A/N I feel obligated to give a tissue warning since I got teary writing this and my pre-readers mentioned getting teary as well. So yeah. See you below!
Sideline Collision Chapter 26
Crawford was coming at me like a fucking freight train. Even though he couldn't hit me, I knew I had to get the ball out quick. A touch was as good as a sack. Garrett was blanketed by Jones and Hunter while Eric was running a lazy fucking crossing pattern that wasn't worthy of my time or effort. I checked down to the back and released the ball right before Crawford touched my arm. Cherry cut and zipped away from Jenkins and picked up the first down. It was pretty fucking cool that we were playing in the Super Dome. In a year and a half, I might just be playing here for real.
"Nice read, Cullen!" Coach called, trotting over. "Yorkie, what the fuck was that half-assed shit? Do I need to bench you for Gibbs?" Eric shook his head, trotting back up to the line.
"Don't worry, Coach, I'm not throwing it to him if he doesn't put a little effort in." Yorkie glared at me but damned if on the next snap he didn't go deep and catch my perfect pass for a touchdown. "That's more like it." Whatever his fucking problem with me, he better put it aside for the game or I'd do more than break his fucking nose.
"Try to make it a little more catchable, next time. I could have pulled a muscle reaching for that," he muttered once we were back in the huddle.
Fuck that noise. I got right in his face and shoved him back. "Excuse me? That pass was perfect. Sorry you had to actually do your job and extend a little effort. If you'd like to sit on the fucking bench, I'd more than happy to accommodate you." His backup, Gibbs, was only a freshman but he was tall and had more talent in his pinky than Yorkie had in his whole body. He was raw, but I could work with him.
"Do we have a problem here?"Coach asked, glaring at Eric. I wanted to laugh but elected not to. I may have smirked though.
Eric glared at me. "No, Coach, I was just telling Cullen to put a little more on the ball next time."
Coach laughed. "A little more and it'd be ten rows up in the stands. The pass was great. You need to run the full pattern and maybe you won't have to strain so hard to catch the ball." Eric looked like he was going to argue but Garrett slapped him on the shoulder and he thought better of it. "Okay, we're done. Hit the showers. Good practice, men. I expect all of you in your rooms by ten tonight and if one of you steps out of line, you're out of the game tomorrow. That goes for all of you."
Why the fuck was he looking at me? I'd been a fucking choir boy since we got to New Orleans. I ate dinner with the team every night and went to my room, alone, where I'd call Reed Girl just to hear her voice. Knowing that she was here, finally, had me itching to get off the field. It fucking sucked that we were having dinner with my family tonight. I wanted to sneak my girl into my room and have a real reunion. A week without her was entirely too fucking long. She better not be planning to spend the summer in Forks or else I was going to have to go up with her. I was as addicted to my girl as Jasper was to his fucking weed.
The guys started heading toward the locker room but Coach waved me over. "Is this thing with Yorkie going to be too much of an issue for you?"
"I don't know. I don't think he'd sabotage the whole team just because he's pissed that I kicked his ass but he's acting like a whiny little bitch so I can't say."
"Is Gibbs ready?" he asked, which I thought was pretty fucking awesome. Coach trusted my take on my guys.
"He can be, if I work with him a bit." Fuck, no alone time before dinner. "Gibbs!" He turned and trotted over to us. "You wanna play tomorrow?"
His brown eyes got really big. "Yeah, man!"
"Let's get to work then." I had a receiver to break in. Yorkie was done. The look on his face when he found out he'd been replaced tomorrow was going to be epic. It almost made it worth missing time with my girl. Only almost though.
Xoxoxoxoxox
I could practically feel my body vibrating with the need to touch her when I walked into the restaurant. Since I had to stay after practice and work with my newest badass receiver, I was running late and they were already seated. The hostess chick's eyes practically popped out of her head at the sight of me and I had to laugh as she stumbled her way to our table since she wouldn't take her eyes off me.
"Let me know if there's anything I can do to, I mean, for you," she offered as I stepped to my seat. I barely noticed her because my girl was there looking beautiful in a dress the color of my jersey. I loved the way Reed Girl showed her team spirit.
"Thanks. Hey, baby." Reed Girl's eyes were snapping with temper at the chick who was hovering over me. It was really fucking hot when she got territorial. I bent to kiss her, hearing a sigh from the hostess behind me.
"Well, really, Edward, you don't need to inhale her at the dinner table!" Fuck. I recognized that voice. I braced myself and turned to face my grandmother. It fucking figured that my grandparents were here.
"Hi, Grandmother. Hi, Grandpa. I'm so glad you could be here." I wasn't, really. Grandpa Cullen was okay but Grandmother and Mom hated each other and made family gatherings not a hell of a lot of fun.
"Well, of course we're here! Have to see our grandson win his championship, don't we? Now do I get a kiss too, or is that only reserved for the flavor of the month?" Reed Girl stiffened and I rubbed her shoulders soothingly before stepping over and brushing my lips over my grandmother's wrinkly old cheek. I fucking hated kissing that old bat especially now that she was insulting my girl.
"She's not a flavor of the month," my mother hissed from her place at the other end of the table from my grandmother. Yeah, we tried to keep them as far apart as we possibly could. "As if you've ever met any girl in Edward's life? You know this is special."
"Yeah, she is." I sent my girl a smile as I shook Grandpa's hand and accepted his congratulations. I sat down next to Reed Girl and put a hand on her leg, squeezing gently. Her hand slipped over mine and she squeezed me back. Good. She didn't need to let my grandmother's inappropriate ramblings bother her.
"How was practice?" Dad asked as I picked up my menu.
"Not bad. Stayed late to get some work in with Gibbs. Yorkie half-assed it in practice today and Coach and I decided to bench him." A glance at the menu told me I was having steak so I put it aside and leaned into Reed Girl. "You look fucking beautiful. Wanna ditch dinner and go back to my room?" I asked quietly.
She laughed lightly and squeezed my hand again. "You don't know how badly I wish we could, but I figure your grandmother might accuse me of corrupting you if we leave together."
I snickered and bit her ear, making her shiver. "She already knows how corrupt I am. Got too much of my mom in me, don't you know?"
"I love your mom. She doesn't take shit from that woman, does she?" she whispered. I laughed and shook my head. "No, seriously, she's been eying me since I got here. I think she thinks I might steal the silverware."
My girl made me laugh like no other. "What would she care if you do? It's not hers. Go ahead, baby, slip that spoon into your purse."
She giggled and smacked my arm. "Cut that out. Troublemaker."
A clearing throat caused me to look up and see that the whole table was looking at us. "Uh, what?"
"Your grandfather asked if you were ready for tomorrow night?" my grandmother responded, sounding all high and mighty. What the fuck was her problem?
"I was born ready," I promised, making everybody but her laugh. Damn, Grandmother could be a hardass with Mom but she was usually pretty cool with me and Em. I shot him a look and he shrugged. Damn, he didn't know why she was being such a bitch either.
"I certainly hope so. It's time that a Cullen won a championship. We've been so close." Yeah, Grandmonster was throwing it in Grandpa, Dad's and Emmett's faces. Their expressions were identically irritated too. You could tell we were fucking family.
Mom sucked in a breath and Dad hurried to speak before she could. "Yes, it'll be nice to have a national championship in the family. Edward really is the best player out of all of us."
"On and off the field," Blondie muttered, and then she let out a little yell. "Ow!"
"Sorry, my foot slipped." Reed Girl shot her a warning look and Blondie huffed and rubbed at her calf.
God, I fucking loved my girl. I kissed the side of her head and slipped my arm around her. "Thanks, beautiful."
"Anytime," she murmured, leaning into me.
"What did that comment mean?" My grandmother's sharp blue eyes were focused on Blondie.
She shifted uncomfortably. "Uh, just that before Bella came along; Edward had quite the rep on campus."
"Well of course he did. He's a Cullen. Just look at him." Grandmother waved her hand. "All of my boys have the ability to pick from the cream of the crop." She sighed and sipped her water. "It's a shame that none of them seem to want to do so," she muttered loudly enough for all of us to hear.
What the fuck did she just say? Before I could be sure, Mom slapped the table, making all of us jump. "That's it. I've tolerated your insults for twenty-five years but I'll be damned if I let you insult these girls. You don't know a thing about them. Either apologize to them or leave."
"Esme," Dad started but she smacked his hand away when he reached for her.
"No, Carlisle. She's been making veiled comments since the girls got here. I won't put up with it."
My grandmother was glaring at Mom. "You're making a scene, not that I expect anything less from you. I didn't mean anything by it. I was just pointing out that they could date senator's daughters and the like."
Fucking hell. I could just see myself with a senator's daughter. I'd be bored out of my mind in the first minute. "We're dating the right girls for us, Grandmother," I told her. Reed Girl was silent next to me and I pulled her a little closer. "Nobody gets me like Bella does. She puts up with a lot from me and I'm lucky that she's willing to deal with it." My girl gave me a grateful smile. It surprised me that she wasn't cutting my grandmother down like she was capable of but I guess she was trying to be polite. I should tell her to fuck that noise and just be herself.
"There's nobody better than Rosie!" Emmett boomed. "And she's a mayor's daughter, so there!"
"Is that so?" Grandmother asked, glaring at all of us before turning to Blondie. "Does he have higher aspirations?"
Blondie shrugged. "You'd have to ask him, but I don't think so. He's got plenty of money and he likes running our town. Everybody knows him and he knows all of them as well. He says that the bigger you get in government, the further away you get from the very people you're supposed to be helping."
Grandmother sniffed. "I see. Well, that's something I guess. And you? What does your father do?"
Reed Girl smiled. "My father is the Chief of Police in Forks, Washington and my mother is a cougar." Ha! There my girl was.
"A what? A BYU grad?" Grandmother sounded scandalized. I almost wished that I could tell her that Bella was indeed a Mormon just to see if she'd have a stroke. Maybe I should tell her I was converting too.
"No, a cougar. She married a guy who's barely older than I am. And she has an eye on your grandson, so watch out." My girl was completely unruffled by how rude my grandmother was, which didn't remotely surprise me. She was so awesome. I needed to get her alone and naked as soon as humanly possible.
"Well, that's just…" Grandmother sputtered, unable to come up with the words. "Inappropriate. What kind of thing is that to say?"
"You asked, so I told you. It's kind of sexist that you only wanted to know about our fathers, isn't it? My mom could be the governor for all you know." Fucking A, my girl was fantastic.
"Not married to a child, she couldn't be!"
"I'd vote for her," Mom put in, grinning at Reed Girl. "Though I might have to beat her up for hitting on my boy."
Reed Girl laughed. "I'd allow that. I nearly had to beat her off him myself."
"Well, really."
"Now, Elizabeth, you just said yourself that the boys are good looking. Of course women of all ages find them attractive." Grandpa patted her hand. "How about we order?" He raised a hand and the waiter came running. Grandpa might not be a pain in the ass like Grandmother was, but he reeked of power and money and was used to people doing his bidding. We all ordered and Grandpa turned to Dad. "Tell me, son, how is your practice going?"
Reed Girl relaxed a little as Dad started talking about medicine. "Is she always like that?" she whispered.
I rubbed her shoulder soothingly. "Yeah, with Mom. We've never had girls around her, so I guess she's on overload right now. Grandmother's very territorial."
"Like a viper," she said softly, making me laugh.
"You wouldn't be the first to call her a snake, I'm sure," I told her.
"Yeah, well. Is Eric really being benched?"
"Looks like it. He's either running lazy routes or accusing me of not putting enough on the ball." Just thinking about it pissed me off. "Coach asked if I thought he'd do it tomorrow. I hope not, but how the fuck do I know? Clearly he's pissed that I kicked his ass and he's trying to fuck with me. I don't know if he'd screw the whole team but why chance it, right?"
I didn't realize my voice was getting louder until I noticed that the whole table was quiet. "What?"
"You beat up one of your teammates? Why?" Grandpa asked.
Fuck. I glanced at Reed Girl who looked to be blushing. "He said something I didn't like and when I warned him to back off, he didn't, so I shut him up. It was no big deal. I didn't even get punished really."
"You can't go around hitting your teammates. You're supposed to be a leader. What kind of message does that send?" Grandpa asked.
I rolled my eyes. "That I won't take any shit from my teammates, that's the message it sends. They don't have to like me, they have to respect me and if they fear me, more's the better."
"Hell yeah!" Emmett stuck his big paw across the table and I laughed and gave him a high five.
"You can't beat respect into people, Edward. What did this boy say?" Grandpa looked ready to launch into a lecture.
"I can guess," Grandmother said, shooting a look at Reed Girl.
"It doesn't matter what he said," Mom cut in, sending another scathing look back at my grandmother. "Edward took care of it and obviously the coach is on his side with this player if they're going to bench him. That's all that matters."
"Who's starting in his place?" Emmett asked.
"Gibbs."
"He's awesome."
"Yeah, he's ready. I told him to trust his instincts and just run the routes. I'll get him the ball. He'll be runner up for MVP if he plays like he did today."
Reed Girl laughed. "No doubt in your mind who the MVP is going to be, is there, baby?"
I smirked at her. "Do you have any doubt, Reed Girl?"
"In you? Never. Though I won't write off LSU's defense quite as easily as you will."
I smiled. "I'm not writing them off. They're good. I'm better."
"You're a Cullen," Grandmother said, as if that explained it all. "You'll do just fine." Our food came and it was silent for a few minutes as everybody was served and dug in. "You, Rose, is it? What's the situation with you and my grandson?"
Blondie set down her fork, her expression wary. "What do you mean?"
"Did he or did he not propose to you over the Jumbotron like some drunken sports fan?" Her glare was directed Emmett's way now and he shrank back a little bit.
"He…I mean…we…Emmett?" Blondie looked to him for help but she wasn't getting any from my suddenly mute brother. "That was his way of getting my attention after we'd been broken up for awhile. We're not engaged, we're just dating again and working our way back to the point where maybe we'll want to be," she rambled.
"I see." Grandmonster's tone was totally disapproving but at least it wasn't directed at me and my girl. "And his crass way of getting your attention worked? Really?"
Blondie looked annoyed. "I thought it was sweet. Embarrassing, but sweet."
"I'm sure you did." Grandmother's smile was so fake it was fucking ridiculous.
"I'm moving to Tallahassee and working with the team as strength and conditioning coach, rehabbing my knee and getting everything together for the draft," Emmett told her, no doubt trying to take Grandmother's attention off his girlfriend.
"It's good that you have a plan, dear. I hope your rehab goes wonderfully," Grandmother told him, smiling for real this time. She may be evil to the girls, but she loved us boys.
"What is her deal? Does she hate all women or only the ones that encroach on her family?" my girl asked me softly.
"Family, I think." Sharp blue eyes cut our way and I felt a little sick despite my awesome steak.
"And what is the deal with you two? How long have you been together?"
"A little over a month," I told her, smiling at my girl.
"And you're spending holidays together? That's not very long." There was the disapproving voice again.
"What do you…" my mother started, but my dad shook his head and I cut in.
"We wanted to be together. I love Reed Girl and she loves me." That made my mom smile again and my girl's whole face lit up.
"That's the second time you've said that. What does this Reed Girl thing mean?"
I grinned and pushed my plate away since I'd had enough. "It's because of how we met. She plays the oboe in the Marching Chiefs and when she ran into me on the field before a game, she broke her reed."
"You broke it," Reed Girl corrected, as always.
"She showed up in my locker room demanding that I pay her back and…" I broke off because I could hardly tell my grandmother that I'd fucked a girl whose name I didn't even know against my locker. "And I couldn't get her out of my head so I tracked her down, bought her some reeds and took her out."
"Such a great story," my mom said with a sigh.
"Such a bunch of bull, you mean," Grandmother disagreed, leaning forward. "How did you really meet?"
What the fuck? "I just told you."
"That's not possible."
Reed Girl looked like she was about to pass out. She got really pale. "I think I should go use the restroom."
"Are you okay, baby?"
"No, she's not okay. She's a liar."
"Really, Mother, that's enough!" Dad sounded pissed. "You can't go around calling people you don't even know liars."
"But she is one. There is no way they met like he says." Grandmother crossed her withered old arms over her chest.
"I think I know how we met," I told her angrily.
"I think I know about the marching band, don't I? Were any of you ever in band?" We all shook our heads. "Well, if you had been, you'd know that nobody plays the oboe in the marching band because the reeds are too breakable. That girl does not play the oboe in marching band." She pointed at my girl who was breathing heavily and looking like she wanted to crawl under the table.
"Bella?" I didn't know what I was asking. It didn't make sense. That was how we'd met. She'd plowed into me on my field and started screaming about her broken reed. I hadn't imagined that. What the fuck was going on here?
"Edward…I…can we go somewhere to talk about this?"
Oh fuck. It couldn't be true. "Do we need to?"
"Anything you want to say to him, you can say in front of the family that you, undoubtedly, will not be a part of," Grandma interrupted.
Fuck this noise. "Grandmother, why do you have to be such a bitch? Can't you see that she's upset?" Tears were pricking at my girl's eyes and even though there were about a billion questions swirling in my head, I damn well didn't want to see her cry.
"What did you call me?"
I didn't have time for her shit when Reed Girl was upset. "I called you a bitch, because only a bitch would delight in upsetting my girlfriend in front of our entire family." I stood and held out a hand to my girl. "Come on, Bella. We'll go outside and talk."
"Well! I never!"
"That's only because nobody had the balls to say it to you before," I heard my mom telling her as my girl and I walked away from the table and out into the muggy New Orleans night. She released my hand and hugged her arms around herself. Now that we were away from the old bitch, all the questions she'd raised came flying into my head.
"Is she right?" It wasn't the only question I had, but it seemed like a good place to start.
Big, sad brown eyes peered up at me. "Yes." I felt like I was going to puke. How? Why? Why did she lie to me all this time?
"So you pretended that I broke your reed?"
She shook her head and reached for my hand but I stepped back. I couldn't touch her right now. If I touched her, I'd only remember how much I wanted her and I wouldn't be able to focus on the conversation.
"No, you did break it, well, sort of." She took a deep breath and looked right at me. "You know that I had a crush on you before we met. I didn't hide that from you, once we got to talking."
Yeah, I knew she wanted me. That was nothing new. "Yes."
"I knew I could have met you at a party and we could have hooked up. Eventually you'd have noticed me and we'd have gotten together. Once," she added bitterly.
Of course I would have noticed her. She was fucking beautiful. Had I seen her across a room at a party, I would have had to have her and I damn well would have made her mine.
"But I didn't want that, Edward. I didn't want to be another notch in your belt, another nameless, faceless girl that you fucked and forgot. You get that, don't you?"
No. Yes. Maybe. I didn't know. It wasn't possible to forget her. She was my Reed Girl. She was the woman I loved. She was…a lie maybe? I was so fucking confused.
"I couldn't forget you if I tried," was all I could tell her. She was part of me now. I didn't know who I was without her anymore.
She laughed, not the sexy, smoky laugh I was used to, but a hard, bitter laugh that sounded wrong coming from her. "Now you couldn't, no. I made sure of that, didn't I?"
"What did you do?"
"I knew if I wanted to be more to you than just some random girl, I needed to get your attention in an unorthodox way." She took a deep breath and rubbed her arms. Was she cold? I should give her my jacket, shouldn't I? I shrugged it off and put it over her shoulders. She smiled and touched my face. I closed my eyes as her touch burned through me. No. I had to focus. I stepped back and broke contact.
She sighed. "So, I stashed my oboe on the side of the field and when you came out, I gave Angela my flute and grabbed my oboe and walked right into you on purpose." She said the words quickly, almost too quickly.
On purpose. The words kept echoing in my head. She'd planned it all. She'd lied to me and she'd orchestrated our meeting and our entire relationship. I'd fallen right in line and fallen in love and given her everything she'd ever wanted.
"Edward? Do you hate me?"
Hate her? I didn't know if it was possible to hate her. I didn't know what I felt, other than sick. It was the night before the biggest night of my life and I just wanted to go home and throw up and get in bed. Alone.
"No."
"But you're mad." I looked at her. Her eyes were wet but her head was held high and she met my gaze head on. That was my girl, alright, not running from the shit she'd done. My girl? Was she? I didn't fucking know.
"I don't know what I am. I don't know why you did this. I don't know why you didn't tell me you did this and why my fucking cunt of a grandmother had to be the one to tell me you lied in front of my whole family."
She winced but nodded. "I did it because I wanted to be with you. I thought, no, I know you're the most beautiful man I've ever seen. Even though we never spoke and even though you never noticed me, I couldn't get you out of my head for over a year. Every guy I went out with paled in comparison to you. I wanted a shot at you and I finally got the balls and took it."
Her words should make me feel good, but honestly, I'd heard that before. It just made her sound like all those other girls that just wanted to be with me because I was hot and rich and talented.
"I thought I was more than that, to you."
"You are, now." She reached for me again and again I stepped away. "I didn't know you, Edward. I wanted to."
"So you arranged it and I fell for it hook, line and sinker. Did you laugh about it? Shorty and Blondie have to know, of course. And Four Eyes. Was it just a game to you?"
"No! Of course not! I wanted to be with you, yes, but it was never about using you or playing a game." No? She was damn good at it, though. Look how quickly I fell for her. Fell for what I thought was her, anyway.
"Edward, I was honest with you about what I thought about you when we started. What I thought about us. I figured we'd have some great sex, have some fun and we'd both move on when one of us, more likely you, got their fill."
I hadn't had my fill by a long shot but I didn't know what the fuck was going on. Were we over? She lied, all this time she lied.
"Then I fell in love with you, which wasn't something I'd planned on." She made a face and shook her head. "I kept trying to prepare myself for the day that you got tired of me and walked away, but no. You fell in love with me, which really wasn't something I ever thought would happen. You have to believe that, Edward. It wasn't a game, it wasn't a joke. I just wanted to meet you and see what we could be. And what we are is so much more than I could have dreamed. So much better. Isn't it?"
It was everything. It was nothing. I was so fucked in the head right now. I felt sick.
"I don't know, Reed…fuck! You're not my Reed Girl. All this time, that nickname has been bullshit." Why that could hurt even more than the rest of it I couldn't say.
"I am your Reed Girl. I'll always be your Reed Girl. Maybe we met under false pretenses, but everything that came out of it was real." She was crying and I felt like a dick, but this was her fault, not mine. Wasn't it? See? I didn't even fucking know.
"Sometimes, when I called you that, or when your broken reed came up, you'd get this look on your face." I understood it now. Fear. She was afraid I'd find out and leave her. Now I knew. Did I make that a reality? She'd lied. She wanted me and she got me and I was a dumbass who didn't know that there were no oboes in marching band. "Is that why you didn't tell me about your concert?" Of course it fucking was. All her little band nerds were there. Hadn't the fucking conductor dude mentioned that she played other instruments?
"Yes. But I was going to tell you after the game. I swear I was."
"That's easy to say now." How did I know that wasn't a lie too?
"I know." She smiled sadly. "I know you probably don't think you have any reason to believe me but I swear it's the truth. Everything since we met has been real."
I closed my eyes and tried to focus but there was too much. My head was pounding, my stomach was rolling and I felt like my heart had cracked in two. "I want to believe you."
She put her hand on my arm and my eyes flashed open. "Then do, Edward. You know what you feel when we're together. This, us, is right. Maybe the way I met you wasn't, but everything since."
I felt the same draw to her I had from the start but I didn't know if it was enough. "I need to go."
Her hand tightened on my arm. "Please, don't run away from me again."
No. I'd promised her that much back in Forks. "I'm not running. I need to go and I need time to think. And then I need to turn off my fucking brain and try to focus on the fucking game that I'm supposed to win in front of millions of people tomorrow." This was so fucked up. How was I supposed to play when I couldn't even think?
"Yes. You need to focus on the game. I never, ever wanted to take that away from you, Edward. Please, forget about this if you can. This is why I wasn't going to tell you until after the game."
"If you'd told me weeks ago, this wouldn't have happened."
She flinched at the heat in my words, but I couldn't help it. "If I'd told you weeks ago, you probably would have walked away from me. You'd have convinced yourself that none of it was real and ended it."
How did she know that? I sure as fuck didn't know what I was doing then or now. "Well, I guess neither one of us will ever know that, since you took the option away."
She bit her lip and nodded. She looked so sad that I wanted to reach out and hold her. But I couldn't. Everything was fucked up. "I'm sorry. I hope you know that I do love you."
The words were on the tip of my tongue but I refused to say them. "I'll talk to you later."
She smiled sadly. "Okay. Kick some ass tomorrow night."
I didn't know how I was going to get through tonight, let alone tomorrow. "I will. Bye Ree…Bella." She wasn't that anymore.
My girl, Bella, huddled further in my jacket. "Bye," she whispered. I didn't have the heart to ask for it back, so I turned and started walking in the direction of my hotel. I glanced back and saw she was standing there, watching me, tears streaming down her cheeks as she hugged my suit jacket. My body wanted to run back to her but I couldn't. Not now. I had a fucking game to focus on. I wasn't going to lose that, too.
A/N Well, the secret's finally out! Some of you knew from the BPOV (which I will be posting tomorrow) and some of you guessed or got close to guessing, but she does not play oboe in the marching band. She plays the flute there and oboe in orchestra.
Before I get yelled at, they did not break up. And yes, I know this is a romance/humor story. I've thrown you guys a curve before and you know how quickly things come together when I'm writing them, so just have a little faith. I'm already halfway done with next chapter and plan on posting it early next week, so you won't be waiting for long, okay?
And I hope you aren't too mad at Reed Girl (yes, that is still her name, Edward). She never thought they'd both fall so hard and then she didn't want to lose him or cause him to lose his game because he was focused on the wrong thing. Thanks Grandmonster Cullen. Who wants to bitchslap an old lady?
Okay, hope you still like me! We're actually very close to the end of this story. I anticipate about 3 more chapters after this one. Exciting times ahead! I spent part of this morning looking at potential cover art for my book. It doesn't get much cooler than that! See you tomorrow with BPOV and soon with the next chapter. Love you guys!