Thicker than Water

Chapter 3 (Josh)

Sitting on the bench watching his team make fumble after fumble was pure torture for Josh. It was so much worse than the pain he'd experienced while actually breaking his ankle, tenfold.

As he stomped off the field towards the crowd of people watching the game, his eyes shot right to her. She looked phenomenal in her cheerleading uniform. It was first time he had seen her in it since they had started getting to know each other. He'd never noticed how lean and smooth the muscles in her legs looked while doing a toe touch before. When he needed a break from watching the catastrophe on the field, she had provided a welcome distraction.

She looked at him, worry in her face. She knew how difficult this night was for him. They had talked about it the last time they met up.

He was supposed to be cleared to play by now. He went to the doctor's office a week ago and received the unfortunate news that—although he no longer needed his crutches 24/7-- he would most likely not be healed completely by the end of the season. He had made a few grand statements about playing anyway, no matter what the doctor "supposedly" knew. In the end, however, Lauren had brought it back to reality. "Josh, this is high school. In the grand scheme of life, a few football games are not going to matter. Having a foot that you're never going to be able to walk on without pain, will. And it's not like you need a scholarship or something" She was right, of course. He always told her she was wise beyond her years.

As all of his teammates were heading to the locker room, Josh nodded his head at Lauren and walked casually to behind the bleachers. Within a few minutes, Lauren had joined him. "Josh, what's wr—"

He cut her off with a kiss, practically smashing their mouths together, needing to be close to her. Her lips felt so soft after he'd just spent the last hour yelling at his teammates.

She matched his intensity by wrapping her arms around his neck and pulling him tight against her. Over the last month, their kisses were getting hotter and hotter, which was impressive considering how earth shattering the first one had been. He secretly hoped she would be willing to go all the way soon. Hell, he knew he was aching for it.

But if she wasn't, he would wait. Lauren wasn't like any other girl he had ever known. He always thought she was hot, but way too good for him. Why would she ever be interested in a guy who spent ninety percent of his life partying and whose only income was his daddy's AmEx?

She was smart, funny, and had an innocence about her that drove him crazy in the best way. It didn't hurt anything that she was beyond beautiful. Her thick, blonde hair was so soft he wanted to fall asleep nestled into it. Yeah...she was worth waiting for.

He slowly began raising his hand under her top. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed people fanning out of the stadium, twenty feet away. They were tucked away in an alcove that wasn't visible from the path out. But if someone happened to spot them? He didn't care. It was worth it to have her near him. He knew Lauren would be mortified, however.

She eventually broke off the kiss, looking up at him with a small smile. "We'd better get back. I think everyone else has left." Now that he was listening, he noticed the stadium was quiet. He'd been too consumed by her to notice.

Lauren backed away and started pulling her top back down to her waist. "Josh, I'm sorry about tonight. I know that couldn't have been easy for you."

"No, it wasn't, but I appreciate you taking my mind off it," he says, smirking. "You always make me feel better." You're perfect.

"Josh-" She had a stern look on her face. "Don't start. We've talked about this."

"About what? The fact that I want to be with you? I've told you I like you, and, despite your radio silence, I know you like me too." He was getting frustrated.

Lauren had made it very clear that she did not want a relationship with him. "We're both going to college next year. Why would we start something now to just have our hearts broken in nine months?"

"Who says we'll break up? Long distance relationships are a thing, you know. And besides, I don't want to spend my senior year with anyone other than you. It's worth the risk...to me."

She was thinking. He could tell by the way she was biting her bottom lip. Yes! Maybe I've finally gotten through to her!

"Okay," she said simply.

"Okay what?" Josh couldn't help it, he was smiling.

He'd first broached the dating topic two weeks ago while driving her home from physical therapy. He'd begun giving her rides consistently after that first kiss. They would talk about everything from upcoming college visits to how to achieve world peace. Pretty quickly, the visits increased to more than just once a week.

He told himself that he couldn't love her, not that he would know what that felt like. They'd only been--Hanging out? Seeing each other? Hooking up?—for six weeks. He had no doubt he WOULD love her, though, if she let him.

"Okay, let's tell other people about us" she continued. "This may be crazy, but, whatever, I need to do something crazy for once.

She grabbed her waist and pulled her to him for one more kiss. "Do you want to come to my house tonight? Netflix and chill? My dad's in bed by ten usually and sleeps like the dead."

She laughed and kissed him quickly again. He could practically feel the heat coming off of her.

"Sounds great. But first, we need to get out of here, and I need to change. I'll go, and you wait a couple minutes, okay?" He nodded, and she scurried to the exit.

Josh was in heaven. The girl he'd fallen for—hard—was going to be his. Nothing could ever take away this feeling.

He headed out of the bleachers, anxious to see Lauren. He noticed her standing in the path that pedestrians were flooding 10 minutes ago. Why was she not heading to the locker room?

He noticed then that she wasn't alone. She was talking to her mom...and his dad.

"Where have you been," Lauren's mom starts. "We've been looking everywhere for you and Josh." "We"?

Josh decided to head the opposite direction. If he did, he could just turn the corner and pretend he was out for a nightly stroll. They'll never believe that. We're busted.

Josh's dad spotted him before the other two. "Josh, come over here. We need to talk to you two." Oh shit, here comes the ass chewing.

Suddenly, Lauren's mom's held up her left hand, displaying a blindingly huge, very expensive, diamond ring. What the hell is-

"Kids, we're engaged!" their parents yelled simultaneously, right before pecking on the lips. The smiles on their faces could have put that diamond ring to shame.

Josh just stood there, shell shocked, mouth hanging wide open. Eventually he looked towards Lauren who was looking at him like her world had just collapsed around her.