Adorkable(69)

I didn’t—but it sounded really interesting.

As I was working up the nerve to ask her about it, someone said, “Sally, you busy?”

I looked up, straight into the eyes of Clayton Kent. He was wearing his usual assistant coach uniform, but the seriousness in his expression was so out of place, it made me uneasy.

“Oh hey, Clayton,” I said, trying to act natural.

“Would you mind stepping over here so we can talk?”

“Got something you can’t say in front of me, Coach Kent?” Hooker pouted. “And I thought you were a Southern gentleman.”

He gave her a patronizing smile then faced me. “Sally?”

“Sure.” Following him to the next table over, empty on one end—the one closest to us—I steeled myself.

Clayton didn’t beat around the bush. “Sally, did you really dump Becks?”

I gulped. God, he looked mad. “Yeah, I guess.”

“What’d he do?”

“Huh?” I said, dumbly.

“What’d he say? Was he a jerk?” His eyes flashed, and I didn’t think I’d ever seen him look so hostile. “Did he hurt you? I’ll kill him if he did, Sally. I swear it. You just tell me now, and I’ll take care of it.”

The threat was good, but the look on his face was better. I couldn’t contain myself. The laughter started low in my chest and bubbled out of my mouth, long and loud.

“Oh,” I gasped. “Clayton, I can’t believe you just said that.” Wiping tears from my eyes, I laid my hand on his arm. “Becks would never hurt me. He wouldn’t hurt any girl, and you know it.”

“Yeah,” Clayton agreed, reluctantly. “I was just hoping for a reason. You know, he’d get a whooping from each of us. Leo, Thad, Ollie and me wouldn’t stand for him making you cry. He didn’t, did he?”

“No,” I said quickly. His eyes got all squinty, but I smiled. “It’s sweet of you to offer, though. You know you’re my favorite, right, Clayton?”

“Of course,” he said, pulling me into a one-armed hug. “So you and The Whip are dating now?”

I shrugged. “That’s what they say.”

Clayton set me away from him, his hand resting on my shoulder. “You working your way through my bench or what? First Becks, now Ash. Next you’ll be going after Rick Smythe. He’s got a great block, nice set of calves.”

“Please.” I rolled my eyes. “How’d you know about me and Ash?”

“Heard it straight from the horse’s mouth as he and Becks were getting reamed by Crenshaw. The coach didn’t look too happy.”

That didn’t sound good. “They won’t get in trouble, will they?”

“Nah.” Clayton waved it off. “They’ll be fine. A little scuffed up, but fine. So…my Sally and Ash Stryker, huh? ‘Sash,’“ he said to himself. “That’s not bad.”

“Yep,” I said, ducking my head. It was strange how he seemed to accept me and Ash easier than me and Becks. It’d taken him less than an hour to link our names together.

Sash. Good grief.

“Hey.” Clayton waited until I met his eyes, then said, “Make him suffer.”

“What?” I asked.

“Becks,” he grinned. His crystal clear eyes seemed to see too much. “My brother needs to be smacked over the head sometimes. Don’t you dare let him off easy, Sally. You just be sure you make him work a little before giving in.”

“But Clayton…” I stammered as he walked away.

“Make him suffer, Sally,” he tossed over his shoulder, leaving me dumbfounded.

Clayton was a terrible big brother for saying that, but he was a good friend to me, and I appreciated the support. I didn’t want to hurt Becks, but it would be sweet to make him a little jealous—to know that he could get jealous over me, like a guy gets over a girl, a man over a woman. Time would tell, but in the meantime, I had to get back to Hooker and find out more about this tongue rolling thing.





CHAPTER 15





They won (of course). Chariot breezed past the second round of sectionals and the quarterfinals as well. Becks was playing better than ever. Like I’d heard Crenshaw say, it was as if someone had put gasoline on his already lit fire. He was unstoppable on the field, a one-man army of soccer devastation. The coach made the most out of Becks’s and Ash’s new feud, always putting them in together, never letting one sit out when the other was in action.

Not like they’d let him.

The two seemed to be in an all-out battle to see who could do the best, score the most. It was amazing to watch Ash try and rise up to Becks’s level. The Whip had already been a force to be reckoned with, but this was something else. Becks ended up outscoring him in the second round but not the third—which I could tell disturbed him greatly.