Waiting on the Sidelines

8. Two Of Me

Two weeks later, Reed made good on his promise. It was our toughest game of the year and Sean and Reed were making their way up the bleachers as we were stretching and getting ready for warm ups. I studied Tatum as she stretched with a little extra sexiness in front of them. I tried to mimic her toe-touch, stretching my arms down to touch the ground, but I didn't have the same grace she did. I just looked uncomfortable, and I was pretty sure my knees were bent, making it more of a squat.

I rolled my eyes at myself and grabbed a ball to warm up with one of the other girls on the team, Jaden. We started passing the ball back and forth and setting each other. I was pretty proud of myself for not making any huge blunders up to this point. I looked over at Tatum who was truly enjoying putting on the show. She was talented without doubt, but she had the ability to turn on an extra little showmanship when she knew she was being watched.

When the game started, I caught a glimpse of Sean and Reed. Both of them gave me a thumbs up and I gave one back, laughing a little at our overly obvious secret signal. I had worked my way into a starting position and was glad that the boys didn't come to only see me ride the bench. The game flew by and we ended up winning in two straight games to take the match. I even managed a block in one of the last points to really impress my audience of two.

After the game, Reed and Sean were waiting in the lobby as Tatum and I left the locker room. "Hey, nice block, hops," Reed teased as I walked up to them. "Seriously, nice game Noles. You're so much stronger this year."

Done with my compliments, Tatum wove her arm through Reed's and led him out the door. I turned to Sean who was beaming at me. "My girl's bad ass," he joked, putting his arm around me as we left the gym.

Sean drove me home and we spent a little time on the front porch before I went inside for the night. My dad wasn't too hip on having boys inside unless they planned on sitting in the living room with him and watching the game. After an hour or so, Sean kissed me goodnight and took off.

As soon as I got to my room I pulled out my phone to see if I had a text from Reed. My heart lifted when I did.

Seriously, nice game. Hops ;-p

I smiled and wrote back a quick 'thanks.'

Sean and Reed ended up coming to a two more games, the last one on Reed's birthday. Reed and I had been texting every night after practice for the last two weeks, about the stress of his upcoming games and my stress of fitting in on a team full of seniors. I was excited to see him after the game because I had found the perfect birthday present for him. I didn't tell Sean about it, afraid he would be jealous. He probably wouldn't, but I felt a pang of worry nonetheless.

We won our game easily that night, playing one of our rival schools in a lower division. Their team was mostly underclassmen and they really didn't know how to defend against our constant barrage of attacks.

I hurried through my shower and ran out to find Sean and Reed in the lobby before Tatum could make her way out there. I was nervous about sneaking Reed his gift and didn't want to miss my opportunity. As I met them in the lobby, I gave Sean a quick kiss and then looked at Reed. "Hey, I have one of your history papers that I meant to give you earlier. It has some questions on it and I didn't want you to miss an assignment," I said in my most believable voice possible. Reed looked at me strangely but went along with it. "OK, thanks."

"Sean, I'll be right back. Let me just give this to him before I forget," I said, willing Reed to join me out the door. Thankfully he followed.

We walked to the main corridor by the lockers quickly, almost jogging. When Reed caught up he smirked, "what's this all about? There's no paper."

"I know, I totally don't know why I made that up, sorry," I confessed, still hurrying. Intrigued, Reed followed.

"I have a birthday present for you, but I just didn't want to make a big deal out of it. I know you don't like 'big deals'," I said.

I reached into my locker and pulled out the small box that I stuffed in there before our game and handed it to Reed. I watched carefully as he looked up at me and smiled, his hands working on peeling back the paper. I was instantly irritated at myself for wrapping it. It was taking too long. Finally, he slid the box out and pulled back the lid. A huge smile filled his face as he looked up at me.

"Where the hell did you find this?" he said, pulling the small felt patch shaped like the state of Arizona from the tissue paper.

"OK, don't judge, promise?" I said with a serious tone. I don't know why I was so nervous about this.

"Of course," he said, holding it in his hand and his eyes wide and happy.

"Goodwill," I said, waiting for him to make a comment about shopping at Goodwill, something which Tatum would do. When he didn't I continued. "I go there with my mom sometimes to find good deals and the last time we were there I found this old letterman jacket from Coolidge High School. The jacket was pretty beat up, so they gave it to me for $5. I really just wanted the patch. That was your dad's year, right? Didn't he win state in 1976?"

"Yeah," Reed swallowed. He looked up at me and then back at the patch again, reaching his arm out to pull me in for a hug. "Thanks, Nolan. This was really nice."

"I just thought you'd like it," I said, my heart pounding out of my chest at both being in his arms again and at the thought of Sean and Tatum seeing me there. And just then, he kissed the top of my head.

We froze for a few seconds, though it felt like minutes. A line was crossed, however small, and we both felt it. I knew I had to be the first to break it, but I fought against my heart to do so. "Happy birthday, Reed," I said backing out of his arms and looking down. "Hey, we should hurry. Don't want Tatum freaking out," I kidded, though not entirely.

"Oh, right," he said, his eyes holding mine just a little longer than normal.

We ran back to the parking lot and found Tatum and Sean just walking out of the gym doors. Never one for quiet and simple, Tatum squealed Reed's name and came skipping over. I saw that he had shoved the patch in his pocket long before she saw it, and part of me was pleased that he didn't want her to cheapen it with one of her tasteless remarks.

We all piled into Reed's Jeep, which he still wasn't technically licensed for. They dropped me off first, and Sean smacked my ass as I leapt out of the Jeep, whistling as I ran up my driveway and entered my house.

"That Sean with you?" my dad said, as I came in.

"Yeah, sort of. Well, Reed and Sean," I responded, rubbing my rear a little embarrassed by the swat and catcall Sean gave me.

"Big game this Friday. Reed feel ready?" my dad asked, one thing on his mind – football.

"I think so," I said quickly and turned to head to my room down the hall. My mom stopped me on her way out of the laundry room.

"Did Reed like the patch?" she whispered. My grin giving away a little too much.

"Good... careful, ok?" she said.

"OK," I said, with a bit of an eye roll.

I shut my door and pulled out my phone to wait for my text from Reed. Hours passed and I was starting to think I wouldn't hear from him. Sean called first just to say good night. I was a little quick to get him off the phone, but thought he bought my studying excuse. I was about to give up and take my shower and call it a night when my phone vibrated.

"Hello?" I said, quietly.

"Hey, sorry. Did I wake you?" Reed said.

"No, I was up. I was just waiting..." I stopped short and decided not to finish.

After a short moment of silence, Reed continued. "Thanks for my present. Seriously, that's maybe the most thoughtful thing anyone ever gave me," he said.

"Well, it's not a Jeep," I laughed, self-effacing humor always my go-to.

"No, it's not," he said, without a hint of sarcasm. "Thank you. It meant a lot."

"You're welcome," I said. "I'm glad you like it. Happy birthday, Reed."

"Good night, Nolan," he said, lingering on the phone just a bit before hanging up.

I was in trouble.