Nash The smell of the bonfire was a Friday night norm. What I knew. Coming here had been the last thing I wanted to do, but I needed a beer. I also didn’t want to chance Tallulah trying to talk to me about tonight. About the game. How it felt. That kind of thing. I was moody. I wanted to be alone. Asking Tallulah out for after the game had been me hoping that would get my mind off things. The mood the game would put me in hadn’t been something I had considered. Here we were now. Ryker talking about the one play of the game he scored. It had been impressive. And he wanted to re cap it. Over and over. That had been me last year and the year before. It annoyed me now, but I drank my beer and k ept my mouth shut. Tallulah didn’t seem relaxed or like she was enjoying this. I didn’t blame her. I wasn’t much fun. If I wanted another date with her, I needed to try harder. Stop being a damn baby about the game. They’d won by three touchdowns. It had been a fairly easy win. If I wasn’t so fucking self-absorbed with my pity party, I’d be happy for them. I was trying to be, but it wasn’t coming through. I slipped an arm around Tallulah’s waist and tugged her closer to me. “Sorry this is boring,” I whispered. She turned her head and tilted it back slightly to look up at me. Up close she was flawless. I hadn’t thought about that earlier. I’d been too busy with that kiss.
Now I could appreciate it. “I’m not bored. Just taking it all in. This is what y’all have been up to for the past three years on Friday nights while I sat in my room with a book. Nice to see how the other half lived.” The smile curving her lips was teasing. “I’m sure with all this excitement you regret missing every moment of it,” I r eplied. She sighed dramatically. “Well of course I do. One cannot get enough of Ryker r eplaying his best moment on the field fifty different ways, or Blakely doing everything but stripping to ke ep Hunter’s attention on her alone. The best are the cheerleaders, who still think they need to do routines after they’ve drunk a few too many.” I laughed loudly. She was right. Completely. Her description could not have been more accurate. “I can assume you will be on board with attending all these with me this year, then?” There was no way I was coming to these every Friday night. It didn’t hold the same appeal as it once had. I no longer fit. But I was sure she knew that. She pressed a finger to her chin as if in de ep thought. Then gave me a serious expression meant to be mocking. “Only if Asa and Ryker will talk incessantly about themselves and the cheerleaders will be a little more annoying. Then possibly I will return.” I squeezed her waist. “I’d say I will see what I can do, but I am pretty sure those are all a given.” I nodded my head toward the trees, where all the cars were parked behind. “Let’s go.” She smiled. “Good.” I turned back to the group that hadn’t even realized we’d been in our own private conversation. “We’re out. Y’all party
on,” I called. They didn’t ask me why I was going. But I could see surprise in their eyes. I normally shut these parties down. I waved as they called out good-byes, but I didn’t stay around long enough for them to ask me to stay. Or where we were headed. Tallulah responded to those who told her they were glad she had come. Although these people had ignored her in the past, she was polite. Didn’t seem to hold bitterness toward them. “I swear he was there,” a girl with a loud high-pitched voice said from the group we were passing. “You’re insane. There is no way that Haegan Baylor was in Lawton, Alabama, at a football game. You need to stop watching him so much. You’re starting to hallucinate,” Blakely said. “I know Haegan Baylor. I would know the back of his head if that is all I saw. I’ve seen every You Tube video he has ever done. He posts a new vlog three times a week. And he said he was moving in his last vlog. He was here!” The other girl I now recognized as Pamela was loudly defending her belief. “Sorry, Pam. I don’t believe that. No one else saw him,” Blakely r eplied. We k ept walking, but I noticed Tallulah’s attention was drawn to their conversation. “You know who this Haegan Baylor is?” I asked her. She didn’t seem like one who would watch vloggers. I’d never watched one, but Blakely watched a couple weekly like it was part of her life. Then she talked about them constantly, as if I cared.
Tallulah looked away from them, then shook her head. “No, I’m not sure what a vlog is.” That was shocking. But then this was Tallulah. She was different. Which I loved. “There are these people who do these videos, kind of like a reality television show, and then post them on You Tube. Some are better at it than others. Many have gotten famous from it. They call themselves vloggers. But from what I’ve seen, it’s mostly teens videoing boring shit they do and doing stupid stuff to get more viewers.” Tallulah frowned. “They get famous? Seriously?” “Y ep. Blakely was stressing out over getting some backpack for school back in June that one of those vloggers she likes was selling in his merch store.” “His what?” she asked incredulously. “They sell merchandise in online stores. The popular ones do.” I thought it was crazy too, but Blakely was worried it would sell out and was on her computer at the time it was released to be sure to get it. I’d forgotten about that until now. We reached my truck, and Tallulah paused at the door. “I think...” Then she shook her head. “Never mind.” I opened her door, and she climbed inside. I wanted to know what she was going to say, but I didn’t push her. I still needed to come up with somewhere for us to go. I didn’t want to take her home just yet. When I was inside, I saw her yawn and cover it up with her hand. I wasn’t ready to give her up, but I knew she was tired. “You’re sle epy,” I said to her. If she argued, I was going to ke ep her longer.
“Yeah, a little,” she agreed. Damn. “Okay then, we can call it a night.” I paused. “What are you doing tomorrow?” That may have sounded a little too needy. But it came out before I could think it through. She ducked her head, and I could see the smile on her face. She liked that I had asked. I felt better about it. “I help Mom clean the house on Saturday mornings. We’re normally finished around one in the afternoon. Then, nothing really.” Fuck being cool. I wasn’t cool anymore anyway. “There’s a trail I like to hike. Goes to a cold spring that’s pretty this time of year. I think you’d like it.” I hadn’t dated a girl I thought would enjoy this. I always hiked it alone. “Sounds nice. I’m sure I would.” “Would you be ready by three?” I asked. She nodded. “Yeah. Three is good.” And just like that my first Friday night not spent in pads and playing the sport I loved turned into something better.