QUINNNighttime football games had a special kind of magic to them, and tonight, the energy was heightened: this was an important game, one that would determine whether or not the Eatonboro Eagles would advance to Round Two of the conference playoffs. We were underdogs, for sure; Gatbury was one of the best teams in our area. Gia had saved me a seat, so I sat on the bleachers about halfway up from the field, mashed between two girls. I wasn't complaining; it was especially chilly tonight, and I was glad for the extra body heat. "So how does it feel to know it's your boyfriend playing out there tonight?" Gia grinned and poked me. "Pretty exciting, huh? Are we going to see some spontaneous cheers about the Lion roaring?"I rolled my eyes. "Don't hold your breath. I might be dating one of the team's stars, but I'm here for the game, not just to moon over the players." "Oh, check her out. It's all business. That's our Quinn-she's a tough cookie." Gia laughed. "Give her a few weeks,
NATEMy recovery from the virus that wouldn't quit was slow. I was in the ICU for nearly a week, and then spent another five days in a regular room, arguing with whoever would listen that I wanted to go home. And even once I was released and got home, I was still so weak that I couldn't go back to school right away. It was frustrating as hell.The only bright spot during the whole time was that Quinn came to visit me every day. She didn't stay long, but she was always there, entertaining me with stories and making me laugh. I was glad to see that she seemed to have gotten over the whole deal with Leo and Sarah Jenkins. As a bonus, she rarely mentioned Jake Donavan, which I hoped meant she'd stopped dating him. I hadn't been sure what was going on between the two of them, but more competition was not something I needed. There was something different about Quinn, though. She was somehow softer, and there was a glow in her eyes that I'd never seen before. I was afraid to even think
NATEAs it turned out, Leo came over that evening, after he'd dropped Quinn at her own house. I hadn't seen him in weeks, and I couldn't remember the last time he'd actually been at my house. He looked bigger than ever when he appeared in the living room where I was sitting, and that irritated me. Leo had a way of making me painfully aware that although I was technically older than him, I looked younger. I always felt immature and behind the curve when he was around."Nate." He hesitated in the doorway, as though he was afraid I wouldn't let him come all the way in. "You look good.""Thanks." I motioned to the sofa. "You can sit down if you want."He sank into the couch, right in the center, spreading out in that way he had. He just sort of sprawled, then sat forward with his elbows resting on his knees. "I'm glad you're better. You scared the shit out of all of us." I shrugged. "It's all part of the disease." I was echoing what I'd been hearing the doctors say for the last mon
QUINNAfter the euphoria of the round one game, the rest of the conference playoffs felt anticlimactic. Eatonboro rolled through games two and three, and we were riding high when we reached the championship match up, pitting us against Franklin Township once again.I saw Leo between practices and team meetings, brief snatches of togetherness sandwiched by football. On days when it worked out, he'd pick me up for school, and we'd sit in the car, in the parking lot, talking a little and making out a lot. We ate lunch together, still with the football team; most of the guys seemed to have accepted me, although I noticed that Matt Lampert didn't talk much when I was around. I knew he and Leo were close friends, so I tried to draw him out, but he kept stubbornly silent."Don't worry about him, babe." Leo nuzzled my neck, touching his tongue to the pulse that thrummed at the base of my throat. "Matt's just ...he doesn't have a lot of people in his life he can count on. He's a little posse
QUINNNate had returned to school about a week before the championship game, and he'd agreed to sit with me at the stadium. I knew Sheri was worried about him being out in the cold, but the day had actually dawned a little more temperate, and although the air was still chilly, the sun was warm. I promised Sheri that I'd keep my eye on Nate and get him home if he began feeling bad. It felt as though the entire school was crowding the stands, but Gia had saved seats for us. The girls greeted Nate as though they were all long-lost friends, although they didn't know each other well."Dude, about time you're here." Gia folded Nate into a hug. At first he stood stiff, but no one was immune to Gia, I'd found, and in a few seconds, he patted her back, smiling faintly.I introduced him to Gia's friends, and then there wasn't time for anything else. We stood for the anthem and stayed on our feet for kickoff. This time, there wasn't any drama on the field. Matt and Leo played the game as t
LEOA team party after we won the championship game was a given. Matt's grandparents had graciously opened their home to us, and the place was filled. Now whether or not the elder Lamperts knew that they were hosting us was another matter. I knew that they'd been at the game; they'd congratulated both Matt and me on the field. But then they'd taken off for a huge benefit in New York. Matt swore that the party was their idea, but sometimes it was hard to tell where the truth ended and fiction began with Matt.Still ...I wasn't complaining. I was here, surrounded by all of my friends, beer in my hand, and even better? My girl, my Mia Quinn, was on my lap, her sweet little ass nestled over my dick in a way that was making me even hornier than I already was. She'd been a little mysterious since we'd gotten to the party. Not in a bad way, but she'd refused the beer I'd offered her. That wasn't completely weird, because Quinn never drank that much, but she'd also asked me to stick to j
LEOHer hair was down, spilling around her face. Her arms and legs, still sporting a little leftover tan from the summer, were bare. And on her body, she wore my jersey. It was huge on her, of course. Quinn wasn't tiny, by any means, but I was still half a foot taller than her and outweighed her by almost a hundred pounds, probably. The jersey hung low on her shoulders, dipping enticingly between her breasts.She walked toward me, her eyes glued to mine, and then crawled onto the bed, kneeling at the foot. "Baby." I breathed the word and held out one hand. "Look at you. How did you ...where did you get this?"She smiled and lifted one shoulder. The slippery material slid down one of her arms, baring the top of one gorgeous tit. "I had help. And I wanted to be wearing it tonight. Because like you said . . ." She moved closer to me, until her knees rested next to my legs. "Go big or go home, right?"I couldn't wait another moment. Sitting up, I reached for her, hauling her body
QUINNI'd spent my first two years of high school dreaming about being Leo's girlfriend. I'd built some amazing fantasies about what that would look like. None of those dreams even began to touch how wonderful it was. Over that winter, after football ended, we fell into a routine. Leo picked me up for school each day. We ate lunch together, and if I didn't always feel entirely comfortable with his football friends, that was a very small price to pay.Nate wouldn't eat with us, though. The first time I'd asked him, he'd looked at me like I'd sprouted a second head. "You want me to eat with Mike Anders and Brent Collins? No, thanks." I'd felt that familiar tearing sensation, the one that hit me whenever Nate wanted me to do one thing and Leo asked me to do another. I hated having to choose between them. But before I could say anything else, Nate had added, "Don't worry about me. I'm going to start working in the computer lab over lunch anyway."I convinced myself that he wou