Win Me Over (16 page)

“Everybody back off!” Bennett yelled, then his voice softened. “Jason, can you hear me?”

The boy nodded, just barely, and tried to open his eyes all the way as Bennett ran the light down Jason's body, obviously checking for further injury. Bennett brought the light back near Jason's face, highlighting his bloody forehead, and then used his fingers to hold the boy's eye open while he shone the light directly into it. Callie could only guess Jason had gone down and hit the metal bumper of the old truck on his journey toward the ground. She and Bennett had heard the crack. “There you go, bud. You're okay. How many fingers am I holding up, Jason?”

“Four. And it was an accident.” Jason's voice was low and his face pinched in pain.

“No, it wasn't,” a feminine voice called out. Callie jerked her head in shock. Jessica. Was this the kid she'd been flirting with an hour ago? The young girl continued, tears in her voice. “Tate sucker punched him.”

That managed to give Jason some strength. “Shut the hell up, Jess,” Jason growled, and then let his eyes close as if the effort had overtaxed him.

“All right, enough. First off, you don't speak to a lady like that.” Bennett's voice was stern but low. “And you better start talking, because the only person that deserves to be mad as hell is me.” Bennett looked up at the kid who was clearly to blame. “I'm talking to you, too, Tate. Don't you dare go anywhere.”

Another student had pulled his own truck around and turned the lights on the crowd, casting the entire scene in harsh light and shadows. Callie glanced up at Tate. His breath came in shallow puffs, the blue numbers on his shoulder shivered like a man in shock.
Letter jacket.
That was the guy who'd had his arms around Jessica. Jessica, who was now crouched near Jason, sniffling and holding his hand. What a mess. Callie could only imagine what the hell had caused this fight, but she had a pretty good idea.

“I'm sorry, Coach,” Tate said quietly.

Callie glanced back down at Jason, whose eyes fluttered open once more and tried to settle on Tate. “What the fuck is wrong with you, man?” Jason muttered, almost seeming to have forgotten that just a second ago he'd said it was an accident, defended his friend. Had he forgotten? Okay, now
that
wasn't a good sign.

“Don't try to move, Jason.” Callie took a step around Bennett and dropped to her knees at the top of Jason's form before gently rubbing his hair from his forehead. She didn't look at Bennett. “Just relax.”

“Jason, can you hear me?” Jessica knelt beside Callie, tears rolling down her cheeks. “I'm so sorry, baby.”

“Just go, Jess,” Jason muttered, his eyes still squeezed tight, trying to hold back what had to be a terrific pain in his head. “Please go.”

Bennett cleared his throat and Callie met his eyes. He gave her a look and she immediately guessed what he wanted. Callie stood up. “Jessica, come with me, sweetie.”

Callie helped the young girl to her feet just as sirens sounded in the distance, growing closer by the second. Callie ignored the sound of Bennett cursing under his breath at the sound and led Jessica from the crowd of gawkers and over toward the fire.

By the time they sat down on a bale of hay Jessica was sobbing. Callie blew out a breath and put her arm around the girl. “Okay, okay. No one died. Tell me what's going on.”

Jessica cried for another minute before she tried to pull herself together. Callie remembered all too well how heavy everything seemed when you were a teenager. Like the weight of the world was on your shoulders, the feeling that this moment could change everything. Being a teenager was way too hard sometimes.

“Is Jason your boyfriend?” Callie asked quietly. Trying to get the conversation flowing. As the coach she caught pieces of what went on in the girls' lives, but she tried not to pry unless they opened up. She knew Jess had a boyfriend but not much more than that.

Jessica nodded her head and then wiped her nose on her sweatshirt like a child. Callie couldn't help but remember Jessica's lavish and expensive Sweet Sixteen birthday party this last summer. Anne had been hired to plan and Callie had been right there to help. It had been a huge shindig, because Jessica's family was incredibly wealthy. Seems money didn't save you from the drama of adolescence.

Finally Jessica calmed down enough to speak. “They're best friends. Always have been. I should have known better.”

Callie considered the girl's words a moment, then decided to go all-in. “Did you cheat on Jason?”

Jessica's eyes widened and her head shook violently. “No. No, I didn't.” She dropped her shoulders. “I mean…”

“Jessica, cheating isn't necessarily always physical. Some people might say flirting with someone—letting him touch you certain ways—that's still a form of cheating.”

“I didn't mean to. I just … Tate is so funny. He makes me feel good about myself. He makes me feel…”

“Wanted?” Callie finished for her.

Jessica nodded, her eyes filling with tears again.

“I understand. That's a good feeling; everyone wants to feel wanted by someone. Doesn't Jason make you feel that way?”

Jessica shrugged. “Not anymore. Maybe at first. He's so focused on football, schoolwork, making his parents happy.”

“Maybe at your age it's important to focus on other things besides a relationship. You're still so young.”

She didn't respond to that, and Callie really hadn't expected her to. Nobody ever felt too young. That was reserved for hindsight. “I just don't want them to stop being friends because of me.”

Callie hesitated before speaking; it was a rather mature thing for a teenage girl to say, so she let Jessica hear the truth. “It wasn't right what you did, Jessica. But it's not all your fault. Tate's a big boy. He knew you were his best friend's girlfriend and he chose to flirt anyway. That's on him. But what I don't understand is why Tate punched Jason if he was in the wrong.”

“Jason found out we'd been talking. He called him trash.”

Callie's eyes widened.

Jessica continued. “Told him my parents would never let me date white trash like him. The worst part … he's right. I mean, I don't think that, but they're going to be so pissed when they find out what happened. My parents love Jason, but Tate … he doesn't have a good family. His dad…” She didn't continue. Her tears started up again, quietly this time.

“Sweetie, your parents will get over this. Right now you need to focus on you, and let these two boys work things out between themselves.”

Jessica wiped the mascara from under her eyes. “Maybe.”

“I know I'm right. When it comes right down to it, men are a huge pain in the butt,” Callie said, trying to add some levity to the situation. “Someday a great guy will come along and sweep you off your feet, but right now, when you're young, you should just focus on friends and having fun.”

Jessica shrugged. “Boys
are
fun.”

Callie sighed. She couldn't argue that one. “Agreed. But things don't always have to be serious. You're young. Right now it can
just
be fun.”

Maybe she should take her own advice.

 

Eight

Bennett's emotions warred inside as he watched Tate walk to his car and pull out of the nearly empty parking lot. Anger, frustration … shock. Jason and Tate fighting, Bennett never would have guessed. Officer Abbott walked over and Bennett let out a heavy sigh. “You get much out of him?”

The cop shook his head. “A little. Sounds like he has a thing for Jason's girl. Got caught putting some moves on her tonight. Jason confronted him and Tate reacted with his fist.”

“I can't believe Tate managed to knock him down.”

“I was thinking the same thing,” Abbott said. “Kid's a lineman; he clearly hadn't seen it coming.”

Bennett nodded in agreement. Tate's emotions flared like a flamethrower. Anybody within aim better watch out. But his best friend? And on top of that, messing with his best friend's girl?
Shit
. “What the hell is wrong with these boys? Do they think they live in a bubble? That no one will find out? No one will see their actions?”

“They're teenage boys. They're not thinking at all. Not with the right end anyway. We've all been there.”

“Unfortunately,” Bennett said. He didn't know much about Ryan Abbott, other than he was one of the few cops in Preston. But he seemed like a nice guy.

His radio went off on his hip, mixing with the sweet sound of Callie's voice coming up beside them. Only it was directed at the wrong person. “Ryan, I didn't know you were the one on duty tonight.”

Bennett felt sucker punched himself as he watched Callie walk up and put her arm around Abbott's waist. The cop's face lit up as he returned Callie's hug. As if they'd done it a thousand times. Suddenly Bennett decided the guy might be a little unlikable. Thank goodness she pulled away just as quickly.

“How are the boys?” Callie asked casually. Like she hadn't just had her hands on another man. Bennett swallowed hard, trying to focus on what she'd just said. Ryan beat her to it.

“Okay. Tate's lucky that Mr. Starkey didn't press charges. Sadly, I have a feeling when Tate's father finds out about what he did the kid will wish I'd locked him up for the night.”

Bennett winced at the thought. Tate Grayson Sr. was going to lose his fucking mind when he caught wind. And there was no chance he wouldn't find out, because Tate would have to face the consequences of his actions tonight. Actually, both boys would. The school had a no-tolerance policy on fighting, and although it wasn't during school hours it was at a school function on school property. Bennett's hands were tied; the boys would be in trouble and that would dictate their ineligibility to play ball. And the truth was, Tate deserved it. What he had done was wrong.

“Well, I think I'm gonna head over to the hospital and get Jason's statement once he's in better shape.” Officer Abbott frowned. “I don't know if he'll be back this season, Coach. His head took quite a blow on the bumper of that old truck.”

Bennett ran his hands through his hair, completely overwhelmed, exhausted, and pissed. “Don't think that hasn't been going through my head since the minute I heard that punch.”

“Well, you guys take it easy,” Ryan said with a nod. He then turned to Callie. “Cal, I'll see you tomorrow.”

She smiled. “Sounds good; night, Ryan. Thanks for coming.”

What. The. Hell.
Jealousy bubbled in Bennett's chest at the familiarity between Callie and the cop. How did they know each other, and how well? And what the hell was going to happen tomorrow? Was that why she'd pulled away from him, because she was seeing someone else? No. That couldn't be it, not when she'd announced she'd been dreaming of him.

As soon as Abbott was in his patrol car Bennett turned to walk away. “I gotta get back to that fire.”

Callie followed him, thank goodness. He glanced around the field. They were completely alone now and he tried to wrangle in his emotions, to no avail. This night had taken a bizarre turn and he was not happy about it. At all. He wanted to rewind it to one specific point in time.

He stopped a few feet away from the dying blaze. She stood next to him, facing the golden light. The shushing of the nearby trees and the chirp of the season's final crickets could just barely be heard over the simmering crackle of the fire. They stood that way for several minutes before Bennett couldn't contain his thoughts anymore.

He turned to her, taking in her profile as she tucked her chin into her scarf. “Tell me again.”

She angled her face to look up at him, her eyes shining. “Tell you what?”

“You know what.”

She shook her head and turned back to the flames. “I think that moment has passed.”

“The hell it has. Do you think I've forgotten what you said?” He cleared his throat. He was desperate for her to go back to the conversation that had been stolen from them. “You dreamed about us … together.”

Now she turned fully, facing him. He did the same, squeezing his hands into fists. He wanted to touch her so bad, and she was now so close. “Tell me again, Callie.”

Her eyes softened, voice lowering to a near whisper. “Fine. I dreamed about you. Happy?”

He wouldn't let her go so easily. Not this time. She'd started the conversation earlier; now she was going to have to finish it. “I'll be happy when you tell me. All of it.”

She swallowed, and then licked her lips. His body immediately responded and he inched a little closer, his hand went to her face, and his thumb swiped against her mouth. “Tell me about your dream.”

“What do you say?” she asked, teasing him.

“Please.”

For a long moment she didn't speak; then he felt her fingers grab onto his front jean pocket and hold on. It was a subtle move, but it had his heart pounding. Finally she opened her mouth. “I dreamed of
you
.”

“You said that already.” He stepped even closer, pushing their bodies closer, her thumb looped over his waistband meeting skin. He wanted her to keep going. “Tell me more.”

“We were … together. Close.”

“And,” he pushed. He wanted her to say it.

“You were naked.” She gave him a small smile. “I liked that.”

“Did you? What else happened?”

Her fingers tickled his stomach as she laid her palm flat against his skin and slid it up his abdomen. “I was naked, too.”

“Good, and what were we doing naked?”

She grinned and looked down at where their bodies pressed together. He couldn't believe that the loud and confident Callie he was used to was the same one standing in front of him now. This girl was unsure of herself, a little embarrassed about discussing her sex dream. It shouldn't have been such a turn-on, but damn, it was.