Julie Taylor was just finishing setting the table when the phone started ringing. Her mom was busy changing her little sister so she walked over to check the caller id. It was her dad's cell phone.
"Hi, Dad."
"Hey, there princess. Is your mom around?"
"She's changing a really rank Gracie Belle bomb."
"Glad I missed that." Eric Taylor joked with his oldest daughter.
"Yeah, it was pretty foul." Julie shot back. She was trying harder to be a little more relaxed with her parents. She wanted to move on from the stress of the entire year, her dad being away, Gracie's arrival, the nightmare with The Swede and how it had caused the big blow up with her mom, and then the recent mess with getting drunk and Tim getting kicked out. Tim...her mind started to drift toward what it felt like to have him lean up against her the other day. She let her imagination take her to seeing him lower his face next to hers, his eyes closed, anticipating what it would have felt like to have those lips...
"Julie? You still there?"
"Uh, yeah, Dad. Sorry. Were you saying something?" Julie knew she was flushed from that little day dream and tried to pull herself together.
"I was. I wanted to let your mom know we were going to have one more for dinner tonight."
"Oh, OK. I'll let her know. Uh, who is it?"
"Tim Riggins. OK, hun, I need to make one more quick call before getting home, but we'll see you in a few minutes. Bye."
Julie stood in the kitchen looking at the phone receiver she was holding, her mouth agape. She snapped to attention and quickly grabbed another place setting and put it on the table. She sped to the bathroom to check her appearance and saw to her horror she had managed to rub most of her makeup off since getting home from school. She quickly applied some lip gloss, eyeliner and mascara and brushed her long blond hair until it shone. She flew to her room and managed to change out of the boxer shorts she had put on to lounge in and found the jeans she had worn to school that day. She was looking for a top to throw over the tight white spaghetti strap tank she was wearing when her mom walked into Julie's room holding a freshly changed Gracie on her hip.
"Who was it on the phone, hun?"
"Oh, it was Dad. He wanted to let you know that he was bringing Tim home for dinner. I went ahead and set the table for one more."
Tami looked at her daughter with narrowing eyes realizing that she had just primped a little. "OK..."
Julie knew her mom had noticed so she threw out "I just thought jeans would be a little more appropriate than boxers, you know?"
They heard the front door open and the guys come in. Tami gave her oldest daughter one more questioning glance and said, "You're probably right." and turned to go greet her husband.
Julie wondered whether or not her mom had her figured out but she didn't have much time to think about it before Tim popped his head in her room.
"Hey, Jules."
Julie stood looking at him breathlessly. "Hi."
They kept their eyes locked on each other for what felt like minutes but was only a few seconds. Tim broke the silence.
"Your mom wanted me to tell you dinner is ready."
"Great, I'll be right there. Thanks." As she turned to find her top.
"You look nice."
Julie's head flew around to see Tim checking her out appreciatively.
"Oh, I, uh...thanks. I was just looking for my shirt..."
"Looks to me like you already got it on."
Julie blushed. She knew her breasts had been fodder of some locker room talk this year. She had steadily watched them grow over the summer, her life guarding suit getting tighter and tighter. She wasn't exactly pleased with this development, but when she saw Tim eying how she looked in the tank top she thought for the first time they might not be so bad. A mischievous grin spread across her face.
"I guess this will work. So I look nice?"
"Real nice."
The desire Julie felt to grab that boy and throw him down on her bed was almost too much to over come. Stifling a giggle at the thought (wouldn't her parents just love that!) she walked toward him and pinned him against the door frame. Pressing her chest into his she looked up into those deep pools of green, "We'd better get out there." She left him with a quick hair toss and turned down the hall.
Walking out to greet her dad she tried to keep her cool. Her parents both noticed she was in a little too good of a mood when she picked up her baby sister and started blowing raspberries on the infant's stomach.
"Everybody ready?" Tami called out, setting the last steaming dish on the table.
"This looks great, darlin." Eric complemented, giving his wife a kiss on the temple, as the four sat down. Julie managed to get the seat across from Tim. Now that her Aunt Shelly was gone she thought she might be able to use this position to her advantage.
"Well, thank you, sweetie, but I'm not the only one to thank, Julie and I made this together. Didn't we, Jules?"
"Yeah, it's no big deal. We just wanted to try out a new recipe mom found."
Tim spoke up, "I'm sure it's delicious."
Julie glanced at him as he was taking a big spoonful of the pasta dish.
"It sure smells good." He added, not taking his eyes off Julie once.
Tami Taylor tilted her head to the side and gave the two teenagers a critical glance. She wasn't immune to what was going on here, but it was obvious her husband had other things on his mind. She took the information in and passed a dish of vegetables to Julie.
"So Julie, did Tim get a chance to talk to you today?" Tami inquired. She wanted to test them a little.
Julie looked at her mom with a surprised expression. She glanced at Tim and then back at her mom.
"Um..."
"No, Mrs. T. I didn't get a chance." Tim broke in.
"Talk to me about what?" Julie replied a little nervously.
"Yeah, about what?" Eric Taylor added, finally joining the group mentally.
"Tim and I had a great talk this afternoon in my office, didn't we, Tim?"
"Yeah, Mrs. T. It was good." Tim nodded in agreement followed by a large fork full of pasta.
"Oh, really?" Eric asked, taking a bite himself.
"Tim has realized that his education is actually of some value and asked my permission, which I granted, to have Julie resume tutoring him." Tami said in her best guidance counselor voice.
Julie looked at her mom with a look of shock and quickly turned to her dad. She saw him looking around the table and slowly nodding his head. He finished chewing his bite of food and looked at his daughter.
"I think that's a fine idea. Julie you can consider this part of your punishment, no offense, Tim."
"None taken, sir." Tim said trying his best to hold back a smile and looking over to Julie he added with the most hangdog expression he could muster, "I know it's not something you really enjoy doing, Julie, but it would really help me out."
Oh, he's good, Julie thought, really good. OK, she'd play along with Tim's little game.
"But, Dad!"
"No buts, Julie. I think we owe this opportunity to Tim, don't we?" He looked at her with a knowing glance.
"Fine. Whatever." She spat out after a moment. Oh, Dad, she thought, are you really falling for this? She had to laugh to herself. Her father had one of the sharpest football minds around and he'd fallen for this boonswaggle. She added a little sulking to the mix making sure her mom saw how 'unhappy' she was at this new development. She couldn't look at Tim because she knew the look of satisfaction would just be to much to handle, instead she stealthily stretched her bare foot toward him and placed it on the seat of his chair in between his legs. She could sense him shift in his seat and smiled. She had to hand it to Tim Riggins, he wasn't as dumb as he let everyone think he was.
--/--/--/--/--/
Julie was standing in the kitchen doing the dishes when her dad walked Tim to the door. They had said a quick goodbye and Julie was rewarded with another sly wink from him. She overheard her dad tell Tim to get some rest for the game tomorrow, close the door and came back into the kitchen. He stood there watching her scrub the casserole dish.
"You still mad?" He asked, arms crossed over his chest.
The ball is in your court, Julie, she thought, don't mess this up. Setting the soapy dish back into the water she turned and looked at her father.
"No, you're right. I messed it up and I owe it to him. I mean it won't be the most enjoyable way to spend my time, but I'll live." She gave her dad a weak smile. She starting thinking she should try out for the school play. Her acting skills were definitely improving.
"That's my girl." Eric said, giving her a kiss on the top of her head.
She watched him walk over and sit down on the sofa by her mom who was holding a sleeping Gracie. He stretched his arm around his wife's shoulder and gave her a quick kiss on the mouth then gently nuzzled the infant's head. He let out a long sigh.
"What's wrong?" Her mom asked.
"The whole situation with Dave Dickey has blown up." Eric rubbed his hands through his hair and let out with another long sigh. "The district's pressing charges."
"Oh my god, Eric!" Tami exclaimed, startling the baby. She got up to lay her down in her crib and came back to the couch. Julie stood completely still by the sink.
"When did this happen? What...I don't even know what to ask?"
"Some jackass in Austin ran the clip on the news and said something about how violence in the sport has gotten out of control. Then the national press picked up on it and the district had no other option but to respond. I don't know..." he trailed off.
Julie came out of the kitchen and sat by her parents. She hadn't talked to Tim anymore about what had happened and her first thoughts were to how he was going to take it. Thankfully her mom asked the question she was dying too.
"How's Tim doing with all of this?"
"Well, that's part of the reason I brought him over here tonight. He wants the whole thing to go away and it's why I agreed to your help, Julie."
"Me, why?" She asked surprised.
"Now look," he said turning to his wife, he'd been married too long to her to not know how she would react to his next statement, "I grasp the severity of what happened and how wrong it was, but I need that boy's mind to be focused on football. But, but," he added stopping Tami before she could interrupt, "I also understand that he needs to keep up with his school work and that's where you come in, Julie."
She nodded her head showing her dad she understood.
"I'm going to do my part by dealing with all the press and legal mumbo jumbo, so I appreciate you helping him with his studies. The last thing I want is Tim Riggins turning to his usual way of coping." Eric said with a pinched mouth.
She looked at her parents and saw what good people they were. Her feelings for Tim were growing at a speed she knew she couldn't control and she was looking forward to spending time with him, she was still so impressed with how he'd managed to make that happen, but she knew that her parents were expecting her to be of help in this situation.
"Yeah, Dad. Of course."
The family sat for a few more minutes digesting the situation. Julie saw her dad get up and grab his notebook. There was a big game tomorrow so she knew he'd be up for awhile more. She finished up the dishes, told her parents goodnight and headed to her room.
--/--/--/--/--/--/
She had just turned the page in the novel she was reading, when she heard a tapping on her window. She quickly glanced at the clock and saw that it was almost 11:00 PM. Who the hell? Throwing off her covers she quickly kneeled beside her window and wasn't disappointed when she saw a grinning Tim Riggins looking back at her. Slowly opening her window she leaned out.
"Are you insane?" She hissed.
"Good to see you too, Jules." He whispered back.
"What are you doing here?"
"Setting up our first study date." The jock explained.
"Very funny, Tim. If we get caught your little battle plan will have been for nothing."
"Plan? Why, Julie, I don't know what you're talking about. I'm just a struggling student who needs some expert attention."
"Expert attention, huh?"
"Yeah, you think you can help me out with that?" Tim looked intently at her. Julie was enjoying the exchange, but knew they were playing a dangerous game.
"I think I might," She teased back, "but only if you leave right now!"
"You coming to the game?" He asked.
"Of course, we're all coming." Julie knew missing this game wasn't an option for her as far as her dad was concerned and she wanted to be there all the more now too.
"Good to know. I guess I'll see you at school then."
"OK, see you tomorrow. Good..."
She couldn't finish her response because he had grabbed her face in his hands and gently touched his lips to hers. She felt a warm flush wash over her body as his strong lips covered her trembling mouth. She started kissing him back allowing the kiss to turn more passionate when she felt him part her lips with his tongue. She returned the favor and if she hadn't needed to use her hands to keep her steadied on the window sill she would have thrown her arms around his neck to drawn him to her. He broke the kiss and stared into her eyes. She returned his gaze and then slowly pulled herself back into her room.
"Goodnight, Jules." He said as he turned and disappeared into the night, leaving her alone and breathless in her room. As she laid down and turned off the light she fell asleep still feeling the warmth of his mouth on hers.
AN: I hope is was as good for you as it was for me! ;) Thanks again for all the lovely reviews. I appreciate them!