Linger

T H I R T Y

"Quick! Go long!!" 

My head perked up from the math assignment I was scrambling to finish before school started to see Tom jogging up to me across the football field. 

It was the next morning and after arriving to school far too early for no good reason, I decided to take advantage of the bright morning and sit on the grassy field to complete my homework, hoping the warm sunshine could make solving equations just a little bit better.

He swung his arm in a tossing motion with a wide smile. "He makes the pass! Oh, what a catch!!" he exclaimed as he approached me. "Touchdown Hawks!! Talk about a Williams-Parker connection!" He ducked, tucking into a quick front roll on the grass before jumping up right in front of me.

I let out a laugh as he wrapped his arms around me, bringing me down to the grass along with him. "Tom!" I exclaimed, letting out another laugh as he pulled me on top of him. 

"You excited about winter formal?" He ran his hands up and down my back. 

I nodded. "Still need to figure out what I'm going to wear though." 

"That's easy. Wear my varsity jacket." 

I raised an eyebrow at him as I rested my hands on his chest. 

"Hey, it looks better on you than me." 

"I'm not wearing your varsity jacket to the winter formal." I let out a laugh. 

"You'll be the prettiest one there, baby. Promise."

"You're just saying that because you want me to wear your jacket." I laughed some more, rolling off of him. "Do you have a game today or something?" I reached my hand out to his dark hair, tangling my fingers through the strands. 

"I don't." He shook his head, a perfect smile still set on his lips as he looked at me. "I just like to see you wear it." 

My smile grew at his words. 

"But," he continued, pushing himself up, causing my hand to drop with his actions as he settled behind me.  "I also like when you don't wear it because then that means I can help you warm up." He brought his arms around me, pulling me towards him. 

I bit back my smile as I leaned my back against his strong chest. "You're jealous of a varsity jacket." I looked up at him with a playful smile. 

He let out a chuckle. "Well--"

"You're jealous of your own jacket." My smile grew as I straightened up to face him. 

"Okay, you got me. Guilty," he admitted, holding his hands up. 

I giggled, leaning back against his chest again and reaching for my homework. 

"You'll wear it for my hockey games though, right?" He ran his hands up and down my arms. 

"Are varsity jackets even a hockey thing?" I scrunched my face up in confusion at his suggestion and the equations in front of me. 

"Baby, they're your thing," he replied smoothly, encircling his arms around me and burying his face in the crook of my shoulder. "Wear it to school on game day," he mumbled, pressing his lips to my skin.

"Are you sure you won't get jealous?" I teased. However, deep down I knew that no matter what his answer was . . . I probably wouldn't wear it . . . not at school at least. Wearing it to the games would be fun. But I couldn't wear it to school. Not where Mr. Hayden would see me wearing it. 

I mentally slapped myself. Why did I even care if Mr. Hayden saw me wearing Tom's jacket? It's not like he hasn't ever seen us together . . . Why was I even thinking about him at all? The whole point of being with Tom was to forget about Mr. Hayden and get over him.