Game Changer (The Field Party)

“Okay, well, uh, I was just checking,” she said, and paused as if I was expected to say something else. There was nothing to say. I’d hit my truck out of anger, and none of that was her business. When I stood there holding her gaze silently, her cheeks slightly flushed, and she ducked her head to focus on the ground. Finally she began to walk back toward the storefront. I watched her go and admired the way she wore a pair of faded jeans. The black combat boots surprised me. The strapless top she was wearing was a pale yellow, and she had small white daisy earrings dangling from her ears. The pink gloss on her lips and delicate scent of her perfume made her appear too feminine for shoes like those. I wondered what her name was, then just as quickly shut that down. I had no time for this. My future and my mother’s safety were my only priorities now.

Jerking my truck door open with more force than necessary, I climbed inside and pulled away from the service station. The last time I’d seen the girl had been months ago when I’d gone into the grocery side of their store to pick up some items for my mom. She’d been the one at the cash register that day. I had been on the phone dealing with Ryker’s drama at the time and not paying much attention to anything else.

My phone began ringing beside me, interrupting my thoughts, and I glanced at the screen in my truck to see who it was before answering. I wasn’t speaking to my father if he decided to call. It was Nash. With relief, I pressed accept on the touch screen of my truck’s control system.

“Yeah,” I said in the way of a greeting.

“Where you at?” he asked over the speakerphone in my truck.

“Just got gas. Why?”

“Thought you’d want to come to the field house. Some of the guys are here working out, then headed to the field later.”

I didn’t want to go back to the house and be forced to hear my mother tell me that I had to respect my father. She needed to be thankful I hadn’t slammed my fist in his jaw after he spoke to her the way he did over breakfast. Glancing in the backseat quickly, I saw my duffel bag and knew there were clean shorts in there I could change into.

“I’ll be there in five,” I replied.

Then we both clicked off and my truck was silent again.

I Took Their Money and Gave Them Cinnamon Rolls CHAPTER 2

EZMITA

“I am an idiot. Why did I go out there?” I muttered in frustration as I let the door close behind me. Why did I go out there? Was I so desperate to talk to Asa that I was looking for any reason to strike up a conversation? He’d looked at me like I was a wacko. I’d done a great job acting like a dork. It had taken me weeks to work up the nerve to speak to him, and when I finally did, that was how I chose to do it? Idiota!

Turning, I watched as the black Chevy truck drove away. I never missed that truck when it drove by or was outside. It was as if I had Asa Griffith radar. Another reason I needed to get out of this small town. I’d let some guy I had never had a conversation with become my obsession. I wondered if he even remembered the moment that started my attraction to him. Maybe he did things like that all the time and I had only witnessed that one moment. No matter, that moment had stuck with me. He’d become something more than just a beautiful boy I liked to look at.

The single mother who had been counting out her change to pay for a few groceries while her little boy had been begging for a lollipop had been heartbreaking. I had been trying to think of a way to give her the groceries without embarrassing her in the process when Asa had walked up and placed a handful of the lollipops on the counter, then handed me a twenty-dollar bill and told me to add those to the lady’s bag. The woman had teared up and been so flustered thanking Asa while I had fallen in love, or at least my crush on him had begun.

It was past time I got a life. My parents just weren’t on board with my leaving the nest. I scowled as thoughts of my last argument with my father over my going away to college replayed in my head. It was no wonder I’d become fixated on a guy I didn’t even know. Daydreaming was my only escape from this place.

Asa Griffith, with his eyes the color of ocean waves, wide shoulders, dark hair, and dimples, was the classic poster boy for a girl’s daydreaming. At least a sheltered, awkward teenage girl like myself. He always made me feel flushed and nervous at the sight of him. Of course, he had no idea who I was other than the girl who had checked out his groceries, and taken the occasional cash payment for his gas when he wasn’t paying with a card. I was pathetic and I knew it.