was halfway across the room to Kyler’s table, Sarah and her friends, having finished lunch, approached and hovered nearby. Lilah took a deep breath, knowing that Sarah hated her and would probably have something to say.
Just as she got to the long rectangular table, standing on the opposite side from where Kyler was seated, she felt the stares of not only Sarah and her friends, but of a couple players as well.
Kyler meant to say something, but before he could even inhale a breath, Sarah was on Lilah like a vulture.
“Umm…What are you doing here,” Sarah spat.
Lilah gripped the fabric more tightly, the equivalent of making a fist, and ignored Sarah’s presence. She’d get Kyler back for whatever that stupidly gorgeous smile was concealing.
She outstretched her arm between Gavin and Dawson, across the table to Kyler. “Here.”
Kyler locked eyes with her and watched her carefully. If there was a point when she was hesitant, it didn’t show now. From the corner of his eye, he saw that her arrival had garnered the attention of most everyone at the table, Sean included.
“Keep it.”
Lilah was taken aback by his statement. Keep it? What was he doing?!
“Ugh,” Sarah squawked. “What is that?”
Lilah grit her teeth and glared at Kyler. She stepped closer, now invading the small space between his two friends. “It’s yours. I’m giving it back.”
“If you touched it, no wonder he doesn’t want it,” Sean spoke up from a few seats down.
Kyler never could have imagined that Sean would say something, but the fact that he did, and that he was paying attention, made it so much better.
Lilah didn’t like the way Kyler was looking at her. It was the same way he had looked at her in the park that day, but she wasn’t a naïve and stupid little girl, this time she knew that it was all for show. She just couldn’t understand why, and despite knowing all that, a part of her wanted it to be real. She really hated him sometimes.
Kyler raised his voice slightly, making sure the now relatively quiet table heard, and leaned forward into the table. “Actually, it looks much better on you, so you should keep it.”
Lilah felt her face heating. Embarrassment? Anger? Something else entirely?
Though she couldn’t break eye contact from the serious look on Kyler’s face, from her peripheral vision, she could tell that Sarah and her two besties, Abby and Britt, had stormed off.
The stares that she and Kyler received were alarming. Usually she didn’t mind being the center of attention, but this, combined with the look on his face, was more than she could bear.
Making sure that it didn’t land in any food, Lilah dropped the hoodie to the table. Acting as if nothing was wrong, that she wasn’t bothered in the least, she spun around and, with her usual step, went back toward her table. The only thing about it all, something was wrong.
She grabbed her bag and apologized to Jolee and Alice, insisted that everything was alright, and left the lunchroom. At least she’d get to class early and wouldn’t have to get shuffled around in the traffic coming from the lunchroom.
“Wait,” an all too familiar voice called from behind her as she was halfway down the hall.
She froze in her steps. He was relentless today. She then turned, prepared to lash out at owner of the heavy footsteps jogging toward her.
“What was that,” Kyler asked as soon as he decreased the distance enough for a normal talking level.
Lilah gasped, maybe a little more dramatically than needed. “Are you serious? Why don’t you tell me?”
“You’re mad?”
She took a step closer so that he could see the intensity of the green in her eyes. “Of course I’m mad,” she spat.
He hesitated. He felt like this was one of those things he was supposed to know and not have to ask, but despite his better judgement, he asked anyway.
“Why did you do that? Why did you have to say that,” Lilah insisted.
Just then the bell rang signaling the end of lunch. Kyler didn’t want the conversation to end just yet, nor could they have it with the rush of people. He softly grabbed her wrist and made his way down the hall just a short distance, pulling her along to the one insert he knew would be empty, the classroom to tech apps.
This time when he opened the door to the darkened room, he was rather surprised that she didn’t make a big deal or snotty remark, and instead followed him inside.
“Honestly,” Kyler sighed, leaning into the back of the door he had just closed. “I’m tired of Sean, both on and off the field.” He hesitated with his next statement, not wanting her to know just how much he cared. “I also don’t like how rude he is to you and I thought–”
“This helped how,” Lilah interrupted.
“Some of the guys said some stuff about a long time ago…” He let his words drift off for a second so that he could figure out how to continue. Lilah would think he was childish regardless how he put it.
She shook her head and gave a laugh full of irritation. “He’s still upset about that stupid dance? That’s why he’s such a jerk to me?”
Kyler shrugged. “In fairness, he’s kind of a jerk to everyone.”
“And you,” she shouted. “You decided whatever that was in there was a smart move.” She took a step closer and jabbed him in the chest with her finger. “I’m not a game. Don’t use me to irk some teammate you have a problem with.” She saw Kyler open his mouth to protest and went there before he could. “Don’t use his treatment toward me as an excuse. I’m not some wimpy princess that needs saving. I can handle myself!”
That much he knew. Even with everything going on in her life, she didn’t need anyone saving her.
Fumbling Perfect (Raymere Grove Series Book 1) Page 18