The Quarterback's Girl

Chapter 10

The rocks Sydney and I collected lay in a ring, surrounding a small pile of wood. Noah leans forward with a lighter and set alight the dry grass that we threw in there to get it going. Jason opens the cooler and passes a beer to people in the circle. He looks at me when I'm the only one without one. "D'you want one?" My brother asks me.

"I don't mind, am I allowed?" I ask, giving him the executive decision.

"One. You are allowed one beer and no more. Are we clear?"

"Crystal." I say as he hands me a chilled beer.

We laugh and chat and sing songs and I feel like this is the happiest I've ever been in my entire life. My lungs are filled with the cold salty air of the night, soothing my soul. I see Steph shiver then nuzzle into Jason who puts his arm around and her. I almost turn to nudge Poppy and show her what's going on, but she's not there. Her being here is probably the only thing that could make this night any better.

"High tide is in about an hour, so we should probably start heading back." Suggests Ellis.

We kick sand over the fire to extinguish the last of the dying embers and make a move. As we walk back along the sand dunes, some time between 2 and 3 in the morning, Noah and I fall back from the group by a few steps.

Noah's hand brushes lightly against mine. "Are you cold?" He asks.

"No, no I'm fine." I rub my hands together and breath on them quickly.

"You're bad at lying, you know?" He holds one of my hands between both of his. "You're turning to ice, come here." He puts one arm around my shoulder and pulls me close against him for warmth.

"Thanks." I don't really know what else to say other than that. Does this count as flirting or does he hug every girl?

"No worries, we should be back soon enough." I look to the rest of the people in the group ahead and through the darkness I saw Morgan glare at me once or twice. I guess I'm treading on thin ground.