Winning Pass - A Football Romance Read Online Free Page B

where Elijah is.
    “I’m sorry, sweetheart. Elijah isn’t here. He’s . . . with his mother right now.”
    I run out of the house as fast as my feet will carry me. His dad or not, the man was creeping me out. When I get home, I’m breathing too fast, and Stacey comes around the corner from the kitchen, and her eyes are as big as plates.
    She doesn’t let me tell her what just happened, and she shrieks at Mama to come. Mama’s eyes are sad. I don’t know what’s wrong with them.
    “Honey, there’s been an accident.”
    I’ve never been to a funeral before. I don’t want this to be my first, but I don’t have a choice. Elijah needs me, and we made a promise we’d always help the other when they need it.
    I want to tell him he looks really cute in his black suit with the dark blue tie. It reminds me of those teenage prom movies that me and Stacey watch. But he’s not looking at me. His hand grips mine tightly just like it has all day, but he won’t look at me. So I sit and be quiet with him.
    The prettiest bouquet of red and yellow roses is put on top of the black casket, and someone is turning a weird crank that’s lowering it into the ground. I let go of his hand for just a moment, wanting to get a better look, but Elijah jumps up and runs away from us all. That’s the last time I saw his mom. In a cold box in the ground.
    He’s hiding in a tree outside the cemetery. I pick up the hem of my dress and climb up after him, not even stopping when the branches scrape my skin.
    He’s talking about running away from here and going to travel with one of his favorite bands all over the world. But he needs me to go with him. And he yells as me when I tell him that’s silly.
    “Why is it silly, though, Paige? If everyone expects us to act like grownups and understand everything like grownups do, then why can’t we be grownups?”
    I don’t sleep the next night because I think about climbing into Elijah’s window and kissing him. I’ve been watching those teen movies, and I think I can do a better job this time. I want to make him smile again, and he always does when we’re close like that.
    But Elijah beats me to it. When I go to meet him at our usual spot, he has a box of paper and envelopes for me and gives them to me before telling me he has to kiss me. So I let him, but it’s a little scary because I don’t know why he still seems sad. There’s no smile on his face this time, but the kiss is a lot longer than usual, and when Elijah puts his hands on my shoulders, I sort of feel like one of those girls in the movies. He’s crying though, so it’s wet and sloppy, and my face sort of sticks to his. I don’t mind it until he tells me he has to move to Texas with his dad.
    Then my world ceases to exist.

4
    Elijah
    I don’t know what’s worse—my killer headache or the fact that I must have pissed the bed last night. On one hand, I want to open my eyes and see what exactly the damage is, but on the other, the bright Texas sun is already blinding me through the window. “I have got to remember to buy some blackout shades or somethin’,” I grumble to myself, my throat grittier than the sand at the beach.
    When I finally do pull my sore ass out of bed, I say a little worthless prayer. I hadn’t totally lost my dignity the night before, just my bottle of beer. And for some reason, there’s a little white card that drifts down to my feet when I stand up. I turn it over in my hand to read Johnny Maine’s name and number on it, with the words ‘call asap’ scrawled across the top. Scratching my beard, I call his number, knowing damn well that whatever he has to say probably isn’t going to make my head feel any better.
    And after yelling my ear off for nearly fifteen minutes, he proves me right. I guess last night, I had a little too much to drink and passed out at the bar, and the bartender had to call Maine to have me picked up. There were some people who had to be paid off to make sure this