The Other Game (The Perfect Game 4)

“I’ll go out with you, Jack,” some other girl shouted from her seat, and Melissa rolled her eyes at me.

“Typical,” she whispered.

“Perfect! I’m sure you two will have a great time together.” Cassie dropped into her seat and tried to bury her head.

Jack used the moment to his advantage and crouched next to her, whispering something none of us could hear.

“Ooh, he’s good,” Melissa cooed, and I wondered what exactly he was saying to Cassie.

“What are you doing? Get out of here,” Cassie tried to whisper back, but the pitch of her voice carried.

Jack said something else to Cassie, and when we couldn’t make it out, Melissa stomped a foot in irritation. “I want to hear, dang it.”

“Promise you I’ll think about going out with the school’s biggest player?” Cassie said as Jack knelt next to her, his face so close to hers I thought she might hit him. “Oh, sure, I’ll think about it.”

“Promise me,” he demanded, his insistence unrelenting.

Blinking rapidly, Cassie glanced around the room before looking at Jack. “Fine. I promise I’ll think about it. Will you go away now?”

A wide grin appeared on Jack’s face as he stood up without another word and walked out of the classroom.

“Told you,” he said as he passed me, not slowing his pace.

“She said she’d think about it,” I yelled as I caught up to him.

“She’ll go, just watch. Won’t she, Meli?” Jack said over his shoulder.

“Probably,” Melissa said from behind us, hurrying to catch up.

We headed outside and followed Jack toward a cement bench, where he pulled his baseball hat even lower over his eyes. Then he sat down and looked up at us, his eyes all but hidden.

“What are you doing?” I asked, expecting him to get up and continue walking back to the student union with us.

“Waiting.”

“For what?”

“Her class to end. I’m going to ask her out in front of everyone. She won’t be able to say no then,” Jack said with a big grin.

“Make sure you show those.” Melissa pointed at the pair of dimples on his face, and his grin only widened.

“I knew you secretly liked me. But I know you like him more.” Jack nodded toward me, and Melissa scowled.

“Don’t listen to him.” I threw my arm around her shoulder and steered her back toward the student union. “See you at home, brother.”

“‘Bye, you two lovebirds.”

“You’re so little.” I looked down at Melissa and smiled, wishing for once that I’d been born with at least one dimple for her to admire.

She scowled again. “I’m not that little.”

But she was. I was six feet tall, and she might hit five feet if she stood on tiptoe. I towered over her, and I loved the manly feeling it gave it me.

“Do you have any more classes today?” I asked.

“Nope. You?”

“Just one.”