My education really was going to suffer, but that was a problem I could deal with once I’d done what I came here to do.
When the bell rang for lunch, I hurried from math, down the crowded hall toward the cafeteria where I was supposed to meet Jagger. I’d somehow managed to not bump into her all day. Also noticeably missing were Banjo, Rafe, and Colt. Rafe was in my math class, so I guessed he was absent today. Or maybe he just hadn’t bothered showing up and was getting stoned behind the gym again.
A gleam of gold in my peripheral vision had me putting on the brakes before I got to the cafeteria doors. I hadn’t come down this far yesterday, after my lunch break got swallowed up by the guidance counselor. If I had, there’s no way I would have missed the gigantic glassed-in trophy cabinet. The thing was huge, standing floor to ceiling and several feet wide. Every shelf was filled with sporting memorabilia. Trophies, banners, certificates, awards, photos…it was a mishmash, completely unappealing to the eye, most things obviously just shoved in haphazardly, but I was a little surprised by how much there was. This school might not have been up there in the academic stakes, but judging by the sheer number of trophies, sports was where they excelled. Football, cheerleading, lacrosse, basketball… I let my gaze flick over each one until my eye snagged on a familiar photo.
Last year’s football team. The same photo from the website. But this copy had the entire team’s names printed beneath it in tiny white writing, on a maroon-colored background. Bingo. Exactly what I needed so Meredith and I could get our stalk on. I pulled my phone out and through the grubby glass, snapped a photo. I tapped the screen to enlarge it. “Yep, that’ll do,” I murmured after ensuring I could read the writing. Someone really needed to clean that glass more often, though. Gross.
“What are you doing?” Jagger asked, coming up behind me.
I hit the home button on my phone, making the photo disappear, but I obviously wasn’t quick enough.
She side-eyed me. “Don’t tell me you have a thing for jocks?”
“Oh.” I shoved the phone in the pocket of my jeans. Designer jeans, but I hoped most of the kids wouldn’t notice that. “Um, yeah.” I tried to think quick. I really didn’t have a thing for jocks. I’d always gone for musicians in the past, but how else could I explain taking photos of the football team? I smiled at her and shrugged, like I was a bit embarrassed about being busted checking them out. “I guess I kind of do.”
Jagger gave an exaggerated sigh. Her crimson hair had streaks of purple in it today, which matched the violet liner she’d liberally applied around her eyes. “I can admit that there are some hotties on the team. But most of them date the cheerleaders.” She narrowed her eyes at me. “Please tell me you aren’t a cheerleader. I don’t know if we can still be friends if you are.”
I shook my head. “God, no. We didn’t even have a cheerleading squad at my old school.”
“Really?”
I shook my head. “Nope. Providence School for Girls wasn’t big on sports like football.”
“You didn’t have a girls’ team?”
I tried to imagine Meredith or any of my other old friends wanting to play football…and just couldn’t. Even getting them to their mandatory gym class had been met with complaints about broken nails and running makeup. There’d even been a petition, at one point, to cancel gym altogether and half the alumni had signed it, putting pressure on my uncle. Eventually, he’d worked with the gym teachers, and gym had changed from running laps, rope climbs, and shooting hoops, to yoga, Pilates, and yogalates…whatever the hell that was. That had pacified the masses.
“No, definitely not. We went to watch Edgely play a few times, though.”
Jagger wrinkled her nose. “Edgely Academy?”
I raised an eyebrow. “Why do you say that like it tastes bad?”
“Because they probably do?” She snorted at her own joke. “They’re notorious for cheating and playing dirty. I just assume they’re nasty all round. But maybe you’d know for sure?”
I shrugged.
“Ooooh, there’s a story there! Come on, tell me over lunch.”
I let myself be pulled along and contemplated exactly how much to tell Jagger about my life. I didn’t want to lie. I’d dated a few guys from Edgely. Made out with a couple, even. But it had never gone further than that. The interest just hadn’t been there on my behalf.
But it had been with Banjo. Would I have slept with him if we hadn’t been interrupted? I didn’t know. All I knew was I’d wanted to throw caution to the wind and just live in the moment. I didn’t know if that was because of him or if I would have felt the same with any guy who had been available that day.
It was probably better we hadn’t. I could only imagine how awkward that would have made school. It was awkward enough, just after sharing that one, sort-of-almost kiss. Plus, he was on the football team, which made him one of my suspects. No. Definitely better that we’d been interrupted.
“Have you seen Banjo today?” I asked as we pushed through the swinging doors. A weird aroma wrinkled my nose. Probably the slop that was being served up on plates. Great. Not only was I going to end up with a half-baked education, but I was probably going to end up with food poisoning, too. I vowed to bring a packed lunch tomorrow.
I scanned the room, my gaze coming to rest on one familiar face. Banjo’s lazy gaze rolled over my body, a slow grin pulling at the corners of his mouth. My heart fluttered. He sat at a table in the center of the crowded room, entirely by himself, looking completely at ease about it.
“I guess I don’t need to answer that question, then?” Jagger said, tugging me toward the food line. “Come on, quit making eyes at that boy and let’s get some food.”
I followed her along, but it was hard to keep my attention on the lumpy brown stew that landed on my tray when I could literally feel Banjo’s gaze on me. A flush crawled up the back of my neck as we moved along the line, waiting to get our drinks.
“So, you going to tell him yes?” Jagger asked.
“Tell who yes?”
“Banjo asked you out yesterday. Quit dodging the topic. Judging by the way you two were just eye-fucking, you want to say yes.”
Shit. In all the Colt drama, then the Meredith distraction when I’d gotten home, I’d completely forgotten that Banjo had asked me out. Again. That was twice now.
But somebody had killed my uncle and started a fire to cover it up. A fire that had nearly killed me before I’d been carried out. They could have left me for dead. Hell, they should have. I was now potentially somebody who could identify them. Would Banjo honestly ask me out if he’d been the one to do it? I doubted it. Being the starting quarterback probably meant he knew the guys on the team well. He was exactly what I needed. Somebody to spill all the inside details.
My heart rate picked up at the thought of going out with him. If I said yes, it wouldn’t be solely because I was playing sleuth. There was something more between us. I’d noticed it from the very first moment we’d met. It might have only been attraction, but it was a powerful one.
“Yeah,” I said slowly. “I think I’d like that.”
Jagger’s eyes lit up. “Let’s go tell him.”