A Game Worth Watching (21 page)

Ashley
shook her head. “They don’t hate you.”

“They
don’t?” Emma knew hate when she saw it. A month full of glares, rude comments,
and degrading confrontations spoke volumes of hatred, especially from one
particular individual. “Not even Lauren?”

“Nope.”
Ashley stabbed her spoon into her remaining clump of ice cream. She stirred the
contents of her bowl, the chocolate syrup swirling like a ribbon in the vanilla
ice cream. “She’s just jealous of you.”

Rolling
her head toward Ashley, Emma had a hard time accepting the whole jealousy
angle. “And why would the girl who has everything be jealous of the girl who
has nothing?”

Ashley
kept her head bowed over her bowl and her spoon stirring. “Riley, for one.”

“We’re
just friends,” Emma clarified for the umpteenth time.

Ashley
continued without acknowledging Emma’s response. “You’re the most awesome
basketball player in the world, and for the first time in her miserable life,
Lauren is outshone by someone, for two.”

“That’s
ridiculous.”

“And
the fact most guys would rather hang out with you than be with her.”

“But
I already told you, we’re just—”

“Friends?”
Ashley finished for her, raising her head from her ice cream swirl to meet
Emma’s gaze.

Emma
nodded slowly, questioning the look in Ashley’s eyes.

“You
may be just friends,” Ashley said, “but any one of those guys would take a
bullet for you.”

She
searched the kid’s face for a hint of humor, but found none. Emma shook her
head, determined not to let the kid’s comment catch her off guard. Sure, she
would sacrifice anything to help the guys, but to them she was just a
basketball buddy. “No they wouldn’t. The only reason they tolerate me is
because I’m a decent basketball player and they find it amusing a girl can beat
them on the court.”

Emma
meant it as a joke, but Ashley didn’t laugh, and Emma felt the smile slide off
her face. Ashley’s eyes filled with sadness or sympathy or maybe a mixture of
both as she watched Emma. When the kid spoke, her voice was soft, bruised. “You
really don’t know how awesome you are, do you?”

Something
in the way Ashley looked at her made Emma’s throat tighten and her eyes burn.
It took her a second to realize that Ashley looked the way Emma felt whenever
she saw her dad after a fight with Lance. The way her heart split when her
dad’s face fell into his hands, and how she longed to comfort him and tell him
he wasn’t the world’s worst father, but knowing, no matter what she said, he
wouldn’t believe her.

When
Emma didn’t respond, Ashley continued. “Why else would the team come to you for
basketball advice? Why would the guys’ faces light up whenever they see you?”
Ashley set her bowl aside and turned her body to face Emma more directly. “Why
else would Riley look at you like you’re the most beautiful, strong, and
wonderful person he’s ever met?”

There
was no mistaking the sincerity behind Ashley’s words. The kid meant everything
she said, but why? How could the freshman have so much faith in someone who
didn’t deserve it? Emma scolded the tears pooling in her eyes and was powerless
over the one that set itself free to slide down her cheek. Turning away, she
quickly swiped it away with the back of her hand, hoping the kid hadn’t
noticed. “Yeah, well, I guess there’s more to my story than what you see.”

“Maybe,”
Ashley said simply.

Emma
looked to the sky, willing her stupid tears to retreat and find some other
victim. The words of a freshman should not have this kind of an effect on her.
As a freshman, Ashley was young and naïve and had no concept of truth when it
came to reading people. Otherwise, she would see Emma in the same way everyone
else did, as a poor worthless girl people pitied.

Neither
one of them spoke as Emma fought to regain control of her emotions. A dog
barked and two more answered. One girl screamed inside and a few more laughed.
The words of one song gave way to the bass of another and then another. Through
it all Ashley remained at Emma’s side. Emma wondered why. Maybe it was because
she, too, was an outsider, cast away by the other girls on the team. Or maybe
she knew when someone needed a friend. Whatever the kid’s reason, Emma realized
it wasn’t horrible having the freshman beside her. For a girl, Ashley wasn’t so
bad.

Ashley
caught Emma staring at her and a competitive smile played on her lips.
“Considering body size isn’t important, I bet I could beat you on Wii
basketball.”

The
thought of the freshman beating Emma at anything was impossible, especially
when it came to anything basketball related. “Not a chance.”

“Care
to bet on it?” Ashley held out her hand to seal the deal. “I win, you teach me
one of your fancy basketball moves, no matter how difficult you think it is,
and if you win, you get a day off from me.”

“You’re
on.” Emma shook Ashley’s hand even though part of her wanted to renegotiate the
terms. Maybe she didn’t want a day off from the freshman.

They
stood to return to the house, to the suffocation that only came with the
riches, but they never made it to their game.

A
black hooded figure stepped onto the porch in front of Emma and Ashley at the
same time an arm snaked around Emma’s waist and a hand clamped down on her mouth
to prevent her from screaming. Beside her, Ashley didn’t have a chance against
her attacker. The guy picked her up like a newspaper, tucked her under his arm,
and covered her mouth with a hand of his own. Emma saw the fear in Ashley’s
eyes, and knew she had to protect the kid from any harm. She fought against the
arms holding her and they tightened.

“For
a girl in need of an extraction, you sure do put up a fight,” a strained voice
said in her ear.

Riley.
She should have known. Her body went slack in his arms, and he removed his hand
from her mouth.

She
turned around as he pulled his face mask off, a playful grin on his face. “Do
you always have to go to such extremes?” she asked.

Emma
reached over to pull the face mask off Ashley’s attacker and revealed Tom.
Jerry hopped off the porch to join them.

“It
sounded like I needed to crash the party, so I followed orders and brought back
up.” Riley nodded toward the guys.

Emma
raised her eyebrows in question. Leave it to Riley to take her orders seriously
and act on them. “The cat and mouse, huh?”

Riley
shrugged. “They were the only losers available on a Friday night.”

Emma
laughed. “Figures.”

“Hey.”
Tom set Ashley on the ground and secured Emma in a loose headlock. “We had
plans, big plans, but when a brother needs back up,” Tom and Riley bumped
fists, “plans change.”

No
matter what the girls put her through, Emma could always count on the guys. Why
did brotherhood consist of loyalty and trust and sisterhood consist of
backstabbing and betrayal?

“So,
what’s the plan?” Jerry rubbed his hands together. His wide eyes jumped back
and forth between Riley and Emma, ready to fulfill his mission.

“Yeah,”
Tom said, tightening his arm around her neck. “We rescuing you and holding the
little one hostage?”

Ashley
giggled. She probably would have loved being held hostage by them.

Jerry
made a fist with one hand and punched the palm of his other hand. “Or we can
take on the entire group of snobby girls for you. Teach them a thing or two
about respecting the awesome Emma Wrangton.”

He
may act tough, but if push came to shove and the girls attacked, Jerry would be
the first one defeated. Emma wanted to remind him of his limited ability in the
whole courage department, but a girl’s voice snipped their reunion short.

“Hello,
boys.”

The
group of them turned at the sound of Lauren’s voice to see the rest of the
girls in V formation behind their leader, craning their necks to get a better
look at the male intruders.

“Hello,
ladies.” Tom released Emma and straightened his shirt, no longer interested in
pursuing the hostage situation. Traitor.

Tom
looked from the girls to the backyard court to the basketball resting at the
base of the hoop, and his mouth twisted into a sly smile. “You ladies up for a
friendly competition?”

It
took two seconds for Madison and Peyton to jump off the porch and join Tom
underneath the basket. Talk about motivation. Emma would have thought those two
girls would do a better job at keeping their desperation for male attention in
check for their reputations’ sake. Guess not.

Tom
turned to Riley, his arms spread wide like the world was under his control.
“You two take all the time you need, the ladies await.” Turning his attention
back to the girls, Tom whisked Jerry away with him, leaving Riley and Emma alone.
Riley grabbed Emma’s hand and led her away from the commotion. They sat
cross-legged on the opposite side of the pool, watching Tom and Jerry play
two-on-five against the girls.

Riley
looked at her from the corner of his eye. “You okay?”

Right
smack dab in the middle of one of the worst nights of her life, and Riley
wanted to know if she was okay? She sighed. “I’m fine.”

“Don’t
lie to me.” He nudged her with his shoulder. “If you were fine your eyebrows wouldn’t
be scrunched together like you’re trying to compress all those thoughts in your
head so they wouldn’t be so heavy.” He studied her profile as she watched her
fingers play with a loose thread from her sweatshirt. “Don’t let what Lauren
said get to you. The girl’s crazy.”

She
kept her head bowed, unable to look at him, unable to respond. It was bad
enough he had listened to Lauren’s words over the phone, but now that he was
here in person, her embarrassment escalated.

“Em.”
He reached over and took hold of her hand, taking her focus away from the
thread. “Talk to me.”

She
took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, knowing he’d force it out of her sooner
or later. She’d always been able to talk to him about anything. He knew about
the void left over after her mom left, how her body trembled after witnessing a
fight between her dad and brothers, and how she relied on him when her own
strength failed. He knew everything about her, but not even he realized the
depth of her fears, especially when they revolved around him. Fears she kept
inside because she was too afraid of them becoming a reality. But maybe now was
the time to clue him in.

Not
completely recovered from her conversation with Ashley, Emma closed her eyes,
hoping tears didn’t resurface. “Maybe Lauren’s right,” she whispered.

“About
what?”

“A
guy like you being friends with a girl like me.” She couldn’t resist looking at
him to gauge his reaction.

“She’s
not.” He responded without hesitation, his gaze on her steady and confident.

Emma
wished she could be so sure. Wished she could erase the doubt and fear she felt
and just trust in their friendship. “But what if she is? I have nothing to
offer you. All I am is a huge burden. You should be friends with people who can
pay their own way at the cheapest fast food restaurant in town, who don’t rely
on you to be chauffeured, and who you don’t feel obligated to protect all the
time.”
Words surged from her mouth and they
couldn’t be stopped. “I don’t know why you’ve stayed my friend all these years,
and words can’t even come close to expressing how grateful I am for you, but I
can’t help thinking you’d be better off without me.” What was wrong with her?
She could definitely blame girls for this entire stream of babble. They always
wanted to express their feelings. They were slaves to their irrational
emotions. The complaining, whining, high-pitched voices like fingernails
scraping on a chalkboard or the haunting sound of a cat’s growl. Ridiculous
behavior must be contagious.

He
squeezed her hand. “And what if I don’t see things like you do? What if I like
how things are between us?” The calmness in his voice balanced the anxiety in
hers.

“Then
I’d say you’re wasting your time.”

Riley
bowed his head to hide his smile. “Why don’t you let me worry about that?” She
opened her mouth to respond, but he brought a finger to her lips, silencing
her. “I understand what you’re saying, Em, but I’m not going anywhere. For
better or worse, you’re stuck with me.” An amused smile appeared on his face.
“Besides, considering you’re in love with me, do you really want me to leave
you alone?”

She
groaned and covered her face with her hands, Lauren’s words echoing way too
clearly in her thoughts. “I am
not
in love with you.”

“Sure
you are,” he said in Tom-like fashion as he leaned back on his hands and
stretched his legs out in front of him. “I’m a lovable kind of guy.” The lights
from the pool made his skin look milky white and cast shadows in all the wrong
places, making it difficult for her to read his facial expression. She couldn’t
tell whether or not he was joking.

He
winked at her. “Don’t worry, the feeling’s mutual.”

She
laughed and pushed him away. Leave it to Riley to tease her at a time like
this.

A
high-pitched squeal from the court tore her focus away from Riley. Christi and
Steph tried to steal the ball from Tom, but even he proved to be a better ball
handler than them. Emma grimaced as the girls fouled him miserably. Had they
learned nothing in the past month? “Ugh. They drive me crazy.”

“Hey,”
Riley said. “Forget about them. All you have to do is get through the night,
and then you’re home free. You’ll only have to deal with them at practice.
What’s one night?”

She
met his eyes. Believing him. Trusting him. But not even Riley could predict the
future. His statement only proved to be the infamous words of a guy who had no
idea what kind of impact one night at an all-girls slumber party could have.