Waiting on the Sidelines (Waiting on the Sidelines #1)(67)

Looking him over, I reached up and straightened his matching tie and brushed a little bit of ice chip from his lapel. “There, now you’re ready to close that deal,” I smiled, winking a bit. He was rubbing off on me.

Buck just laughed and patted my back before we all got to work unloading. I wasn’t sure when Reed and Sean had joined us, but soon the truckload was moving to the tables much faster. I realized how when I went to grab a load of drinks from the truck and reached up to grab Reed’s hand to pull myself up into the truck bed. We both realized it at the same time, stilling for a few seconds and letting the sensation of our connected fingers touch just a little too long.

I looked up at his face, startled, and he was just staring down at our hands when suddenly he moved to put his hands in his pockets and jumped down from the bed of the truck, careful to avoid my eye contact. I just sat back on the edge of the wheel well, pretending to catch my breath a little. Buck walked up then and climbed up into the truck and sat on the wheel opposite of me.

“Well, if you say it’s break time then it must be,” he chuckled, rubbing his hands on his knees and bending forward a little. “Ooooof, I’m certainly not the young man I used to be.”

He just looked up and smiled at me and I reflected his emotion as best I could. His grin disappeared quickly though. “What’s eatin’ at you, sugar?”

I stood up and started to lift another box, just shrugging. I had a feeling he could read me if I looked at him, so I was careful. “I don’t know. Just in a bit of a funk, I guess. Probably just the new school year. Classes are hard,” I lied.

“Hmmmm,” he just stalled, rubbing his chin a bit. “Aren’t you the ‘smarty pants’ in your class? At least, that’s what Reed’s always telling me,” he was on to me.

I just laughed a little, nervously. “Smarty pants, huh? So that’s what he calls me when I’m not around,” I diverted.

I jumped down from the end of the truck and propped the box up on my hip to adjust my grip, smiling at Buck, who was standing up again and pulling out a napkin from his pocket to wipe at his sunglasses. “Nah, that’s not what he calls you. Just said you’re really smart that’s all,” he said as he stepped down from the truck to join me. “Fact is, he calls you lots of other things.”

OK, I’ll admit, I was intrigued. “Oh yeah? Like what?” I half joked, though deep down I was dying to know.

“Oh you’re not going to get me that easily, sugar. You wanna know that, you’ll need to ask him yourself,” he winked at me. We continued to walk over to the picnic tables and then he stopped for a minute. “But I will tell you that you’re important to him…” he paused again.

“Reed… he’s been off his game a little lately. I’m not sure what’s gotten into him, but he seems to be slipping a little. Not that I’m hard on my boy, but he’s just always been so self-driven, know what I mean? I never had to worry about that one. And we’ve always talked. He tells me everything. But something’s in his head, I can just tell. He give you any clues?” he asked.

I shrugged, my mind racing to the drama that unfolded on Reed’s lap this summer, absolutely wrecking any chance he and I had. I wasn’t sure how much Buck knew, so when I saw Tyler’s car pull up in the dirt lot near the barbecue pits, my stomach turned a little. “Excuse me, Mr. Johnson, I see a friend and I have to go meet him,” I smiled, as he halted me instantly.

“Girl, when are you going to call me Buck?” he smiled, his cheeks creasing under his eyes. It was the winning Johnson smile.

“Buck,” I said back. “Sorry, still hard to get used to that.”

Tyler was slowly walking over to the tables when he spotted me, taking his sunglasses off and smiling with those killer dimples and pushing his hand through his perfect damn hair. I noticed a few of the cheerleaders that were there hanging posters and anchoring balloons whisper to one another as he walked by. And I heard them lose their breath just a little when he pulled me into a kiss in front of everyone.

Nothing was ever halfway with Tyler. He kissed me for everyone to see, almost like he was laying claim and showing off. The attention from others made me a little uncomfortable, but I managed to come to terms with it since I really did like kissing him.

As I pulled back, I opened my eyes, blinking a little to regain my balance, a stupid smirk on my face for sure. “Hey,” I said, sloppily.

“Hey back,” he said, kissing me once more softly on the cheek. “So this is the famous pep rally, huh? Where are all the media cameras and stuff,” he asked, looking around a little to take in the scene.

I grabbed his hand and brought him over to the stage area and then we peeked around the corner from the back storage building just a little, where the parking lot had three or four media trucks with their satellite antennas raised high in the air. A few reporters were milling around, talking on phones and swapping stories about the upcoming high school football season.

Tyler just nodded, understanding a little more now. “So, he’s that good, huh?” he turned back to me.

I couldn’t lie, because yes, he was. “Yep, he’s that good.”

We were walking back over to the back tables where I was hoping to blend in and hide with the crowd some before I started grilling hotdogs and cooking for the team when we ran smack into Reed. I wanted to bury myself under the loose dirt right then and there. This was not happening.