On the Fence

He stumbled, but didn’t let go of me like I thought he would, and we both fell to the ground. He rolled so I was pinned beneath one of his hips and his right arm.

Just as I came to the goal, he caught up and wrapped one arm around my waist, dragging me to a halt. Then he spun me away from the ball, let go, and took the ball back. I jumped onto his back.

“Give it up, Lewis.”

“You think this is going to keep me from scoring?” He gripped my thighs with his hands, keeping me from jumping off, and continued to dribble the ball.

“Let me down.”

He let go, and I gave him a playful bite anyway and jumped down, ready to take off after the ball. But he immediately grabbed me and pulled me against him. “You brat.”

Braden still sat there, trapped by my legs. But everyone else was gone

He kneed the ball in a high arc and it landed on the end of my bed. “Gage isn’t here, and I want you.”

It wasn’t until Braden squeezed my hand that I became aware he was holding it. I quickly let go and sat back, wiping the sweat from my face.

“Talk to me,” Braden said. “Were you having a nightmare?”

That night on my cell phone, I got the text: Fence. Now.

“Your brothers were fine. . . . It was Braden who had a problem with me.”

“No. He doesn’t have a problem with you. We got in a fight last night. He was angry with me and taking it out on you.”

“Maybe. But it’s more than that.”

“What do you mean?”

“I think he’s jealous.”

“Of what?”

“Of me dating you. I think he likes you.”

He took me by the shoulders and turned me around to face the guys, who were now all staring at us. “By a show of hands,” Braden said loudly, “who here would’ve asked Charlie out in the last six months had they not been given the ‘We will kill you if you look at Charlie’ speech by the three lugs over there when she turned sixteen?”

As I passed Braden, about to catch Gage, Braden grabbed me around the waist and held me tight. Because he was sitting down, his face was level with my neck.

“Traitor,” I said, smacking him on the head a few times and then struggling to get free. “I hope my stink from running is burning your nostrils right now.”

He pressed his nose to my neck and took a big whiff. “Smells like sunshine and rainbows.”