Forbidden Love

29

Luna

I answer the phone call on the first ring and prepare myself for the incoming chaos of my lovely siblings.

"Where are you?" Corey asks impatiently from the other end of the phone.

"You're on speaker," Joseph adds, ever the good sibling.

"I'm hanging out with some people. Didn't you guys get my text?"

"No. What people?" Corey questions.

"Olivia and Kalani," I say. That shouldn't be too suspicious or anything.

JJ's voice comes from a distance. "My Olivia and my Kalani?"

"Yeah, it's a long story. Paxton roped me in to it."

"Why are you hanging out with my friends without me?" JJ's voice is louder, and I can hear Corey telling her to give the phone back.

"I'll be home in a few," I tell them and hang up before they ask anything else. Better to not talk too much. I'm not a great liar.

I put my phone in my pocket and go to sit next to Olivia and Kalani. I do admit that it feels a bit awkward without JJ here to cut the tension. They are her friends after all.

"Do you do this every day?" I ask Olivia.

"Yep," She ties her red hair in a ponytail and sighs. But the way she stares at the players makes it seem like she doesn't mind it all that much. I try to pinpoint who she's staring at, but the guys move so fast, and I don't want to stare at her like a freak.

"What about you?" I look across Olivia to Kalani. "Do you usually come?"

She seems to think about her answer. "Not really, my car is at the shop, so Paxton forced me into this."

He does tend to convince people to do things they don't want to do. For example, tutor a specific football player.

"I can't wait till I get my own car." I clear my throat to make small talk. "I'm sure JJ feels the same."

That gets Olivia and Kalani to smile, though Olivia doesn't let her gaze leave the field.

"She complains all the time," Kalani says.

"I know," I shake my head, laugh, and look over to the field. My eyes meet Jaxon's, and he stares for a moment before getting pushed by someone behind him. He stumbles but catches himself.

He doesn't look back at me again.

A few minutes later I notice Olivia is still staring at the field, her eyes are soft, and a faint smile is painted on her lips.

"Do you have a boyfriend here? Or are you and Paxton just really close?" I nudge her.

She finally looks over at me and laughs. "I guess we're close, but I'm watching a friend."

Her eyes fall. Kalani glances at her and for the first time in forever I really wish I had some girl friends who I could talk to about my drama. I guess I have JJ, but we don't usually talk about boys or unimportant stuff. She has Kalani and Olivia for that. She talks death and money with me.

"Five minutes!" I hear the coach call.

"Oh, here they come," Kalani says just as Jaxon, Paxton, Mason, and Isaac head our way.

"Hey," Paxton says. "Did you guys watch me throw that ball?"

"I got to say," Olivia starts, and Paxton prepares himself for a compliment. "I think I could do better than you."

Paxton's grin fades and he snatches a water bottle out of her hand. "No need to be so doom and gloom, Liv. Some people are just born with talent."

"Some people are," She agrees with a sly smile. "Tell me if you ever meet someone like that."

"You hurt me."

"Likewise."

"Where's your practice shirt?" Olivia asks Paxton. "Why are you wearing Jaxon's?" I notice they both have a number seven on. I did briefly wonder how in the world Jaxon got from one side of the field to the other so quickly.

"I lost it." He responds. "Don't laugh!"

Jaxon's already looking at me, he gives me an exasperated eye roll with a smirk. Olivia passes each of the guys a drink of water. "Y'all did good today."

"I think it's cool. No one in my family plays football. It's fun to watch." I smile even if it is a little exaggerated. Football isn't all that fun. I have no desire to watch guys run around in circles and throw a ball around.

Mason and Isaac eye each other and I feel out of place. I don't usually hang out with the jocks. I'm sure they're wondering what I'm doing here. What am I doing here? I tell myself it's because Paxton invited me. But is there another reason?

Paxton stares at me in disbelief. "You've never played football? Not even for fun?"

"Not even for fun."

Now everyone's eyes are on me.

"Never? Have you even touched one?" Isaac asks.

"I don't think so." I answer and because I feel awkward about it, I tack on an embarrassing, "But I've read a book where they played."

Mason saves me from further humiliation. "It's an okay game when Coach isn't torturing you on the field." He doesn't make eye contact as he talks, instead he chooses to stare at something in his bottle like it's the most fascinating thing to ever catch his eye.

"Yeah, my dad can be hard on us." Isaac dramatically sighs and plops down in the grass in front of us.

"I think I'd be a great coach." Paxton sniffs and he's met by a mixture of laughs and snorts from the rest of us. He frowns at the reaction. "What does that mean?"

"Boys!" The coach makes us all jump. The boys turn to see Coach staring at them with hard eyes. "Stop flirting with the girls and get on that field!"

"Yes, Coach," They each mutter—even Isaac, and then make their way back on the field. Except for Jaxon. He sits next to me and starts to mess with his laces.

The coach rolls his eyes. "Meet us on the field, Gray." And then he turns to Olivia. "Boys giving you trouble?"

"As always."

"I'll take care of it for you," He nods and walks off. I'm pretty sure Paxton and Olivia live next door to the Turner's so apparently they're close. There were rumors that one of Paxton's parties got shut down because of him and Paxton had to do so many laps.

Jaxon waits till he leaves and then leans into my ear. "Don't worry about Coach. He yells like that all the time. You'll get used to it."

I turn to him, but that was a mistake because his face is inches away from mine now. His eyes flicker down to my lips so briefly that I would've missed it if I hadn't been looking closely. My breath catches and I move back so fast that I bump into Olivia who's too distracted to notice.

Jaxon grins. "See you."

My heart is trying to slow back to a normal pace as he jogs over to the field. What leaves me breathless though are his words. You'll get used to it. This was a one-time thing...right?