I nodded, my tongue suddenly all tangled up with nerves. What should I say?
He flashed me a grin. “I’m Les.”
Les? That was so much better than Lesley. I could live with that. Okay, phew. I nodded again, my hands clammy and my heart racing. What was I supposed to say to him? What did football players like to talk about? The only guys I talked to were the other students at Mueller-Fordham, and we talked recitals and classical music. No way would Les think that was interesting.
He started walking, and I realized we were all heading back toward the gym. I could handle that. I fell in next to him, pleased to discover I could actually walk beside him without tripping over myself. Point for me. Soon I’d even be able to talk.
“So, you go to St. Mary’s?” he asked.
I nodded for a third time. Think of something interesting to say. But nothing popped into my head except that I’d just realized that muddy guys were hot. Yeah, not going to say that.
His smile slipped a little. “Do you talk?”
“Of course.” Oh, God. My voice was totally hoarse. I cleared my throat. “Yeah. Sorry. So, um, you play football, huh?”
He swung his helmet from his fingertips. “Yeah.”
Oy. Dumb question! Duh, Lily! So, yeah, talk about football. “Do you score lots of runs?”
He slanted a look at me. “You mean touchdowns? You score runs in baseball.”
Did I mean touchdowns? It sounded like I did. Crud! Why was I such a dork? “Um, yeah, do you score a lot of touchdowns?”
His forehead puckered in a little scowl that would have been adorable if I wasn’t completely freaking out right now. “I’m a lineman.”
So? Did that answer my question about the goals? I had no idea. “Oh, right. Got it.”
Silence.
Delilah and Erin were up ahead, laughing and flirting with Jeff and Keith.
Les and I were silent.
Flirt. I should flirt. I tucked my hair behind my ear and tried to give him a scintillating smile. Was that right? How exactly did one flirt? Ah...
“So, um, you play a sport?” he asked.
“I play the piano.” I immediately relaxed. Piano was something I could talk about for hours. Talking about it with a cute guy suddenly made me forget that I hated it. Anything was good with a hottie walking next to me.
He frowned. “Really? Like classical music?”
“Yep. I spent the summer on tour. I played nursing homes and a couple museum luncheons and at a fundraiser for clean lakes in southern Maine. And...” I trailed off at the glazed look on his face. “And stuff like that.”
“Sorry, but I’m not really into the piano thing.” He looked pained. “What else do you do?”
Um... I chewed my lip and tried to think of something. Homework and maintaining personal hygiene didn’t seem like the best answer.
“Like, have you seen any movies lately?” He was starting to sound desperate.
“No. I’ve been pretty busy with the piano. I have this big audition coming up...” I trailed off at the grimace on his face. Okay, so he didn’t want to hear about the audition. “But I wanted to see a movie.”
He brightened. “Which one?”
“The one with Matt Damon.” Surely, Matt Damon was in a movie right now, wasn’t he? Maybe.
Les frowned. “He has a movie out right now?”
Or not. Crud. I was so bad at this.
He swung his helmet a little more restlessly and glanced ahead at his friends, like he was wishing he was with them instead of with me. “What about television? What’s your favorite show?”
I grimaced as my heart began to pound. “I don’t really get to watch much TV.”
His mouth hardened into a bored line. “Because you’re playing the piano.”
“Yeah.” But I wasn’t a loser! There had to be something interesting about me, didn’t there? Like...um...
He grunted. “You watch sports?”
“Not a lot, but, um, I’d really like to learn about football.”
Interest flickered on his face. “Really? You want to come watch my game on Friday night?”
I grimaced again. “I’d really like to, but I can’t.”
“Piano?
God, the look of pity and disgust on his face was totally embarrassing. “No, I’m going to rob a convenience store. Want to come?”
He stared at me.
“I’m kidding.” I gave a weak laugh. “Joke.” In my head, it had sounded better than admitting I’d played the piano, but it hadn’t come out so well. Obviously, Inverness guys didn’t think jokes about robbing convenience stores were funny. Rafe would probably think it was hilarious. Too bad Rafe had a girlfriend who was terrible at the keyboard.