Waiting on the Sidelines (Waiting on the Sidelines #1)(51)

Reed was sitting on the counter talking to Penny when I walked in.

“Uh, I believe she’s two minutes late, Penny. Make sure you take note of that,” he winked, snapping his towel at me as I walked by and rolled my eyes at Penny.

Penny was clearly always on the woman’s side, as she piped up right away, tapping on her watch. “According to my watch, she still has three minutes, sport,” she winked right back at him.

I walked through the women’s locker room where I stashed my bag for later and met Reed on the pool deck side. He wasn’t so subtle as he came over and planted the softest kiss on my right cheek. “I missed you,” he whispered. I melted.

Our intimate moment wouldn’t last long as Todd called out stations and we all headed out to them. The hours flew by again, and I seemed to always be taking my breaks with Tyler. I was more comfortable with him now as during our first break he asked me how long Reed and I had been going out. He must have witnessed our kiss in the pool yesterday. I told him we hadn’t been dating long, though I really wasn’t sure what to call us or how to answer that question. Either way, I thought Reed would be fine with my response. I got the feeling he wasn’t too keen on Tyler.

I saw Reed head for the locker room at about 2:30 and then come back out dressed in his varsity practice shirt and long sports shorts. He had his secret ASU hat on and slid along the deck in his flip flops over to the chair I was stationed at before he left.

“Hey, you better hurry or you’re going to be late,” I chided him.

“Well, good thing for me they can’t really run receiving drills without someone to throw to them,” he smiled. “So, you wanna just meet me at my place? We can leave your car at my house and I’ll drive.”

He had a devilish grin, bewitching me. “Sure… that seems the best way to go for this… wait, where are we going again?” I tried to bait him but he was having none of it.

“Ohhhh, you will just have to wait and see,” he said. “You keep this up and I’m apt to drive you around blindfolded for an hour first just to punish you.”

“Oh god please don’t do that, or else I’ll be apt to throw up all over your Jeep,” I wasn’t even kidding.

Not wanting to put on a show or get me in any trouble in front of the patrons, Reed just brushed his hands on my shoulder and tipped on his sunglasses before leaving. I watched him pull away from beyond the fence and in my mind started counting down until I saw him next for our official first couple outing.

While the first part of the day raced, the last hour of my shift seemed to tick by so slowly. At one point, I started counting people that went off the high dive, adding decimals for every bounce they took from the board just to make it interesting.

The center was staying open late tonight for lessons, so I didn’t have to wind up the ropes and spray the decks like I normally would. When my hours were up, I raced through the locker room, hopped in a shower and did my best to make myself presentable. He likes you just like this, I reminded myself as I turned from side to side in the distorted bathroom mirror.

I punched out for the day and told Penny to have a great night. She stopped me and said she’d walk out with me since her day was done, too.

She grabbed her purse, walked around the counter and we were on our way. Penny was extremely short, but she had a spirit and a certain look that warned people she could pack a mighty punch. She was digging for her keys in her purse as we were in the parking lot when she held out a piece of gum to me.

“Here, take one. Hot date tonight, I hear,” she winked.

“How’d you know?” I asked, taking the gum. I was grateful. I was nervous as it was, and the Doritos I had during my break were still hanging around a little in my breath.

“That fella of yours? Well, he sure does like you an awful lot,” she said, smiling as we started our walk again. I swooned a bit at her words, but had to ask.

“What do you mean,” I was curious.

“He got to work a little early today, so we had some time to chat. He was asking me for my opinion on some things he has planned for your date, said it was an important one,” she smiled and elbowed my side a little.

I grinned back. “Yeah, it’s our first official date. I sort of spent two years chasing him, you know,” I said, sort of wanting some credit, but I wasn’t sure what for.

“Well, you done caught him,” she said as she opened her door. “Have a good night tonight; and you tell me all about it tomorrow, ok?”

“You know it!” I said as she shut her door and buckled up.



I got to my car and threw my bag of wet clothes in the back. I figured I would just run everything through the drier later tonight to freshen things up.

I pulled out onto the main road and started right back where I left off with the singing. I wondered if my dad would be willing to help me save up for a newer stereo, one that I could program with my favorite songs and hook into my phone.

As I drove through the desert, my panic started to set in just a little more. I sat up tall to catch a glimpse of my face in the rearview mirror, scanning for pimples, stray eyebrow hairs (thankfully my eyebrow had grown back), bent lashes, anything that would make Reed run for the hills. I pulled the gum from my mouth, twisting it in a receipt that was in my cup holder, and smelled my breath about 20 times, worried that the Doritos were still lingering. Then I started to question my outfit, thinking that I should swing by my house first. I had nearly convinced myself to do just that when I realized I only had 10 minutes from the time I told Reed I would be at his house. I didn’t want to be late.