Warmth (Cheer Legacy Trilogy #1)

15.

"We have an announcement to make," Tiffany says after practice one day. "Us seniors are graduating soon, so we're nominating a junior captain for next year. When I call your names, come and stand up here." She shuffles something in her bag, then turns back around. "Nadia, Lily and Jenny." 

Jenny, for all her sweetness, is so not going to be a good captain. Tiffany got away with it because she had Destiny play bad cop, and all of Jenny's friends are as bubbly and sweet as her. I figure it's going to come down to Nadia and Lily, and I hope Nadia gets it because she deserves it. She gives cheerleading her 200% 

"So I'm gonna officially post this out," Tiffany continues. "You three can campaign however you want--"

Jenny raises her hand.

"Yes, Jenny?" Tiffany asks.

"Um, I pull out," she says. "I don't wanna be cheer captain, I know my limits."

Tiffany frowns. "We wouldn't have nominated you if we didn't think you were up for it. Now, as I was saying..."

And I tune out. I'm sucked into one of my favorite daydreams, where I reach home and find that my dad is there. He's sorry for leaving me, and he tells me he loves me and won't ever leave me again. 

I'm taken out of my daydream when everyone stands, moving off to grab their stuff. I get to my feet as well. Tiffany moves towards me, a small conspiratorial smile on her face. Oh no, what's she doing now?

"Pippy," Tiffany says. "I'm thinking of making you seeded captain for your senior year."

I blink at her. "You can do that?" I blurt.

She nods excitedly. "Yeah, I checked, I have the power to do it. I mean, the decision can be gainsaid if there's a squad wide unanimous vote against it, but--"

I hold up my hand. "It's okay Tiff. I don't want to be seeded. If I get captain, I want to be nominated and voted for it."

She nods at me, smiling. "Yeah, I figured you'd say that. Okay, then. See you." 

I grab my stuff and leave the gym, heading straight for the indoor basketball court. It's a bit ridiculous, but my Thursdays are shared between cheer practice and basketball practice. The good news is that I get to watch Jesse play. 

Jesse playing basketball is a thing of beauty. He has these fluid motions that can't be imitated, and he always knows where everyone is. When I enter the court, he glances up. It warms me to see that he can tell whenever I'm in a room. His gaze searches until he finds me by the door, watching him. Then a white smile lights up his face and he jogs over to me. 

"Hey baby," he pulls me into a sweaty hug, laughing when I swat at him. 

"HARLOW! GET HERE! YOU'RE LATE!" the girl's coach yells across the courts.

"I swear she has falcon eyes," I tell him, finally managing to shove him away. "COMING!" I yell back. 

Jesse swats my ass as I walk past him, grinning impishly when I glare at him. I flip him the bird and scuttle away to the girls' courts. This school is really huge. 

My position is center, whenever I play. I rarely get to, since most of the time I'm cheering for other games. My circumstance is special. I'd made it clear to the soccer and basketball coaches that my priority would be cheerleading, and I would schedule these sports around it. They're lenient towards me because I don't slack off when I do come to practice, and I'm a good sport. I'm as good as the regulars. 

Every time I don't have cheer and there's a game, they make damn sure to put me in. What can I say? Athleticism is in my blood. 

"Let's go!" I yell, dribbling down the sides, faking one way and dashing the other. Someone makes a pretty good screen, and I fling the ball at an open teammate. I spin around the screen in almost the same move, reaching the outside J. I clap my hands and the ball is back. I make the jump, my eyes calculating the height and angle of the basket and the weight of the ball in my hands. I shoot, and as I come back down, I'm excited. It's a beautiful shot. As I thought, the ball passes nicely through the hoop, not touching the rim. 

My team cheers and I get fist-bumped on my shoulders.

"Good job, Harlow," Coach blows her whistle. "Captain, lead the cool down exercises and then go back, girls. Get some rest."

Jesse's practice is over before mine, and he follows our cool down stretches. The girls near us blush and shuffle away from him. To them, he's a star. He's the guy to look up to in school, not because of his looks, but because of his sportsmanship, his prowess. I'd seen some of them drool when he plays. 

"That last shot was amazing, Pip," he says, helping me stretch, and of course he ends up leaning over my crotch. Dick. More of the girls move away, embarrassed now. 

"Jesse," I say, irritated. "Behave."

He chuckles but obeys. We walk hand in hand to the parking space. Jesse leans against his car, parked right beside mine. He fold his muscled arms over his muscled chest. 

"I think I'm gonna call you my 'muscle guy'," I mutter under my breath. 

"What was that?" he says innocently. He totally heard me. He flexes his muscles and grins at me. "Your muscle guy, huh? Is that what turns you on?"

"Jesse," I roll my eyes. He comes forward and places his arms on either side of me, trapping me in. 

"Yeah," he says quietly, looking at me with that intense gaze that feels like he's searching into my soul. 

"I'm going to call you my heart," I say, ducking quickly out of his arms and go into the car, locking the doors. I roll down one window. "Last one to my house is a rotten egg!" I yell, and leave him in the dust.

When I park into my usual place, I see another car in the garage. My heart flies into my mouth. It's not Jesse's car, no. I'd know this car anywhere. I jump out of the car and take off running. Jesse just pulls up, and he sees me run frantically, his eyes widening in alarm. I can't be bothered right now. I have to see...to see...

I wrench open the front door, only to see Oma sitting at the living room. There's a few papers on the coffee table, and two cups of tea. I walk towards her mechanically.

"Is...is he...?"

Oma shakes her head. She hasn't looked up even when I opened the front door roughly. 

"Mister Harlow come to drop off car," she sighs. "He give Miss Pippy more bank money."

I stalk over to the table and snatch the papers up, reading them. Jesse runs into the house, breathing heavily. "What happened?"

The papers fall from my hands and I follow their descent to the ground. I can't feel my legs, and I honestly don't know if I'm even breathing. He was here. He was so close. Why didn't he stay? What's the point in giving me three new bank accounts and another trust fund? It's not making me happy! I sob. 

I shake my head at Oma. "Did--did he ask about me?"

Oma nods. "I tell Mister Harlow everything. You miss papa, you have boyfriend Mister Jesse, you buy Mercedes-Benz."

I cling onto her every word, mesmerized. "And?"

She sighs. "Mister Harlow says, 'okay'." 

I freeze. "What? Just...'okay'?"

She gestures towards a recent picture of me hanging on the wall. "Mister Harlow scared to meet Miss Pippy. Miss Pippy looks like mother, he says."

I shove off from the ground and run upstairs to my room, slam the door and cry myself into an exhausted slumber. When I wake up, Jesse is lying beside me, one hand behind his head propped on pillows and the other hand tracing patterns onto my skin. I snuggle closer to him, needing the warmth he gives me. 

"I'm so sorry, Pippy," he whispers, his breath tickling the skin on my neck. I reach up and grab him, kissing him like he's the air I need to breathe. "I won't leave you, ever. I won't leave you," he repeats over and over, and he looks so fiercely protective that I think about mother bears defending their cubs. 

After a while, I calm down and I'm quiet, thinking. 

"What's zipping around in that pretty head?" Jesse says lightly, but I see the undercurrent of worry in his eyes. 

"I'm thinking...I've got an idea." There's a reckless smile on my face, and I see the worry in his eyes intensify. 

"And what is that?" His arms tighten around me, like he's afraid I'm going to fly away suddenly. 

I sit up and smile at him. "I'm going to hunt down my dad."