First and Goal (Moving the Chains #1) (8 page)

“You really don’t have to; I don’t want to impose…” I call out to her as she walks away. She can’t possibly believe she looks good swinging her hips around like that. It’s ridiculous. I roll my eyes at her typical girl behavior, but make my way further into the house out of sheer curiosity to see a little more of Evie’s world.

I stop at the arched doorway to lean against the frame and look around, still clutching her notebook in my hand. There are more icons as Christina called them. Old black and white photos of various shapes and sizes that look like they’re from another country dot the walls. Probably taken in Greece since they’re Greek. Duh.

Evie’s senior portrait hangs over the mantle of the fireplace on the wall to my far left. Damn, she’s gorgeous. She blows away every other girl on the planet.

I’m finally calming down when a door slams in the back of the house.

“You will not
fucking
believe what happened to me today!” Evie’s angry voice carries to my ears.

My heart does a tap dance inside my chest. She’s seriously pissed.

An elderly woman’s voice chastises loudly, “Eva! Watch your language!”

That must be her grandmother because she has a thick accent.

“
Syngnomi YiaYia, milousa me ti Christina
,” Evie calls back in seemingly perfect Greek.

Her hotness factor just increased astronomically. I wish I knew how to speak her language. This new information is definitely going to play into my fantasies about her later tonight.

“What happened to you?” Christina asks, derailing my dirty thoughts.

There’s a loud bang like something slamming down on a surface. Evie continues to yell, “I flunked a calc quiz today, and my asshole teacher assigned Rob fuckin’ Falls to tutor me!”

“Eva…” a new elderly voice, belonging to a man, growls in warning.

Her grandfather is definitely home, and my nerves take another shot.

“I don’t see how that’s a problem,” Christina giggles. “Don’t you think he’s hot?”

Shit. Her little sister is baiting her. I’m not sure I want to hear what Evie has to say though.

“Of course he’s hot! Have you seen his body? He’s built like a freakin’ god!” Evie shouts.

Holy. Mother. Of. God.

My heart just stopped. Yep. Pretty sure I’m dead. Or dreaming.

Evie Papageorgiou thinks I’m hot.

More sounds and words float from the doorway, but I’m too dazed to decipher them. I’m going to increase my weights tomorrow morning; strength training for football has nothing on Evie thinking I’m hot. I usually feel like a dumb giant. But hey, if that’s what she’s into, I aim to please. And pleasing her is going to make slogging through the grueling hours of conditioning so much sweeter.

More slamming sounds come from the other room, bringing me back to reality like a kick in the nuts. That is exactly what I need to counteract the boner I’m definitely sporting now. This is far more entertaining than finding out that she hates me. Does she even hate me? I don’t know. Maybe it’s all part of her new act. I never pegged her as the kind of girl who would play hard to get. Then again, I never thought she’d date someone like Eddie Hinton, either.

“He touched me, Tini, and I swear to God…” Evie trails off.

That was a stupid idea, but I just had to find out if her skin actually feels as soft as it looks when we’re side by side in class, common sense be damned. It does.

“You punched him?” Tini questions through snorting laughter.

“Surprisingly, no. I think that guy might have sold his soul to Satan.” Evie’s tone of voice is dead serious.

It’s all I can do not to laugh. What the hell makes her think that? My life isn’t grand enough to warrant forfeiting my soul.

“Uh, okay. Random.” Clearly, Christina is as confused as I am.

“He has magic hands, Tini.” Evie whispers this, not knowing I can hear every word.

And…pain. The raging hard-on that nearly gave me away this afternoon when I put my hand on her knee was bad enough. Now it’s a real struggle to control myself before I stroke out on her living room floor. She definitely won’t ever agree to date a perverted dead guy. No time for boners today. I’ve gotta keep my mind sharp with all the new plays she’s throwing at me.

Oh my God, I can’t even believe this day.

“Okay, so I definitely don’t see your problem,” Christina leads, laughing in earnest at Evie’s admission.

Evie’s sigh is so loud that I feel it all the way to my bones.

“Rob being entirely too gorgeous to be real isn’t the point, Tini! It’s the fact that he’s an obnoxious, womanizing douche bag jock who has forcibly been assigned to tutor me! It’s not bad enough that I’m failing calc, but he’s also my AP bio partner,” Evie stops her tirade to breathe. “Which I get because all the jocks take that class just for Mrs. Anderson’s weird social experiment. But the idea of that high and mighty quarterback tutoring geeky me is just more than I can handle! You know, I bet no one has ever told that man ‘no’ in his entire life. Not on the field, not in class, not in the back seat of his fancy sports car, not anywhere. And now, I have no choice but to accept his help if I’m gonna stay at the top of the class. He honestly makes the material so much easier to understand! The worst part is that I’m stuck with him in bio for the next eight weeks! His ego is so huge it’s insufferable, and now I’m contributing to that because I actually
do
need him!” She rushes through her words in a fit of anger.

And…we’re back to her hating me. Damn rumor mill at school. Damn grabby other girls that aren’t Evie. Damn Eddie Hinton. Damn, damn, damn.

Christina starts laughing uncontrollably at her sister’s diatribe, knowing full well that I can hear everything she’s saying. “Well, he must not be as stupid as you think if he’s in your calc and bio classes to begin with. If I were you, I’d seriously hit that. I’ve heard rumors that his ego isn’t the only huge thing he’s got goin’ on. Supposedly, he’s the biggest in the locker room.”

And damn that fucking rumor too. Even if it is true, I don’t think it’s necessarily something to brag about. Most of the time, I just feel like a freak. I’m pretty sure that it isn’t something as enticing to Evie as it is to all the other girls that constantly check me out. Christ, Evie’s so small. I’ve honestly wondered the last few years that if we were ever to be together, I might actually hurt her, or…not fit.

“Ugh, God,” Evie scoffs. “I swear the only thing you think about is sex. Looks mean absolutely nothing when they’re attached to a complete raging asshole.”

Before I can form a single thought about that comment, Evie tears into the living room. She stops dead in her tracks in the doorway when she sees me.

She’s so fucking gorgeous it hurts, even with her slim body frozen in shock. Her long, dark brown hair is pulled back into a messy ponytail, sweat curling pieces of it all around her face. She’s changed since our tutoring session, trading in her usual rock band t-shirt and jean shorts for tight-fitting running shorts and a sweat-soaked, white fitted shirt that clings to her in all the right places. I’m drowning in her ocean blue eyes even from across the room.

My stomach churns, and the urge to puke returns with a vengeance. I lean a shoulder casually against the arched entry and bend one leg at the knee, crossing it over my opposite ankle. I hold her notebook strategically in front of my throbbing dick and try so, so, so hard to not look like an asshole. Staring at her isn’t helping me out so holding my breath is the only option.

All the color drains from her tan face. I shoot her a gentle smile and cock my head to one side. The goal is to look friendly and not at all aroused.

“Don’t hold back; tell me how you really feel,” I say to her softly, trying not to laugh. I’m still not entirely sure if she hates me or wants me. Most of my brains have flown south. Reasoning skills are pretty much non-existent right now.

Christina pauses beside her sister to deliver a knowing, evil grin.

Evie looks to her, wide-eyed and ashen.

“You knew,” she whispers in a tone conveying deep betrayal, furrowing her brow at her laughing younger sister.

“Of course I knew; he’s been waiting here for you since before you got home.” Christina advances on me to deliver the promised drink.

I try to breathe normally before I pass out.

Christina hands me a bottle of water then stands beside me, turning to face down her older sister. She crosses her arms and leans against the other side of the door frame, smiling cruelly.

I had no idea she was so evil.

“You heard
everything
,” Evie whispers, not as a question but a statement. She’s still frozen in place in the kitchen doorway.

My brain goes into full Evie-induced override, shutting down all the usual censors.

“Well, my high and mighty quarterback mind pretty much quit working when I found out you think I’m…built like a freakin’ god,” I mimic her earlier words with added emphasis. “So anything you said after that point was pretty much lost on me.”

Christina turns to look up at me. “She actually called you a high and mighty quarterback
after
she said you were built like a freakin’ god. So you obviously heard the part about her thinking that you are entirely too gorgeous to be real, and that you are a total douche with a huge and insufferable ego.” Christina winks up at me before she continues, “But maybe you missed the best part about…”

I give her a sharp look to shut her up before she ruins this for me. My focus needs to be on Evie, not Christina’s little game.

“Oh my God,” Evie breathes, clutching the door frame with one hand to support herself. She wraps an arm around her stomach as if she’s going to throw up all over the carpet.

Maybe I’ll never mention this incident ever again. It’s not worth making her physically sick. If I were more of a man and less of a chickenshit, I would walk right up to her and kiss her until she knows without a doubt how much I want her. But I’m not much of a man, and I genuinely don’t know if she likes me or hates me.

Christina slides in front of me and says loudly enough for Evie to hear, “You can tutor me in anything, anytime you want, Rob. I don’t mind your huge…ego.”

She sizes me up hungrily before continuing in a meaningful tone, “And I won’t even call you names, unless you’re into that sort of thing.”

I’ve had just about enough of her shit today. “That was really mean, Christina.”

I look back up at Evie’s still-frozen face, making direct eye contact with her. “Your amazing sister already hates me as it is. I wouldn’t want to do
anything
to make that worse.”

My heart pounds over this small confession, but I feel like I owe her something freely given in return for what I overheard.

Christina slinks away to the couch in the middle of the living room, throwing herself down and pouting. “Everything good always happens to Evie.”

“What are you doing sweating all over my living room?” Evie asks, her voice a quiet mask of emotion.

“I was out running. You have my calc notebook, and I kind of need that so I can do homework tonight, especially if I’m going to tutor you,” I answer as softly as I can. I certainly don’t want to piss her off any more. “And I have yours, and you really need to study everything we went over earlier.”

I offer her a casual shrug to try and set her mind at ease as I gulp more water. My mouth feels like the fucking Sahara all of a sudden. “You can call me if you need help with the homework too.”

You can call me anytime for anything.

Evie spins on her heel and retreats back into the kitchen. Remembering the rumors that she told me about earlier, I turn to Christina for confirmation.

“Hey Christina, what do you know about the rumors going around school that I’m some big man whore?”

She shrugs her shoulders and gives me a look like I’ve grown a second head. “I didn’t know they were rumors. I just figured you’re you, so they were probably true.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“You’re gorgeous; the hottest guy at school in fact. You’re the quarterback of the football team, president of Student Government. Everyone wants a piece of you. I just figured you take what they offer. Don’t you?”

“No.” It’s the first time I’ve admitted it aloud to anyone other than Mike or Alex, and the single word leaves a strange taste in my mouth. It’s not that I don’t know people talk about me, I just never really paid attention to what was being said. Or how much was being said.

With Evie, the rumors destroyed her. Changed her. She’s never said a word or lifted a finger to stop them. The why of that has always been a mystery to me. I don’t stop the rumors about myself because I have an image to uphold.

My plan of lying by omission to save face is coming back to bite me in the ass.

I don’t have the guts to dispel all the assumptions about my sex life in the locker room. Until the guys believed I was banging girls left and right, they viewed me as less than. In their eyes, the single marker for manhood is getting some. Being exclusive with your hand means you’re still a boy…or gay. The inevitable torture that would be my life if the truth ever came out makes me cringe. Unless they’re all lying, I’m the only senior on the football team who’s still a virgin. That lack of carnal knowledge kills street cred as a quarterback and captain. Guys won’t let a pansy-ass masturbation grand master lead them. I can’t win, no matter what I do.

Something’s gotta give.

Evie returns from the kitchen, pulling me to the present. She honestly looks like each step toward me causes her physical pain, which definitely causes me physical pain. She holds my notebook out to me in silence and refuses to meet my eyes, staring at her own notebook instead.

I exchange notebooks with her, juggling the bottle of water and trying not to do or say anything else to screw this up. My plans for this afternoon have failed spectacularly.

Evie makes a cute, little disgusted face as she takes her notebook gingerly between two fingers. “Is my notebook going to smell as bad as you now?”

I laugh, relieved that she seems to be recovering. “That’s funny, because you look like you went for a run too, and…” I bend down and lean closer to her, rolling the dice on this next gamble. I close my eyes and breathe in the scent of her. It instantly makes my mouth water. “You still smell nice.”