“It doesn’t matter,” I told her. “I said I would take care of it, and I did. No one is going to say anything about you again. I’m going to…”
I thought about it for a moment, trying to make sure I chose the right word.
“I’m going to protect you,” I finally said.
She looked at me thoughtfully for a moment, nodded slightly, and then sat back in her seat with a sigh. I sat back, too, and then scooted my chair closer to hers. I slipped my arm around the back of her seat, and I leaned my chair back until it was casually balancing on two legs
.
Maybe I had been out of line in barricading Clint inside the locker. Maybe Shakespeare would have said I was one to “imitate the action of the tiger.” I wasn’t sure, but at least I seemed to be forgiven at the moment.
We made it through the rest of the day and off to my soccer practice. Jeremy pounded me with free kicks from inside the box along with questions about Nicole.
“Since when do you kick ass for a chick?” he asked as he slammed another ball toward the goal.
I jumped and tapped the ball with my fingers, sending it far left of target, but landed on my left side in the process. I winced and pulled myself up to my hands and knees.
“Sorry, dude,” he said.
“It’s okay,” I said as I tried to control my breathing. “It’s really not bad…just when I hit it in a certain spot, you know?”
“I don’t know,” Jeremy said. “No one’s ever broken my ribs.”
“Rib,” I corrected him. “Only one.”
“Whatever.” He looked at me for a minute as he dusted off the ball and tossed it back to the ground. I positioned myself just right of the center of the goal and crouched—watching the tension in his legs and hips…calculating which way he would move…which way he would kick.
“Okay, boys—let’s scrimmage!” Coach Wagner’s voice called out from the sidelines. Everyone started lining up in the center, and I looked over to the stands to see Nicole walking up and standing near the fence by the bleachers.
“It was an interesting little display this morning,” Jeremy said quietly as we approached the rest of the team. “Want to explain that one?”
“Clint’s an ass who needed to be smacked down,” I replied with a shrug.
“Over a girl?
“Fuck you.”
Jeremy just chuckled in response.
We lined up, and I ended up on the skins team. I jogged over to the fence, toward Nicole, and pulled my practice jersey over my head.
“Why don’t you hold on to this for me,” I said with a wink as I tossed my shirt in her direction. Nicole rolled her eyes.
“It smells godawful,” she remarked.
I smirked as I stretched my arms behind my back and then leaned to each side in turn.
“Your rib okay?” she asked suddenly as her eyes moved to my taped-up side.
“It’s all right,” I answered. I raised an eyebrow. “You worried about me?”
“You wish,” she snarked right back at me, but her tone was teasing.
I glanced at the other girls lined up on the bleachers, looking over me and the other guys on the team. They huddled together, whispering and giggling.
“You could join the other groupies,” I said to Nicole as I nodded my head toward the crowd.
“That’s okay,” she said. “The high school soap opera news of the day was not completely in my favor, you know.”