Dare You to Hate Me

His eyes roam over me. “I’m sorry.” He doesn’t sound it though. “Maybe that wouldn’t be such a bad thing.”

My heart drops into my stomach when I consider he may be right. “Maybe,” I murmur, eyes peeking at my little brother again. He’s happy people watching. His face lights up when he sees a dog on a leash walk toward Cones with a family.

“You like dogs?” Aiden asks him.

Porter quickly nods. “I want one but Mom and Dad say—”

“They’re a lot of work,” Aiden finishes for him, shooting me a knowing look having heard it before. “Do you know I have a dog?”

Porter suddenly acts shy, humming out a confirmation of his knowledge over Cap. He’s asked me about him before, wondering if he could take him on walks. I told him no because Cap would pull him too much since he’s so big.

“Maybe you can play with him,” is what my friend says, like Mrs. Griffith told me.

I find myself staring in awe, unsurprised by his kindness but still taken aback all the same. I’m lucky to have him, I tell myself that every single day. He’s the first person I think of when I wake up and the last person that crosses my mind when I go to sleep.

Mostly because he’s close by.

It’s not my parents.

It’s not Porter.

It’s Aiden Griffith.

I hope that never changes.

Chapter Thirteen

Aiden

“We’re tied at the third, but if Griffith keeps playing like he has tonight, the Dragons will take home yet another win,” the sportscaster says as I grab water from the sidelines.

Coach Pearce walks over and slaps my back in praise. “Way to turn it around, son.”

I’m nodding absently while looking at the packed crowd waving red and white school memorabilia at us. The person I want to see is probably serving coffee and pastries across town instead of front and center where I want her to be.

I left out an old jersey on the bed for her to wear today, but wh

en I passed her on campus she was in a pair of black jeans that clung to her long legs and a shirt that should be fucking illegal on her figure. She looked untouchable—her outfit screaming “fuck you” as a direct response to me.

I couldn’t help but smile over it.

When I turn back to the crowd, I roll my eyes as DJ moves his hips to the music blasting like he’s auditioning for Magic Mike. The crowd cheers him on as he dances in his gear, and I watch as Matt and a couple other guys join him to do the electric slide along the sidelines.

Caleb walks over and bumps my shoulder with his, chuckling over our teammates. “That was crazy back there, man. You were dragging two guys as big as you all the way to the end zone and still wouldn’t go down.”

I shrug it off like it’s no big deal, wiping my arm across the sweat that trickles down the side of my face before putting my helmet back on and fastening it. “It’s whatever.”

Justin comes over and stops short of us, using his crutches as leaning posts. “How the hell did you even catch that? I thought for sure we were fucked after Wallace tried running the play himself.”

There’s no doubt Coach is going to chew our asses out as soon as the game is done, especially after what Wallace tried doing on the field. “I don’t even know, dude. Just happened.”

He snickers. “And did you see the look on Erikson’s face? Priceless. He was pissed his guys couldn’t take you down. Beast, bro. Beast.”

DJ walks over to us with his hands in the air, pumping as a group of girls from the stands scream louder at him. “We’re all going to get laid tonight, boys. I can feel it.”

“Don’t get cocky,” I warn, knowing damn well the game isn’t over yet. “Anything can happen still. They almost took down Dicky and Lamar, and without Brady…”

DJ stops me with a hard smack to the back. “But we have you, me, and Cal, so there’s no way they can get us now. And as much of a fucker as Wallace is, he’ll help get us the upper hand and round out the score.”