Chapter 8- There's a Girl

"I can't believe you made us stop at the diner." Riley huffed and pulled her blue beetle into the parking lot near the school athletic complex.

Maya said nothing. Instead, she grinned and took a small sip of the ginormous milkshake in her hands. The brightly colored styrofoam cup was so large, it took both of her small hands wrapped round the base to keep it from spilling all over Riley's pristine car.

Riley desperately searched for an open spot in the full parking lot. Thanks to her friend's insistence on needing a milkshake, they were late to the scrimmage.

"Oh up there?" Maya pointed to what appeared to be an empty parking spot. "Oh wait motorcycle. Damn." She snapped her fingers in frustration, almost causing her milkshake to slosh out of the cup.

"Don't you dare spill that in my car." Riley warned. She frantically continued to travel up and down the filled rows of cars.

"OH! Taillights! 2 o'clock! Initiate car stalking mode!"

"On it!" Riley slowed the car and turned on her blinker to indicate the unspoken dibs of car parking spots. An eternity passed before the car reversed out of the spot, allowing Riley to swiftly swing her car in. She hurried to climb out of her car and started in the direction of the field entrance. "I hope we're not too late." Riley weaved through the parked cars with Maya hot on her tail.

"Phst. Stop worrying. All we've missed is like a bunch of guys in tight pants throwing a ball and stretching...on second thought…" Maya darted ahead of Riley to lead the way, still careful to not spill a single drop of her precious milkshake.

Maya reached the entrance gate and attempted to breeze past it, but a hand reached out, blocking her way. Maya narrowed her eyes at the hand.

"Sorry. No outside food or drinks allowed."

Maya's eyes snapped to the offending voice, a tall dark haired boy taking tickets and checking student IDs at the gate. Her eyes shot hot daggers that seemed to yell, "how dare you stop me on my mission."

"Seriously?!" Riley cried out, "you just had to get that stupid milkshake. Just throw it away."

Maya recognized the boy, but racked her brain for how she knew him. Finally it hit her, he was a member of the swim team, in Josh's year. She knew Josh and his friends did not get along with him, after he ratted them out for sneaking into the pool after hours with a group of girls. Maya mentally rolled her eyes at the memory. She softened her daggers, a storm swirled in her eyes instead, and turned her grin into a seductive smirk.

The boy gulped loudly. "Uh sorry...but it's the rule...people bring stuff in and it diminishes the profits from the concession stands and…" he nervously prattled on.

Maya moved so she was standing directly in front of him. She looked up at him through her long eyelashes and blinked innocently.

"I'm so sorry…" Maya racked her brain to remember his name. Name, name! What is is? Brennan? Brad? No... "Brett...it's Brett right?" She purred.

His body stiffened. "...uh..ye..yeah." He stuttered over his words.

The crowd beyond the gate began to cheer loudly as the announcer began to call out the starting lineups for each team.

"Maya!" Riley desperately cried.

Maya faked a breathy laugh, letting her chest barely graze against Brett's long torso. "I know it's not allowed, but maybe you can make a teenie tiny exception for me? Please?" She bit her bottom lip for good measure.

Riley rolled her eyes.

Brett let out a strangled sigh. "Okay, go on."

Riley linked her arm with Maya's and pulled her through the gate.

"Thanks Brett!" Maya called over her shoulder.

"Why are you so determined to have that stupid milkshake? You don't even like mint chocolate chip." Riley pointed out as they climbed the stairs to the crowd-filled stands. They reached the metal walkway and scanned the stands for open seats.

"You're right. Too much gross fake green color. I could never drink this." Maya stopped walking. "Whatever shall I do with it?"

Before Riley could stop her, Maya skipped across the metal walkway to the front of the unofficial student section. She leaned against the railing and called out to the cheerleaders standing along the sideline in a perfectly straight line.

"Hey Missy!"

The dirty blonde cheerleader looked in Maya's direction and made a face of disgust before turning the opposite direction.

"Come over here! I have a message from Lucas for you!" Maya's yell began to attract the attention of the nearby students.

Missy hesitated, then decided to take the bait. She sauntered over to the bleachers and crossed her arms as she looked up at Maya.

"What." She snapped impatiently.

Using the elevation of the bleachers, Maya reached her arm out and proceeded to dump the slightly melted milkshake over Missy's head. Riley watched in horror as the green liquid drenched Missy's hair and pristine white cheer uniform. Missy's ear-piercing scream echoed through the stadium, bringing all eyes on them.

"If you ever threaten Riley again I will personally end you." Maya growled.

"You fucking bitch!" Missy screamed as she wiped the sticky ice cream from her eyes. The rest of the cheer squad circled around her and attempted to salvage her stained uniform with towels. Missy shoved them away from her and stormed off the field.

"Maya are you crazy!" Riley rushed to Maya's side, still in shock over the events she just witnessed.

Maya grinned and shrugged her shoulders. "Probably."

The booming voice of the announcer finally pulled the attention away from the crime scene in front of the student section. "Calling tonight's coin toss will be team captains, Josh Matthews and Lucas Friar for the red team and…"

"Come on let's find some seats." Maya grabbed Riley's hand and lead her up to the student section. Usually, the girls would have to push and shimmy their way through the packed stands, but tonight, students seemed to jump out of their way.

"Maya! Riley! Over here!" Farkle waved to them from his spot in the upper section of the bleachers. They easily made their way to Farkle and squeezed into the empty spaces next to him.

"Did you seriously just do what I think you did, or have I fallen into an alternate timeline in the matrix?" Farkle gasped.

"Sure did." Maya was still grinning, clearly very proud of herself.

"I can't believe you did that! Why would you do that?" Riley was still trying to process the social mutanty Maya instigated.

"If she threatens you, she threatens me. I'm not letting her get away with that shit this year. Oh look it's the boys!" Maya waved to the field.

Riley followed Maya's gaze to the field and spotted Lucas, Josh and Zay looking in their direction.

"Dudes. Did you hear that screaming earlier?" Zay quickly approached Josh, who was helping Lucas warm up his arm on the sideline.

"Screaming? Oh that must've been your mama right before I left her house today." Josh quipped without missing a beat.

Lucas snickered at Zay's annoyed face. "Yeah I heard it, but really what was it?"

Zay shook his head, "apparently, Maya threw her drink or something at Missy!"

Lucas's jaw dropped.

"Dude that's awesome!" Josh laughed.

"Is Riley okay?" Lucas immediately asked.

"Yeah, she's fine I think. They're in the student section." Zay nodded his head in the direction of the bleachers.

Lucas and Josh turned to look for the girls in the stands. They spotted Maya waving at them. Zay and Josh waved back to her, until they both noticed the other waving and awkwardly lowered their arms.

It took Lucas a moment to find Riley's smiling face in the crowd, as he was looking for her purple dress. He could barely see her small frame amongst the pack of students. Lucas laughed when realized she was now wearing a red shirt. He took off his helmet to make better eye contact with her and plucked at the chest of his jersey, non-verbally calling out her change of clothes.

Riley saw his gesture and nonchalantly shrugged her shoulders, but a slight sparkle in her eyes taunted him. To taunt him even further, Riley fake yawned and glanced around the field as if she were bored.

Lucas shook his head and slid his helmet back on, then turned his attention back to his two friends.

"If you two are done having eye sex, we'd like to play some football." Zay teased.

"Aw come on man! Baby sister. What part of baby sister do you not understand?" Josh cried out.

Riley watched Lucas intently. She hated to admit it, but she was mildly impressed. She had been to many of Josh's games before, but never really paid attention to the actual game. Usually she got bored of not understanding and occupied her time by people watching until Maya nudged her arm when it was time to cheer for something Josh did. Lucas, however, captivated her attention. She never thought she would associate the word graceful with football, but that's what Lucas was. He made the game into a graceful dance. She was mesmerized by his intricate footwork combined with his speed and power as he moved the ball down the field. Lucas played the game like an unfaltering puppet master, completely in control at all times. Control of the play, control of the ball, control of his mind as he made split second decisions. He could read the field faster than Riley could even comprehend, forcing the opposing defense to submit to his steady control. Riley watched in suspense as Lucas launched the ball in the air. It rocketed high, traveled almost half the distance of the field, and landed directly in Josh's arms. Josh tucked the ball under his arm and ran the rest of the distance to the end zone, scoring yet another touchdown. The crowd erupted in cheers. Maya clapped loudly and jumped up and down. Riley wasn't sure how Maya didn't topple right over in her skinny heeled boots.

"Yeah! Go Boing!"

The closeness of Maya's loud yell finally broke Riley from her trance. She leaned into Maya, "so now they kick it to get another point?"

Maya smiled at her. "Exactly! Unless they decide to run the ball in for two points instead, but that's a whole different story. See I told you you'd catch on eventually."

The crowd cheered again as the red team successfully kicked the ball through the goalposts for the extra point. Riley was slightly surprised at the crowd turnout. The stands were so packed, she had no idea that many people were interested in a scrimmage game. She knew high school football had a huge following, she witnessed it last year when the school's team made it all the way to state regionals. Surely such a big event for the community would warrant a large crowd, but a scrimmage game? Obviously the upperclassmen lead red team was easily defeating the underclassmen white team, but Riley wasn't sure if they were even keeping score anymore.

She watched Lucas laughing with Zay and her brother on the sideline.

"54 yards? Not bad for a pansycake." Zay playfully shoved Josh's shoulder.

"Pansycake?" Lucas laughed.

"I'd like to see you do better." Josh teased, "I mean I know I could do even more, but Mr. QB here has to step it up."

The crowd roared as a defensive lineman intercepted the ball.

"What do you say Lucas? Do you have it in that golden arm of yours to hit a 58 yard pass?" Zay suggested.

"Hell yeah." Lucas glanced at the clock and back onto the field. They had maybe just enough time for one more play. "What do you think coach?" Lucas called out, "time for one more play?"

Coach Thompson shook his head. "No. I think the underclassmen are traumatized enough."

Lucas gripped the edges of the pads protecting his chest in slight frustration. The underclassmen might feel worn out, but he sure wasn't.

Coach Thompson called both teams to the middle of the field to huddle around him. "Alright I know you're all excited to get out of here and see your family and friends, so I'll keep it short. Well done, everyone. I can see we are starting to hit a great stride as a team, and underclassmen, I know you feel like you got your asses handed to you...and you did, but that's the point of tonight's game. You needed to know what the pressure of a real gameday situation feels like. You never know when you could get thrown to the wolves and we have a lot of work to do, but tonight, you showed me that you're not quitters. Alright post game cool down, let's go! Captains lead. No one leaves this field until the trainers say so."

The team broke up the huddle and spread out across the field to begin the cool down stretches. Lucas took his place next to Zay and in front of a small group of underclassmen. He plopped down in the grass and began to stretch out his legs and back. Lucas. rolled his eyes as a trainer approached him with an ice pack sleeve.

"Come on Jerry do I really have to?" He groaned.

"Yupp. Pads off."

Jerry, one of the athletic trainers, stood next to Lucas as he angrily pulled his jersey and football pads over his head and shoved them to the ground.

Zay laughed at Lucas's tantrum. "Aw is the golden boy afraid of getting a little cold?"

Lucas scowled at the cold sensation of the ice sleeve Jerry strapped around his shoulder and down his right arm.

"Normally, I don't really mind. I just don't think I need it tonight." Lucas huffed, pulling his arm away from Jerry and continuing his stretches.

Zay shrugged his shoulders. "Then take it off."

Lucas debated pulling the ice sleeve off, but movement near the field entrance caught his eye. Like an antsy bull trapped in a cage, Lucas's father was pacing along the fence, not so patiently waiting to be let onto the field. He decided to leave the ice sleeve alone.

A few minutes went by before Coach Thompson greeted the parents waiting by the fence and opened the gate to allow them onto the field.

"Brace yourself." Lucas warned Zay as the cool down session ended.

Riley let Maya pull her through the crowd and onto the field, Farkle decided to skip out early to meet up with his mysterious crush from another school. Riley was in a complete daze. She had watched Lucas from the stands as he stripped off his jersey and pads, leaving him in an extremely form fitting sleeveless athletic undershirt. Even from the bleachers, she could see just how athletic and muscular Lucas was built. The mere thought of being even closer to him was making her slightly dizzy, but then again maybe being smashed next to so many people in the crowded stands is really what caused her to feel so anxious. Pull yourself together Riley! He's not a piece of meat! Calm down. Don't make it weird. Riley took a breath and focused on keeping up with Maya. The crowd thinned out as they reached the field and Riley immediately felt less overwhelmed.

"Riley! There you are!" Riley smiled as she heard the sound of her dad's voice. Her parents were already on the field with Josh.

"Good game bro!" Riley greeted her brother.

"Thanks Riles. I can't believe this is my last scrimmage night already."

"I can't believe my baby is going graduate so soon!" Topanga cried out with an emotional smile.

"Ma, graduation is still like 10 months away." Josh assured his mom.

Topanga shushed him with her hand. "Riley, Maya stand with Joshua. Mama wants a picture."

Josh groaned. "Maaaaa"

"Do what the woman says. Trust me." Mr. Matthews warned from his position next to his wife.

Topanga grinned.

Riley and Maya moved to stand on either side of Josh. He brought his arms up to wrap around each of their shoulders.

"Smile pretty Kitten." He greeted Maya under his breath.

"Only if you do the same Boing."

Topanga snapped a few photos on her phone of the three teens. "Okay done. Thank you for humoring your mother."

"Wait can you take a few for my phone?" Riley pulled her phone out of her pocket and handed it to her mom.

"Me too!" Maya tossed her phone to Mr. Matthews as well.

They took a few photos like the first, tucked under Josh's arms. Then a few silly ones, Josh simultaneously spinning both Riley and Maya in and out of his chest.

"Okay that's good! Thanks Mom!" Riley laughed as her mom handed her back the phone.

"Now you're mom and I are going out tonight. What are your plans?" Mr. Matthews questioned.

"Uh…well…" Riley began to choke. She couldn't admit they were going to a party. Her parents would kill her.

"Riley and Maya are going with me to Jake's house. He's having a hangout for the team." Josh answered cooly.

Mr. Matthews narrowed his eyes at his son. "Is…hangout..." He made air quotes as he spoke the word, hangout "...some teen slang code for raging party?"

"Uh no. That would just be called a party." Josh rolled his eyes.

Mr. Matthews seemed to think about this for a moment before speaking. "Alright. But home by 1:30, I'm feeling generous. And you two…" He pointed wildly at Riley and Maya, "...stick with him." He pointed at Josh.

"Pop it's fine, I'll be looking out for them." Josh assured his Dad.

"Okay Cory I think they get it. Let's get going." Topanga linked her arm in his and began to pull him away. "Stay out of trouble!" She warned as she gave her kids each a knowing look.

"We will! Bye!" Riley and Josh waved, Maya was already preoccupied with her phone.

After they were a few yards away Mr. Matthews turned back around to shout "NO BOYS!"

"We can't hear you! We're too far away!" Maya called without looking up her phone.

"Now, I had your mom film tonight. We'll go over the footage tomorrow, but you gotta get that ball off the snap faster. Screw up the count and you'll ruin the whole play, you know better. Don't hesitate and keep your feet quick. We'll add more speed drills to your training this week..."

Lucas internally groaned. He was getting his usual post-game critics from his father.

"...and I don't like that attitude you gave the trainer. I don't want to catch you bein' disrespectful again, got it?"

"Yes sir."

Lucas was quickly zoning out. It didn't matter what his dad said in that moment, he would hear it all over again tomorrow when they watched his film. His eyes drifted around the field, looking for his favorite brunette beauty. His breath caught in his throat when he finally laid eyes on her. Suddenly, he felt extremely self aware of the restrictive confines of his football pants. When she was in the stands, Lucas wasn't able to actually see her fully. Now, he regretted every single second he missed seeing her legs in those shorts. He couldn't get enough of her long legs as it was, but combined with the shorts that showed off her thighs and backside….he was a goner. He could no longer hear his father's sturdy militant voice. His mind was consumed with Riley and how badly he wanted to run his hands up and down her thighs, eventually drifting them to her perfectly shaped….nope not here. Focus. What is dad saying? Lucas attempted to listen to his father again.

"...Also what do you call that bullshit you pulled? Throwing away plays just to throw the ball around to your friends? What the hell were you thinking straining your arm like that during a non-conference game?"

Nah. Not worth it.

His heart began to flutter when he saw Riley laughing alongside her brother and Maya. He noticed a tall dark haired boy approach the girls. He immediately clinched his fist. Who the hell does this guy think he is? The boy greeted the girls, eying both of them but avoiding Josh. Lucas noticed Josh glare at the boy. He continued to watch intently, as the boy moved closer to Maya and jerked his head to motion for her to go with him. Oh wait he's after Maya, good.

A sharp thump on his head painfully snapped him back to reality.

"Boy are you even listening to me?"

His father looked over his own shoulder to see what seemed so much more important to his son than himself. He saw a small brunette girl and groaned. He drew his middle finger back to his thumb and snapped it against the back of Lucas's head again.

"Ow! Hey!"

"So that's what you were doin'? Trying to show off for some girl? They'll be more. Trust me. If you focus now and play college ball like we talked about you'll get any girl you want."

"A girl? Is it that Riley girl?" Lucas's Mom questioned and excitedly turned her head to see who was capturing her son's attention.

Lucas restrained himself from groaning or rolling his eyes at his parents.

Zay laughed at the scene before him, causing Lucas's father to turn on him.

"Somethin' funny boy? I'll give you something to laugh at. How about those pathetic excuses you call routes? Huh? You gotta get those down. Don't be afraid to take a hit…"

Zay immediately dropped the smirk from his face. "Yes sir."

Riley laughed to herself as Maya followed Brett to speak in private. That's what she gets for flirting with him.

"You gonna be alright by yourself Riles? I need to go get cleaned up." Josh, slightly annoyed, motioned his thumb toward the locker room.

Riley bit her lip as her eyes found Lucas's. He looked like a football god. "Yeah, Lucas is right over there."

"So why don't you go say hi?"

Riley's eyes snapped back to her brother. "He's with his parents. Unlike you, I don't like to interrupt, it's rude."

Josh shrugged his shoulders. "Just go over there and say hi. Or just stand here by yourself like an idiot. I'm going to the locker room." Josh nudged her shoulders in Lucas's direction.

Riley glanced around, hoping Maya would return to save her, but it didn't look like that was happening soon. She took the plunge and began walking toward Lucas. His face lit up as she came closer and she knew she made the right decision.

She could hear Lucas's father talking, but he stopped as she reached them. "Um…" Oh god what am I doing? "Uh…I just wanted to say hi...sorry for interrupting..." She felt all eyes on her, especially Lucas's and she immediately began to regret introducing herself to his family in such a revealing outfit. She shifted her her feet back and forth, beginning to feel anxious again. Instead of shifting her eyes to the ground, she forced herself to keep her head up. Riley could see the resemblance between Lucas and his parents. Apart from his Mom's smile and intense green eyes, Lucas was the spitting image of his father. Mr. Friar, like Lucas, was very tall and clearly a former athlete, but his years of military service gave him a wider, bulkier frame. Everything about Lucas's father screamed military. His blond hair was buzzed short and slightly graying, Riley would guess due to stress as opposed to age. He wore a red slim fitting athletic branded polo. It was very expensive looking, but essentially like any other simple polo except one he well over paid for, for no other reason than a brand name. The overpriced polo was perfectly tucked into loose khaki pants, with pockets well beyond the size of serving any function for a civilian. His sturdy feet were covered by dark tactical looking boots. His skin was tan, and rough from a lifetime of ranch work, along with years of military service.

Lucas could sense Riley's nerves and quickly jumped to her rescue with a wide smile. "You're not. Mom, Sir, this is Riley Matthews."

"It's nice to meet you Mr. and Mrs. Friar." Riley smiled more confidently at Lucas's family.

"How you doin Cupcake?" Zay glanced his eyes down her body and gave her a small wink, to which Lucas responded with a sharp elbow to his ribs.

"Oh Riley! I'm so excited to met you! Lucas has told me so much about you." Mrs. Friar eagerly shook Riley's hand. With her small frame, voluminous platinum blonde hair and a charming light Texan accent, Mrs. Friar was warm and bubbly, the perfect balance to Mr. Friar's cold serious tone. "I'm Laura, This is my husband James."

Mr. Friar nodded in Riley's direction. Lucas shot his mom pleading eyes.

"Please forgive my husband. We take football very seriously at our house, but I think it's time for us to go." She placed her hand on her husband's arm. "Come on Jay, let the kids enjoy the rest of their night. You had a great game Lucas, you too Isaiah. I hope to see you again soon Riley!"

"Remember. Film tomorrow." Mr. Friar gave Lucas a sharp look as he let his wife pull him away.

"I'm so sorry about that. My dad hates everything don't take it personally." Lucas explained as soon as his parents were out of earshot. He reached out with his non-icing arm and grabbed Riley's hand to pull her closer to him. From their new proximity, Lucas could fully take in her appearance. She was going to be the end of him. He was sure of it. Her red top plunged so low, and clung so tightly to her curves, Lucas desperately wanted to throw Riley over his shoulder and take her to his truck so he could feel her curves for himself. But that notion was not only extremely inappropriate and disrespectful to Riley, it was a sure fire death wish from Josh and again from Maya. So instead, he settled for keeping her a good arm's length away.

"Hi Beautiful."

"Hey QB one."

Riley blushed as she caught herself staring at Lucas's abs peeking through the tight white shirt. Those football pants aren't too bad either…

"Enjoy the game?" Lucas teased, noticing her flushed cheeks.

"I love being a third wheel. It's great. Not awkward at all. Nope." Zay loudly interrupted.

Lucas rolled his eyes, while Riley blushed even further. "Sorry Zay. You were great tonight."

"Why thank you Cupcake, don't tell Josh I said this, but damn girl, you look smokin' hot!" Zay made a show of throwing his arm around Riley's shoulder.

Lucas secretly wished he hadn't made up with Zay the other day so he could punch his grinning face.

Riley shrieked and jumped away from Zay. "EW! You're all sweaty!"

Lucas laughed and reached down to pick up his pads and helmet, Zay doing the same. "Where's Maya? Do you guys want to head on over to the party? Zay and I will meet you there."

Riley glanced around, that was a good question. Where was Maya? "Um I'm not sure. That Brett guy wanted to talk to her."

"Oh wait there she is!" Zay pointed in the direction of the locker room entrance as Maya appeared from the darkness around the corner of the building.

"Do you want us to walk you to your car?" Lucas offered, taking her hand in his again.

Riley shook her head and grinned. "No, we'll be okay. Just go get cleaned up and meet us at Jake's, you both stink!" She playfully dropped Lucas's hand and waved her hand in front of her face as if she needed fresh air.

"Oh really?" Lucas raised his eyebrows at her and lunged to bring her into his chest, but Riley sidestepped him and ran towards the field exit where Maya was waiting.

"Gotta be faster than that QB one!" She called over her shoulder.

Maya internally groaned and tried to hide the annoyance from her face. Brett continued to ramble on, but she wasn't really listening. Riley must be eating this up. This is what I get for flirting to get my way.

Brett brought his hand up to rest on the light post next to her.

Oh god no. Come on Brett don't do this. Maya mentally pleaded. But, she couldn't lie, Brett was very attractive with round puppy-like brown eyes, a long swimmer's built body and short brown hair that looked like the only way he knew how to style it was shoving it under a swim cap.

"So uh...I thought we had a pretty good connection earlier...and I heard you were going to the afterparty tonight...do you need an escort?"

Maya struggled to cover up her laugh, it ended up coming out as a muffled snort. An escort? What century does this kid think it is?

"Hey shrivel-dick, are you lost?"

Maya let out a sigh of relief as Josh approached them. He was freshly showered and no longer wearing his football uniform.

Brett immediately took an uncomfortable step away from Maya. "Uh…"

Josh sauntered over to the pair. "The pool is inside you know. Big square, lots of water."

Brett glared at Josh and turned back to Maya. "What do you think?"

"Is he bothering you?" Josh asked, not waiting for her to answer before he took a threatening step towards Brett.

"Josh it's fine. Sorry Brett, but I already have plans for the party tonight."

Brett's face fell slightly and he nodded. "Uh right, that's okay this was totally last minute anyway. Maybe next time?"

"Sure, and hey maybe you can save a dance for me tonight." Maya offered.

"I wouldn't count on it shrivel-dick." Josh snapped as Brett awkwardly retreated towards the exit gate.

"You're welcome." Josh turned back to Maya and threw a lazy arm around her shoulders.

Maya shrugged his arm off. "I didn't say thank you."

"What? As if you actually wanted to go out with him?" he scoffed, "That kid would annoy the hell out of you."

Maya shrugged her shoulders and nonchalantly began to play with the sleeves of the flannel shirt tied around her waist. "Maybe. Maybe not."

Josh watched her hands wrap around the familiar material and felt his pulse rise. She was teasing him. He knew it, but he couldn't control the harsh tone of his next words.

"When the hell did you start talking to him anyway?"

Maya rolled her eyes at him. "Does it matter?" She continued to fiddle with the flannel shirt and crossed one of her boot covered legs over the other.

Josh eyed her boots and felt his fingers twitch.

Maya dropped her hands from the shirt and flipped her long blonde curls hair over her shoulder.

"Come here." Josh grabbed her hand with his and pulled her around a dark corner of the locker room building. The darkness shielding them from any prying eyes, he pressed Maya against the side of the building and let his lips find hers. He slid his hands around her lower back, letting them rest on her soft exposed skin. Maya opened her mouth against his and ran her fingers through his still damp hair. Josh moved his lips from hers and trailed them down her neck as he caught his breath again. He left open mouth kisses on her skin as he moved back up to the sweet spot, only he knew about, behind her ear. Her soft moan was barely audible, but he knew the effect he was having on her.

"Let's get out of here." He whispered

"And where exactly would we go?" Maya pulled his face back to hers to press a soft kiss against his lips. Josh slid his hands down to grip at her backside and pulled her hips into his. "Anywhere. My house. Your house." He punctuated each word with a kiss before pulling away to bury his nose in her hair. "Wherever you want Kitten. We can take a drive. Get out of this town."

Maya shook her head. "I can't. I'm going to the party. I promised Riley."

Josh bitterly scoffed. "Yeah you promised Riley, or you promised Zay?"

Maya shoved his chest away from her. "What has gotten into you?"

"Nothing. Enjoy the party. Have a marvelous time." Josh snapped as he stomped away from her.

Maya stood dumbfounded for a moment. She had no idea why Josh was acting this way. Was he jealous? That made no sense to her. Josh flirted with other girls all the time. What does he care if she wants to go to a party with Zay or flirt with Brett? She took a moment to regain her composure before walking around the corner and back into the light.

AN

I am so so deeply sorry for taking so long to update. I mentioned in the last chapter that my dad is very sick and sadly he is not any better. Long story short...towards the end of the year he was rushed into a life-saving procedure to help his body function until he can receive two vital organ transplants. It was a really scary time for me and since then I've been struggling to write. It's like my brain is tuned to a constantly static TV channel, unable to make any sense out of the fog. Recently, a lovely reader read my story and left very inspiring reviews on each chapter. Thank you so much for your reviews. They truly help me and inspire me to write more. What do you think of Lucas's dad? His character is going to be a fun one...for me that is! ALSO I just want to clarify that Lucas's father is in no way abusive towards Lucas. The "thumping" thing was actually inspired by something my Fiance's dad would do to him if he wasn't paying attention. As a consolation for taking so long to update, I am going to address the poll from the previous AN, with a little riddle that starts with J and ends in YA. I'll let you guys figure that one out ;) Until then please enjoy this chapter! Please read, review, like, follow, do all the things!

Lilly.