Dare You to Chase the Soccer Player (Rock Valley High 5)

“Well, we could just hang, you know, as friends...”

I gave him my most innocent smile and earned a chuckle from him.

“I’m not sure that would be possible, Lexi.” He bit his bottom lip in a sexy way that had my insides melting. “You’re pretty irresistible and exactly my type.”

For the second time in a matter of minutes, he had me blushing. I never blushed. It wasn’t a thing for me. Zane seriously had me tripping.

“Fine.” I stomped my foot in mock frustration and then tapped my finger on my chin. “What if I happen to sit on a random park bench and you just happen to sit on the other side of it? Totally accidental. Would that be allowed?”

He took a step toward me, bending his head to look at me, his lips holding back a smile. “I wish.”

I stepped back, until my back was pressed against the window frame. “What if I happened to go eat at Pizza Ranch and you just happened to find a spot at the table next to mine?”

Zane closed the distance between us with another barely suppressed smile and leaned his hand on the frame above my head. “I do love pizza.”

“Hmmm.” I nodded, never taking my eyes off of his face. “Me, too.”

“But it would never work.”

I frowned. “Why not?”

“Because.” He ran a tongue quickly over his lips. “Because tomorrow, when you go to school, everything will change.”

I had no idea what he was talking about. Junior year wasn’t amazing enough to distract me from the beautiful blue-eyed boy standing in front of me. But just the way he talked made me want to grab ahold of his t-shirt and never let go. It was so crazy. I hardly knew him. But there was an instant magnetism between us that I’d never felt with anyone else.

“Nothing will change for me,” I said, tipping my chin up. “I promise.”

His lips quirked a bit in a sad smile. “I wish I could believe that.”

And I thought I played hard to get. This guy was a master. I’d definitely met my match.

“Fine.” I shook my head sadly. “Goodbye, Zane, my-mystery-boy. You were sweet. I could’ve fallen for someone like you.”

His eyes flashed as he pressed his lips tightly together. “Goodbye, Lexi Black.”

He began to move away, but hesitated for a moment, his eyes darting directly to my mouth. I hitched a breath as he quickly leaned in and brushed his lips gently over mine. It was barely enough contact to count as a kiss, but every nerve in my body lit up like a pinball machine.

I gasped as he pulled away and then stroked my cheek tenderly with the tips of his fingers. Normally, I would’ve cringed at such a touch. It was the only place I felt truly vulnerable. But at that moment, I didn’t care about my acne scars. It was nothing but him and the scorching heat of his touch.

“Zane!”

The sound of his name came from the other side of the shelter. Zane dropped his hand from my face and then spun to reveal a tall and broad-shouldered man in an expensive black suit hulking in the doorway. I could only assume this was Zane’s dad. He had the same dirty-blond hair as his son, although his was longer and slicked back with some kind of product. His thick jaw quivered with disapproval as his brown eyes landed on me for a mere second, and then immediately dismissed me as he returned his attention to his son.

“Zane, to the car, now,” he barked.

All the passion went out of Zane’s face. His shoulder’s drooped and his mouth formed a deep frown that made him look much older than a high school boy. It was strange to see him go back to that brooding, disinterested guy under his father’s attention. The warmth that he’d filled the shelter with had disappeared. I shivered and wrapped my arms around my torso.

“No worries, Dad,” Zane said, marching toward the door without so much as a look back. “I was just about to leave.”

His dad nodded and then shot me one last suspicious glare before turning to follow his son. I ran to the window to watch them as they descended the hill to the parking lot. All the while, I prayed Zane would glance back at me. One last look, to tell me that what had happened between us wasn’t a complete hallucination brought on by a near-death experience.

The farther away he got, the heavier my heart became, until I was scolding myself for letting me think this boy was any different from the dozens I’d flirted with before. Staying detached was my job. I wasn’t about to start letting them have the upper hand now.

But then, as he went to open the passenger-side door of the SUV, Zane looked over his shoulder. My heart threatened to explode as I drank in the hint of a smile on his face and the half-wave goodbye, hidden from his dad’s sight.

I hadn’t imagined it. We really had connected.

And as they drove away, I practically skipped over to my face paint set I’d left sitting on the table. So maybe Zane’s dad was a hardhead, but I knew one thing: Zane was just about as irresistible as a sale on my favorite lip stains. He’d said that tomorrow, everything would change, but he didn’t know just how stubborn a girl I could be. Where there was a will, there was a way.