Seasons Change

11.

Chapter 11.

My impromptu visit home, and running unexpectedly into Luke, served as a much needed distraction from the ongoing Dylan and Avery drama. After the visit, I followed Luke's suggestion to join the school's newspaper staff, and regretted it almost immediately after receiving my first official assignment: I needed to cover the upcoming football game on Saturday. Because somehow, no matter what I did, everything in my life seemed to be intrinsically connected to football. No matter what I did, I couldn't seem to escape the sport, or the guys who played it.

The Saturday morning of the game dawned bright and early, and I sprang out of bed ready to tackle the game from a completely neutral standpoint. I was not, under any circumstances, going to let my problems with Dylan compromise my ability to write a completely unbiased article for the paper. I realized that I would almost certainly see Dylan at the game, probably with Avery, but I was determined not to let that bother me. Dylan had been such a jerk to me, and I wanted to cut ties with him, at least for now. Maybe someday, if he came to his senses and did a lot of grovelling, we would make up, but I didn't foresee that happening anytime soon. Not while Avery still had her claws in him.

I had expected to run into Dylan at the game. What I had not expected was to bump into Luke at the football field two hours before the game was set to start.

"Luke?" I asked, genuinely baffled. "Are you stalking me or something?"

Luke laughed lightly, the corners of his lips pulling up into a charming smile. "No, of course not," he said. "Didn't you wonder why I was in Florida and not Ohio? My team is playing Dylan's."

I smacked my forehead, feeling a little dumb. "Right, duh, I suppose you have to travel for games, huh?" I said, grinning sheepishly.

Luke grinned. "It does make football season a little more entertaining when we play other schools, yes," he teased. "And since I'm going to be playing Dylan for the first time in a few years, this is a bit of grudge match for me," he said with a wink. "I still owe Dylan a loss for that time he lost me that bet I made with you."

"Really?" I asked, shoving him playfully. "Because the way I remember it, you losing that bet meant you had to bring me to that party. And that party was one of the first times I ever hung out with you one on one. So really, maybe you should thanking Dylan for helping us get together in high school."
Luke crossed his arms, raising an eyebrow at me. "I was dating Madison at the time," he reminded me.

"That bet made you and Madison hate each other for half of the year, and fueled Kelsey's weird matchmaking schemes."

I shrugged, a grin lighting up my face. "Hey, Kelsey doesn't need any encouragement for her matchmaking schemes," I reminded him. "She comes up with them all on her own. The rest of us just tolerate her meddling as best we can, and try to remember that she has our best interests at heart."

Two figures walking on the opposite end of the football field, hands entwined, caught my attention, and my heart sank. Dylan and Avery. What were they doing here this early? The game didn't start for a while, and the football field was hardly the most romantic spot for them to be hanging out. I mean, sure, I had gotten to the field early, but that had mostly been in an effort to avoid running into Dylan and Avery. I hadn't expected them to show up here, of all places, at this time of day. Dylan looked up, and his eyes widened slightly, so I knew that he saw me.

Leaning towards Luke, I lowered my voice, whispering, "Please do me a favor and play along." Then, before I had the chance to lose my nerve, I leaned forward, pressing my lips softly against Luke's.

Luke tensed in surprise, and for a moment, I worried that he was going to pull away. But then, he kissed me back, his warm lips moving under mine, his arms wrapping around my waist and drawing me closer to him. I snaked my hand up and ran my fingers through his hair, and for a moment, it was just the way it had been in high school, him and me together, and everything felt so right. Then, I remembered what had prompted me to throw myself at Luke, and I opened my eyes to peek over Luke's shoulder at Dylan, who was standing about twenty feet away, slack jawed, an angry glint clouding his dark eyes.