Dare You to Kiss the Quarterback (Rock Valley High 1)

“Gina, seriously?” he asked. “Do you have to be so embarrassing?”

“Embarrassing our kids is what we foster moms do best,” Gina replied unabashedly with a beaming smile. “I’d think you’d be used to that by now.”

He made a face and glared at her.

“Oh, don’t worry about Mister Grumpy Pants,” Gina said, laying her arm across my shoulders. “He always gets this way after a big game. Be thankful we didn’t lose tonight. He’d be impossible to deal with then. Gets as grumpy as a two-year-old who hasn’t had his nap. That’s when we send him to bed with a warm cup of milk and a binkie.”

I couldn’t help but laugh. I’d never heard anyone talk to Collin that way. Not even his best friends. It was hilarious and almost softened the blow from our previous conversation. Almost.

“What do I have to do to end this soul-crushing encounter?” Collin asked, staring at his foster mom through heavily hooded eyes. “Please. I’ll do anything.”

“Invite your girlfriend over for supper this Sunday night,” Gina said, looking at me. “The family would like to get to know her. We’re all excited for your big performance.”

I waved my hands in front of my chest. “Oh, I’m not his girlfriend. We’re just singing partners. That’s all.”

I looked to Collin for some help, but was surprised to see his face fall and his mouth harden into a frown. Wasn’t this just what he’d been telling me? Why was he looking at me as if I’d just told him his dog died?

“Okay,” Gina replied, squeezing my shoulder. “Collin, please invite your singing partner to dinner Sunday night.”

She stood there, staring at him expectantly, until the silence grew heavy. I was starting to think we’d be there until Christmas. Finally, with a sigh, Collin turned and addressed me in a deadpan voice.

“Audrey, would you like to come to dinner Sunday night?”

I immediately searched for an excuse. Anything to get out of another humiliating experience with Collin. But that was the night Lexi was going to spend with Dad and Mom had a work event. I didn’t have a good reason to decline. Plus, part of me was curious about Collin’s foster family. From what I’d seen of Ally and Gina so far, they seemed pretty great.

“Sure.” I shrugged. “Anything for a friend. Especially when he’s desperate.”

“Right.” His eyes flashed as he stared at me a moment longer, but then Gina cheered and he looked away.

“Collin will text you the address,” she said. “And Audrey, I hope you like enchiladas.”

“I love them.” I threw a weak smile at her, feeling suddenly exhausted. “Thank you for the invite.”

“See you then, chickadee.” She winked at me and then walked away.

I didn’t have the energy to hop back on this emotional carousel with Collin tonight. All I wanted to do was crawl into bed and fall asleep under my warm covers. With the best smile I could muster under the circumstances, I waved goodbye to him and moved to leave.

“Audrey?” My feet froze on the pavement as I waited for him to continue. “I hope you know, I really do want to be friends.”

I should’ve leapt for joy at his words, but instead, there was a sinking feeling in my chest. Keeping my back to him, I took a deep breath. “I’d like that. Goodnight, Collin.”

“Night,” he said softly.

My feet propelled me away from the football field as fast as they could without all out sprinting. And by the time I collapsed in the driver’s seat of my mom’s Mercedes, I was a jumbled mess of nerves and anticipation. I’d just been invited to eat at Collin Preston’s house. And he wanted to be my friend.

Things couldn’t get much weirder for my senior year.

Chapter Fourteen

“Guys, I don’t want to be a sexy nurse.”

I flipped through the Halloween costumes and immediately felt like whining. Every single one was sexy nurse, or sexy pirate, or sexy kitten. Why couldn’t a girl just be any of those things without throwing the word sexy in there? It was 50 bucks for one of those skimpy excuses of a costume. If I was going to spend that much of my money from counseling at summer camp, I was going to find a costume that at least covered my rear end.

“How about a sexy crayon?” Mandy asked, tossing me a costume.

I made a face, immediately hanging it back up on the rack. “How do you even become a sexy crayon? I think the costume creators have all gone crazy.”

“Okay, so we want something cute, but not overly revealing,” Trina said, popping her dark head up from the other side. If anyone was going to find something good in here, it was her. Trina’s thrifting and scouring talents in the shopping world were matched only by her ability to sew the most hideous outfits into something fabulous. “I’ve got Charlie’s Angels, Wonder Woman, or Jessie from Toy Story.”