Kyler rolled his eyes and tried to hide his embarrassment.
“Aww,” Gavin cooed. “Don’t get shy on us now.”
“You didn’t have to get all fancy for us. We’re just doing burgers like always. Right,” Miles teased, fully knowing that Kyler was ditching them for the night.
“About that,” Kyler began.
The three before him only laughed more at his seriousness.
“Don’t even,” Miles interrupted. “We’d be stupid to think that after all this you’d pass up a chance to finally get with Lilah.”
Dawson felt the need to chime in. “This is finally right? Because you two are giving all of us whiplash.”
Kyler rubbed the back of his neck and shook his head. “Yeah. I hope so.”
✽ ✽ ✽
Nerves crashed through Kyler’s body with every step he took back to the field. If she bothered to come to his game, he knew there was enough there that she’d wait for him. What he didn’t expect was to see her standing on the field, illuminated by the stadium lights that usually remained on up to an hour after the game.
When he was within feet of her, she turned to face him, and anything he wanted to say in that moment was washed away like violent waves to footprints in the sand.
“Hey,” Lilah greeted.
His eyes went up and down her body, from a simple white button-down and grey jacket, to slimming jeans, to regular sneakers. Her hair was effortless and straight, like always, one side tucked more behind her ear than the other. Her makeup remained plain and neutral, only doing what it was intended for, highlighting her natural beauty.
Lilah played with her hands in her coat pocket. He hadn’t said a word yet, which was very unlike him. The way he was staring at her was unnerving. She had looked into those serene and beautiful blue eyes far more than she should have, but tonight was proving to be more difficult than ever, if the pounding in her chest had anything to say about it.
She bit her bottom lip, realizing that Kyler had somehow managed to find the time to shower. His damp hair was darker, the wetness hiding the bits of blonde that she found so unique in the sunlight. More than anything, she wished they could change positions. From where they were standing, the cold autumn breeze came from behind Kyler, and though he blocked most of it from slamming into her, it also meant that every breath she took was all him. Flashes of that smell ran through her head. His hoodie. His bed.
“Congratulations on the game,” she managed after a few moments of them just staring at each other.
Kyler took a step toward her. “Thanks for coming.”
“Well, you had asked several times before.” Lilah hesitated before adding, “And I wanted to talk to you.”
Kyler chuckled. “You didn’t have to force yourself to sit through a game to talk to me.” He was happy that the initial awkwardness from not talking for so many days seemed to fade away with every word between them.
“It wasn’t that bad. We actually had fun.”
“We,” Kyler pressed, although he already knew the people she was referring to.
Lilah wasn’t an idiot. He didn’t directly ask her, and she wasn’t sure if he would, but she wanted all assumptions and speculations gone. They had to be for what she needed to say.
“Jolee and Alice.” She took a deep breath and rambled through the rest of her words. “I’m not seeing Simon…if that’s what you were thinking. I told him that on Monday. In fact, I hear he’s talking to Sophie now.”
Kyler smiled at that bit of rushed information. “And you’re okay with that?” He meant the fact that Simon had gone directly from Lilah to her biggest competition academically.
Lilah glared at him with an incredulous look. “Of course! Do you think I’d be here trying to…” She stopped and her eyes grew wide, her words failing her.
Kyler slowly stepped forward yet again, the space between them becoming less and less in a painfully dramatic way.
“Why are you here,” he asked, his voice deep and rough.
Lilah’s eyes fell to the ground. A text or even a note would have been so much easier, but with him standing right there in front of her, looking at her the way he was, it became nearly impossible to form the right sentences.
Kyler was close enough to reach out to Lilah, but as soon as he tilted her chin to look at him, that little bit of contact made him want to combust. That’s the effect she had on him.
“If you were wondering, I haven’t dated a single girl all year,” he admitted with the faintest of grins.
Lilah sighed with annoyance, although her next words told him it had nothing to do with him and everything to do with her. “I know. I let the wrong people get into my head, and…I didn’t want to be just another girl.”
Kyler shook his head. “You could never be just another girl.” Now would have been the perfect moment to ask her to be his, his girl, but he needed her to answer his question. “You didn’t answer me.”
“Answer what?” If he asked her again, there was only one thing she could say, and then everything would be out there. He could decide what he wanted.
Kyler carefully placed an arm on Lilah’s waist and tugged her forward so that they were only a breath apart.
“Why are you here,” he asked slowly, but her words came out before he could close his mouth.
“Because I love you.”
He couldn’t control the flabbergasted look on his face. He was praying she’d say something that would indicate that she wanted to be with him, and though he had said those words to her before, he never expected to hear them from her, at least not for some time.
Lilah quickly stepped from his grasp. The look on Kyler’s face suggested that it probably wasn’t what he wanted to hear, and now she felt sick to her stomach.
“I’m sorry,” she said quietly. “I didn’t mean–”
Kyler forced himself to quickly recover and he cut her words short when he pulled her back into him and stopped anything more from coming from her mouth other than a soft moan of pleasure when his lips met hers. All the tension in her body drifted away and she responded with an eager hungriness that drove Kyler crazy. Had it not been after nine and below fifty degrees, he could have stayed plastered to her on that field forever.
“Sorry,” he breathed when he pulled away.
Lilah’s eyes widened with a question unable to come from her lips after that kiss.
Kyler laughed, wrapping his arms even more tightly around her small frame. “I didn’t mean to get so carried away, but you were about to start rambling and say something we both know you wouldn’t have meant.”
Lilah’s cheeks turned impossibly red. “So, what now? I’ve never really done this before,” Lilah embarrassingly admitted.
“Well, I’d first like to take you on a real date before asking you to be my girlfriend.”
Lilah’s jaw dropped. Okay, she had just told him that she loved him, but still, hearing that sent a whole swarm of butterflies throughout her insides.
Feeling daring, “Does that have to happen before you kiss me again?”
The most seductive and melting smile spread across Kyler’s face. “Absolutely not.”
He closed the gap between them once more, and this time he wasn’t the one pressing for more. Lilah flung her arms around his neck and as soon as her fingers dug into his hair, he was done for. When their tongues found each other in the most familiar way, everything around them disappeared. The lights. The smell of the stadium. The frigid air. It was only them.
“Just so you know,” Lilah began breathlessly. “Date or not, my answer is yes.”
Kyler pressed his forehead to hers and looked into eyes that had captured his attention long before he cared to admit. “Just so you know,” he began, tucking a few pieces of disheveled hair behind her ear. “It was never a question to begin with.”
With that, Kyler placed the sweetest and most loving peck on her lips, knowing that if he tried for anything deeper, they’d probably be found frozen on t
he field the next morning.
“Oh,” Kyler said, entangling their fingers as they walked off the field. “In case we’re not clear, or in case you needed to hear it again, I love you too. I didn’t say it back when you said it, and I know how crappy that feels when someone says something that monumental and you don’t get the same,” he teased.
Lilah spun around and collided into Kyler with the tightest hug she could. If she were lost in an isolated sea, he was the one something she’d never let go of, the one thing that kept her afloat, the one thing that made her feel safe, and above all, loved.
Perfect. That word was used so much, but it never meant anything until that moment. Being in Kyler’s arms, feeling the pounding of his heart against her cheek, that was perfect.
THE END
Epilogue
It was already the second day back from winter break and Ashlyn had yet to hear from Eric. Apparently his father, a former 90s rockstar, had him for Christmas break this year. He was taking Eric around Europe, but Ashlyn knew there was still cell reception and Wi-Fi in the cities they were visiting.
Emory sat her tray down at the table alongside Ashlyn, June, and Kayla, and glanced around. “I guess the guys are done with us now that Ellis is dating Abby,” Emory pointed out, after she noticed that her brother and his best friend were not around for the second day now. She was absolutely disgusted that her brother was dating one of the members on her cheer team.
“Yeah,” Ashlyn sighed.
“Seriously? Are you still bummed that Eric isn’t here? He said he’d be back by next week,” Emory scoffed. “Although, if he didn’t come back, would it really be all that bad?”
June and Kayla chuckled, but Ashlyn sent her best friend a glare across the table. She was well-aware that Emory and Eric clashed, and she hated it.
“Oh, crap,” Ashlyn huffed, dismissing talk of Eric. “Here comes Sarah.”
Emory laughed, already knowing what Sarah was going to bring up.
“Emmy,” Sarah cooed.
“Emory,” Emory corrected her. Some people might like nicknames or shorter versions of their names, for instance, Ashlyn preferred Ash; however, she was not one of these people.
Ignoring her fellow cheerleader, Sarah took a seat, with Britt following suit. “We won’t be staying long.” Her nose was wrinkled. She looked about the table as though it was in a completely different cafeteria than her usual table, as if it wasn’t a suitable quality for her. “Anyway, Ashlyn. How are you?”
Ashlyn shook her head. “I’m going to tell you the same thing I told you in the hall yesterday.”
“Yeah, yeah. Patient confidentiality.” Sarah flung her hand in the air, dismissing the words. “I mean come on. Your mom is the therapist for the McCallisters! I’m sure you know something.”
“I don’t know anything about who she may or may not have as patients.” Ashlyn felt like she had told Sarah those exact words the day before.
“Cut the crap,” Sarah hissed, growing agitated. She couldn’t believe that she was lowering herself to harassing an underclassmen for information about Lilah and her family. “Her mother has blabbed it all over town. I know your mom is their therapist.” She tried to reign in on her rudeness for just a second longer in hopes that Ashlyn would be on her side. “I mean, couldn’t you ask her how that’s going? Or do you visit her office? If so, I’m sure she has notes about–”
“Are you mental,” Ashlyn interrupted. “I don’t care about the McCallisters or more specifically Lilah and her boyfriend Kyler. It would be in your best interest not to even finish what you’re suggesting.”
“You know what, fine! I should have known better than come to the loser table.” Sarah rose, ready to storm off. “Also, maybe you should be the one having sessions with your mommy.” When Ashlyn gave her and incredulous look, “Last time I checked, your so-called relationship sucked.” Sarah then spun around and stomped away with Britt in tow.
“You know,” Kayla began, shaking her head. “I keep looking for that girl to redeem herself. One day I think she’s going to do something to show the world that she isn’t such a wicked witch, but every day, she spirals further into whatever delusional world she’s the queen of.”
“That’s a little rude,” June scoffed, garnering the attention of her three friends. With a smile, “After seeing Wicked on Broadway, I feel it’s a little mean to compare someone as vile as Sarah with Elphaba. It’s insulting to Elphaba.”
“Oh, you don’t need to keep reminding us that you got to see that on Broadway,” Ashlyn teased.
Shortly after, the girls went back into simple conversation about the beginning of the spring semester and changes to their schedules.
Despite Sarah’s craziness, her last words really hit a nerve with Ashlyn. She had been with Eric for two years now, ever since freshman year. It wasn’t until his parents ultimately got divorced somewhere along the way that he started to change.
This year, all she got was a belated Christmas text from him. Though he had told her when he’d be back at school, it had still been four days since she last heard from him. She knew if he was with his father, he was up to no good, but couldn’t he at least contact her?
She hated to admit it, but maybe Sarah was right. Maybe she was the one that needed relationship counseling.
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