Saving Madison

Chapter Twenty

Tyler's p.o.v »»

Having no use to the football team for the time being, I spent the afternoon in the bleachers, watching them practice, the cheerleaders on the track below me. Emma led the team in a cheer, one I hadn't heard yet. I drifted off, thinking back to a memory from last year.

It had been one of our first few games, and we had been undefeated at that point. We won the game, and when I looked over to the stands and at the cheerleaders, all of them were happy and celebrating, all except Madison. She stood in the back, her eyes on me. I stared right back at her, and for a minute, neither of us made a move to close the distance across the field to say anything or question the staring. But I turned around for a second, and when I turned around again, she was gone. The day I could've said something to her, opened up what we had before, I lost the chance.

"Enjoying the view?" I hadn't heard Emma move up to the bleachers, sitting beside me, her gold and blue shirt displaying the school's name and mascot. She had glitter on her face, part of a decoration she did for games.

"Uh, no, I was thinking about something." I said truthfully, although I knew she'd think I was lying.

"What were you thinking about?" She asked, signaling for the cheer team to do another run of cheers.

"The past, mostly. I've been wondering something lately, about us."

"Us? Us who?"

"Me and you." She nodded, a slow smile forming on her face.

"What about us?"

"Why did you like me? When we first started dating." She laughed, turning her body away from me and leaning back on the bleacher.

"For the obvious- you're hot, you're athletic, you're nice, you're chill, and you're smart," she said as if she had spend time thinking about it. "In that order."

"There's a lot of guys like that. Like me."

She shook her head. "All the dickheads you play football with probably have a whole list of undiscovered STD's and never focus on one girl. I actually thought you were gay for the longest time because I hadn't heard many rumors about you." It was my turn to laugh, looking at her.

"How nice of you, I guess."

"I mean, there was the rumor about you sleeping with Christine Reynolds, but I didn't buy that."

"I've only ever slept with you."

"And that's how I know you're a good boy, T. You don't just stick your dick into anything that moves." We both chuckled, looking at each other. Like it was a cliche movie, we both leaned in slowly, my head going one way and hers going the other.

"Are you going to regret doing this?" She whispered as our mouths neared.

"Probably," she laughed lightly, taking my face and closing the distance. I could only think back to the first time we kissed, it had only been the second kiss of my lifetime. Her mouth was soft, and when she moved, it was like I was under a spell. We were stopped by whistles, camera snaps and cheers, slowing down and looking closely at each other, breathing heavily.

"And you were a great kisser, I can't forget that." She said, letting me go and standing up, heading back down to the track. "We should do this more often." She winked, going back to her routine. I smiled, standing up when my phone vibrated with a text from will.

We're in the parking lot, hurry up.

I rolled my eyes, but said my goodbyes as I headed towards my mom's car, Will in the passenger's seat.

"Hey," I said, tossing my bookbag in before I climbed in beside it. "You're early." I noted, looking at my watch to see it was only 5:48."

"Yes, we are having a guest over for dinner tonight." I raised my eyebrows as she drove off, looking to Will, who only shrugged.

"Who?"

"You'll see."

If dinner with my own family was normally quiet, dinner with Sheriff Hill was even worse. Will, who almost never sat at the table, sat across from me, while my mom and the Sheriff sat across from one another. The chicken Parmesan she had made was delicious, and the only sound in the dining room was forks hitting plates.

"The food is great, Reyna," the Sheriff said after a few minutes.

"Yeah, mom, it's great," Will and I agreed, attempting to fill the silence.

"I'm glad you boys like it." She said to us, looking more so at the Sheriff.

"So, Sheriff," I started, attempting to get a conversation going. "Arrest anybody interesting lately?" Will looked down so I couldn't catch his laughter, the Sheriff looking at me intently.

"Mostly teenagers committing Grand Theft Auto, nothing new." I nodded, continuing to struggle eating my food despite my left hand.

"What did you do to your hand?" He asked, as if he had just noticed it. The attempted conversation made us feel like an awkward family, one who only interacted at family reunions.

"I punched a wall." He raised his eyebrows, probably thinking I was lying. "But I'm sure you knew that. Doesn't my mom tell you everything?" He looked down as if embarrassed before I turned my attention to Will.

"What do you think, dear William? I'd say they were dating for almost three months?" He nodded.

"At least three." My mom nearly choked on her drink, looking between the two of us.

"I told you they were going to catch on, Reyna." The Sheriff said, only confirming what Will and I could have guessed.

"It's kind of obvious." Will said and I easily agreed. "You are the only person who calls him Drew instead of Andrew, and you two look at each other like you're in love."

"Like how you used to look at your husband," I mumbled, but I knew she heard me. "And that's fine, you know? You're a grown woman, and he's a grown man, you can do what you want." I stood, taking my plate with me. "Me and Will are going in the living room, you guys can eat and converse as you please." Will followed, giving them both a reassuring smile before he walked with me into the living room.

"I didn't think she'd ever tell us about it," Will said after sitting down, using the TV remote to turn on the TV.

"Me either, it's just weird now. I know one thing, though. I'm not calling him dad."