Bending Under Pressure (29 page)

She laughs softly. “I know. I was eavesdropping on and off from the kitchen. It’s eleven o’clock. She needs to go home and you both need to go to bed.” Her eyes flick to Haley, who is sleeping as well.

I nod and Mom returns to the house. “Hales,” I whisper, shaking her shoulder. She snuggles closer to me. “Wake up. Time to go home.”

“No,” she grumbles and I laugh.

“Yes.”

She sighs loudly as if she’s annoyed. “Fine, I don’t want to get you in trouble.”

We put on our shoes and I walk her to her car. My lips quirk into a smile. There’s a faint imprint on her cheek from where my shirt was wrinkled underneath it. Her ponytail is loose with flyaway strands framing her face, and to top it off, she’s still in her tennis uniform.

“What’s the grin for, Keelan?” she asks. Her eyes narrow in suspicion.

“You look pretty.”

Haley rolls her eyes. “Give me your parent-approved-in-case-they’re-watching kiss on the cheek, so I can go home before I get you in more trouble.”

I laugh, kiss her cheek, and then see her off. Once her car disappears down the road, I go inside and fall into bed, promptly falling asleep.

E
verything that could possibly go wrong for us in this game happens. Incomplete passes, fumbles, Cam getting sacked repeatedly, and countless interceptions. Coach is so pissed he can barely speak in complete sentences afterward. Hell is coming for us. There is no doubt about that. No one speaks as we load onto the bus. Coach is last and he stands at the front, staring us down.

“Talking and a running air conditioner are privileges earned by winners. Y’all aren’t winners. Y’all are losers. Losers don’t deserve to talk and they don’t deserve A/C. If any one of you decide to crack a window, expect to run all day tomorrow.” With that, he takes a seat. Many of us are sure to be repressing a groan.

A bus full of sweaty football players and stinky equipment without air conditioner is a nightmare. For the first thirty minutes, no one speaks for fear of punishment. The roar of the bus’s engine will cover up whispers if they’re quiet enough.

“Such a bastard,” I hear Seth comment from the seat behind me, his voice just loud enough for us to hear. “He’s only doing it because he wants to retire. I heard him talking about how he’ll retire once he wins his next championship.”

That explains why he’s ridin’ us so hard and putting a mountain of pressure on us. I’m not sure this is the way to motivate us though. Seems like we’re all just pissed off. But then again, anger is a good fuel to motivate.

My phone vibrates and I swipe the screen to see a text from Haley.

Haley: Sorry y’all lost. :/

Me: Not as sorry as we are. Coach turned off a/c and said we couldn’t talk.

Haley: Seriously? He can do that?

Me: Apparently. Will you be ready at midnight?

Haley: YES! Who are you racing? I forgot to ask.

Me: Alan.

Haley: Can we go to the water tower afterward?

Her text makes me smile. For someone who was so against it because of her fear of getting caught, she loves the thrill of it now.

Me: Yeah, we can.

We text until I arrive back on campus. Coach surprises us all with his simple dismissal and no mention of practice or meeting at the weight room tomorrow. We’re not complaining though. I head home, jumping into the shower first, and then go to my room to wait. I work on a paper that’s due Monday that I haven’t started yet.

Mom and Dad turn in a little after eleven. They stay awake long enough to catch the weather and then they go to bed. I manage to get a good chunk of my paper done before Cam and I are sneaking downstairs and outside to our vehicles. He leaves for Dead Man’s Curve while I drive to Haley’s. I laugh to myself when she comes jogging from the house before I can text her that I’m here.

“Let’s go,” she says as she slides into the passenger seat.

“No hello?” I tease.

She laughs, leans over, and kisses me. These are the best kisses from her. She’s excited about the race and it causes any shyness or whatever may hold her back to disappear. When I feel her lighten the pressure of her lips, I sneak a hand behind her neck to hold her in place. She tastes like chocolate, which is surprising both because it’s unexpected and because it’s turning me on.

Haley pulls away with a laugh. “Hello. Let’s go; we’re going to be late.”

My hand is still on her neck, so I tug her back to me. Her mouth is parted, giving me the perfect opportunity to slide my tongue back into her mouth. I don’t care if we’re late. Haley moans when I nip her lower lip before I release my hold on her. “You taste like chocolate.”

A sheepish smile graces her face. “I ate a Hershey bar right before you got here,” she explains as I back onto the road and turn on my headlights. “How many times are we racing?”

“As many times as you want,” I tell her. Tonight is a betting night, so we’re doing the best three out of five. That will allow Haley to get her fill, at the very least. She’s smiling when I glance over.

Alan is on the left hand side, so I come to a stop on the right. We get out and Haley meets me to walk over to where Alan is standing in front of his car.

“What’s up?” I say as we fist pump.

“Ready to kick your ass. Hey, Haley.”

“Hey.”

My phone vibrates with a text from Cam and I say, “Cameron says it’ll be a few minutes before we can start.”

“Why?” Haley asks.

“Must still be taking bets,” Alan answers for me.

“Bets?” Haley turns to look at all the people along the stretch of the road. “They bet on the races? I didn’t know that.” She doesn’t sound upset, which is good; she just sounds surprised.

“We don’t do it often.” My phone vibrates again and I nod to Alan. “Let’s race.”

Haley makes me laugh when she squeals and rushes to her side of the car.

Alan shakes his head and tells me, “She’s a keeper, man.”

Trust me, I know. We buckle up and hear the familiar countdown. It’s as if Alan hesitates or has a delay because from the beginning, I’m ahead of him by a margin. The speedometer keeps climbing as we drive over the first hill. My stomach swoops down like clockwork. The nose of Alan’s car is aligned about midway to my door. As long as I can keep a lead, I’ll win easily. Alan will be pissed for round two though.

There’s no question when my car flies by Cameron that I won. My grin is automatic as I hit the brakes to slow down fast before the curve. Since we’re doing more than one, we’ll go ahead and circle around for the next race.

Haley leans over to kiss my cheek. “God, I love this so much. How many did y’all agree to? Best two of three or three of five?”

“Three of five.”

“Sorry to say this, but I hope Alan wins two, so y’all will have to do five.”

I laugh. “I hope so too. I’m expecting a hell of a kiss when I win.”

“Oh, you can count on that,” she promises.

We don’t waste much time before the second race starts. My hands shake just a little as the adrenaline surging through me increases with my speed. This race is closer this time, and I’m not sure who wins.

“Text Cam to see which of us won,” I say.

Haley does and by the time we’re lined up again, she answers, “Alan, but barely.”

I take a deep breath to steady myself. Two down, three to go. My car lurches forward about three seconds too late. Alan getting the lead from the start isn’t ideal at all. I push my car to its limits, but it’s not good enough. Alan two, Keelan one. When we line up again, Haley rests her hand over mine on the stick shift. When I glance over at her, she gives me a small smile. She leans over to quickly press her lips to mine.

“A good luck kiss,” she explains.

I grin. “Thanks, Hales.”

We’re counted off once more and are evenly matched again. Everything seems to fall away, like my entire focus zones in on what’s in front of me and nothing else. My heart is beating so fast, I feel like it could bruise my chest. The people who came to watch are nothing more than blurred figures in my peripheral. My foot feels like it’s as far as it will go on the gas pedal. The sight of Cam’s truck snaps me out of it. It’s a close call again if I’m not mistaken.

Haley picks up her phone as we decelerate. We don’t speak until she confirms the winner.

“You won!”

The familiar pressure to succeed latches heavily onto my chest. Pressure to win and to meet Haley’s expectations. It causes sweat to break out on my hands. I wipe them on my jeans and take a deep breath. I can do this.

My movements are fluid and quick for the final race. Alan is keeping up with me, but I’m positive I have the lead when we drive over the final hill before I have to slow to a stop the moment we pass Cameron. As soon as I’ve come to a complete stop, the distinct sound of a seatbelt unbuckling pierces the silence of my car. Haley grabs each side of my face and tugs me to her.

Her mouth crashes into mine with more force than I was expecting. Her tongue swipes across my lower lip before pressing forward between my lips. I open my mouth in response to her silent demand. Haley is going to drive me to the brink of insanity. Her tongue is teasing, commanding, and every caress goes straight to the one part of my body that isn’t allowed to take part in this.

A rapping on my window forces Haley to jump back with surprise. I glare at Cameron, who has the biggest, stupidest grin on his face. Haley has already opened her door, so I have no choice but to follow. All I know is that as soon as possible, I’m taking her to the water tower where we can kiss without any interruptions.

K
iera arrives at the house a little after noon. Seeing Keira unfortunately means also seeing Natalie. I still haven’t forgiven her for the family reunion incident. Mom hasn’t mentioned what happened during their phone call afterward, and I haven’t asked. My parents are at the grocery store, so I don’t have them as a barrier.

“Can I speak with you for a moment?” Natalie asks after we exchange the usual greetings.

“Sure.” I face Kiera and add, “You can put your stuff in my room. The girls will be here later.”

“Okay, thanks.” Keira makes her way upstairs as I step outside with Natalie since Cameron is in the living room.

“I wanted to apologize about what happened at the reunion and if it upset you and made you uncomfortable. I thought it would be a great way for you to meet everyone. I didn’t mean to—”

“Didn’t mean to catch me off guard? Didn’t mean to lie? Didn’t mean to pretend that I’m your kid?” I blurt out, letting my temper get the best of me. “Look, Natalie, I still don’t know what you want from me. It feels more like you’re trying to make me part of your family than you simply getting to know me. Yeah, what you did made me mad. I don’t like this entire situation to start with because it’s messing up the stable life I already have and love.

“I’m trying here because I was curious and because I like Keira. But if you do something like that to me again, I won’t hesitate to cut you off. I don’t owe you anything and I don’t have to talk or meet with you at all. The least you can do is be upfront and honest with me.” I force myself to stop because she looks as if I’ve shocked her. The only reason I spoke up is because she was still acting as if she didn’t intentionally hide it from me, as if there was nothing wrong with that. Plus, I can’t have Mom fighting all my battles for me.

Natalie clears her throat. “You’re right. I’m sorry, Keelan. I hope we can move past this. Maybe you can come spend the night at our house as well.”

“Yeah, maybe.”

“Okay, well, I’m going to go. I’ll be back to pick her up tomorrow.” She gives me a hug, which is still awkward, and then she leaves.

Cameron and Kiera are sitting on the couch, talking when I re-enter the house. When Mom and Dad come home a few minutes later, we help them unload the groceries. It’s odd because Keira seems to fit in better with my family than I did with hers. She laughs at Dad’s jokes, talks to Mom about recipes, and ends up spending more time with her than us so far.

Haley and Jess arrive at the same time. I hear their doors closing and Dad laughs as both Cameron and I jump up to go outside to help them with their bags. Cam walks to Jess while I meet Haley.