*Hands over an Oreo*

"Oh my gosh! I still can't believe this." Mia squealed, holding Ryder's jersey like a fucking trophy.

"I, for one, am not surprised. It's his Miles after all." Perri said, curling her hair.

"His Miles? Uh, Bless you." I scoffed, smacking the back of Perri's head.

Lexi snorted from where she was on the bed, scrolling on her phone.

"Ow, you know I'm right. Guys, back me up here." Perri whined, getting up from the stool and making me sit in her place, to do my hair.

"Dude I haven't known y'all for a very long time but I started shipping you two, the moment your eyes met. It was like a newly ignited flame." Lexi said, being a professional at exaggerating whatever she says.

"She's right, you know. I mean, he said it to you himself, he has never asked a girl to wear his jersey before." Mia shrugged, applying her peach lipstick which made her eyes look even more gorgeous.

I had noticed now that Perri had decided to straighten my hair, for tonight and to be honest, she knew what she was doing.

"So what? That doesn't mean anything. Guys do ask their friends to wear their jersey, sometimes." I said, in the most convincing tone I could muster up.

Perri moved back and looked at me in the mirror to exaggerate her point. "Um hello? We are his friends too."

"But he obviously can't ask you because of C- I mean, Logan. Yeah, you had a boyfriend." I said, holding myself from revealing something that I'm not in a place to reveal.

"That still doesn't explain me." Mia said, pointing to herself.

"Um... Dylan." Perri coughed out, making Mia frown and the rest of us laugh. "Anyway, it's a known fact that a guy giving a girl his jersey is a huge step forward in their relationship."

My eyes widened as I looked at her through the mirror. "R- relationship?"

Perri met my panicked eyes with her stern ones and Mia groaned. "Stop it. You're scaring her."

Lexi laughed. "Only you, Emily. Only you."

I shook my head, trying not to overthink this, but that's hard to do when it's something like this.

Did the jersey actually mean something?

The cogs of my brain turned on their own, making me shut my eyes in frustration.

"Ugh just gimme that. Let's just get this over with." I groaned, moving out of the stool once my hair was done.

I snatched the jersey out of Mia's hand before stomping over to the bathroom. "I can't believe I'm gonna have to change twice tonight."

"I know man, that part, even I'm sad about." Lex groaned, taking my place, so that Perri can do her hair.

So, apparently, by asking me to the game, Ryder automatically asked me to the after party as well, which is why the girls decided that we get dressed at Perri's place together, for both as its closest to the school.

I put on Ryder's jersey over my shorts and not surprisingly, the jersey fully covered them. It looked like a loose dress on me and I'm afraid, it didn't look half bad.

It was a black jersey with the number 15 on it and Ryder's name on the back in big bold letters.

I looked down, ashamed at the fact that butterflies had swarmed in my stomach when he handed me the jersey at school.

And I also maybe, kinda, sorta, tried it on, multiple times when I got home.

"I'm still pretty surprised that he's throwing one of his own." I heard Mia's voice from the room as I decided to exit the bathroom.

"Why?" I frowned, unzipping the bag that had kept my white sneakers in, to go with the jersey.

"Well, considering the fact that Ryder hates parties and barely even attends any, it is pretty surprising that he's throwing one." Perri said, putting on a coat of mascara on her lashes.

"Wait what?" I asked bewildered. "Ryder doesn't attend parties?"

"Nope, the guys usually have to beg him to accompany them to like one party a year." Perri replied, shaking her head and turning to look at us. "How do I look? Logan's gonna be there. I need to make him regret his life."

We chuckled, showering her with compliments, slowly making our way downstairs and out the door eventually.

So, this game was a pretty big deal as our school team was against their all time rival, Rosewood high.

The game is scheduled to start at 6 and we still had like half an hour, to wish Ryder luck and find our seats.

I grabbed my jacket from the back of my car, once we reached the school and got out, putting it on.

"Woah woah woah what are you doing?" Lex said catching up with me.

I stopped, looking at her confused. "Something wrong, apparently. What is it?"

"You're wearing a jacket over the jersey." She said.

The jacket was black and kind of merged with the jersey.

Perri and Mia joined us too, frowning at my jacket.

"Um..." Perri pointed at my jacket.

"What's the big deal? Do you guys want me to freeze to death?" I said, motioning for them to follow me towards the stands.

"It isn't even that cold, Em." Mia said.

"The jersey just lost its purpose because of that." Perri whined, motioning towards the back of it where Ryder's name was.

"Guys, look around." I said as I noticed people slowly turning towards us, most of them squinting at me, or more like the jersey I was wearing. "I think the jersey is serving its purpose just fine."

"It's because of what Perri said earlier, isn't it?" Lex said, looking over her shoulder, just as we reached the hallway towards the stands.

Everyone turned to look at me.

"Ryder's gonna kill me." Perri groaned.

"What? No. It has nothing to do with that guys." I said, lying through my teeth. "Just calm down, will you?"

"HEY WATERS!" Someone yelled from behind us, making us stop in our tracks and turn.

We were just about to reach the hallway that led to the change room where the team was, so there were not many people around here.

I saw Ryan and Harry jog towards us.

I raised my eyebrows at them. "Hey, what are you guys doing here?"

"My little brother is on the team." Harry said, with a proud smile, making me smile in return.

"Really? Ben? That's amazing." I said.

"Yeah that kid made me proud." Harry said.

"Hey Em." I heard Ryan's voice, making me turn to him. "You look beautiful, by the way." He said, without even looking away from my face.

"Oh thanks." I said, with a small smile, suddenly feeling a little weirded out, by his smile.

Thankfully Mia's high pitched voice, interrupted our conversation.

"Wait, Ben is your brother?" Mia asked, wide-eyed. "How'd I never know that?"

"Maybe because all your attention is on a certain someone all the time." Perri sang, making Mia scoff and grumble under her breath.

"Well, having your eyes on someone special isn't really wrong." Ryan said, making our eyes snap to him.

And what surprised me the most was that he was already looking at me with a weird smile on his face.

I heard a choking sound from Perri, somewhere behind me.

"Wait a second... Is that a jersey?" Harry suddenly said, making Lexi snort and try to cover it with a cough.

Damn it.

Maybe I should've brought a long scarf to hide the front.

I don't even know what I'm so afraid of, but Lex was right, what Perri said, triggered something inside me. And added to that, were the memories of how Ryder acted with me on Saturday.

I can't help but feel confused as my thoughts remain jumbled in my head and I don't know what to make of everything that's happened between us.

Ryan's eyes snapped down to my outfit and his smile fell, making me furrow my eyebrows in confusion.

"Uh yeah, well-" I looked down at my outfit but Ryan's hard tone cut me off.

"Who's 15 on the team?" Ryan asked, without looking away from the jersey, making me feel slightly uncomfortable.

I raised my eyebrows at Harry as he looked at me apologetically. "15, uh I guess-"

Harry started but a voice cut him off, yet again.

At this point, I feel like this boy has some kind of drone following me and knows exactly when to jump into conversations I'm involved in.

And with that a hand suddenly grabbed my side, made me turn and collide to a hard chest.

"Hey babe."

My wide eyes met Ryder's intense gaze and my breath hitched.

He looked down at me with a mesmerizing smile that made my vision blur everything out, except for him.

Someone cleared their throat from behind me, making me snap out of my trance and tried to move away from Ryder but his grip around my waist tightened, avoiding that.

I furrowed my eyebrows at him, while his smile stayed intact. "Ryder." I hissed.

"Yes babe?" He said, glancing behind me. "Oh hey guys, didn't see you there."

"Of course you didn't." Perri rolled her eyes, as everyone exchanged greetings.

After a few more failed attempts to move away from his arms, I sighed, pinching his arm, making him flinch. "Babe? Really?" I whisper yelled.

He looked down at me, mocking innocence. "What's wro-" He cut himself off as his eyes trailed down to my outfit, more like his jersey.

"What's this?" He asked, picking at the jacket, frowning.

"It's called a jacket." I said, slowly, as of talking to a kid. "People usually wear this piece of clothing to avoid getting c-"

"I know what a jacket is." He deadpanned. "I meant, why are you wearing one? It's not even that cold."

I looked down at it, to try and avoid this conversation.

"It's literally hiding the main reason why a jersey is worn." He said, patting my back with his arm that was around me. "My name's on the back, you know that right?"

"You're 15!" Harry snapped his fingers in realisation. "Ryder's 15." He said to someone but I couldn't see as I was still facing Ryder, away from everyone else.

I tried pulling away one more time and this time, ducked under his arms, stepping out of his grip successfully.

But I couldn't go very far as one of his arms latched around my waist and pulled me back to his hard chest, such that I was now standing with my back against Ryder's chest, facing the others.

I sighed as butterflies swarmed my stomach as I noticed the veins in his very muscular arm making me a little weak on my knees.

Bring me some holy water.

"Thank you man, I heard." Ryan snapped.

"We've been going on about the jacket since the moment she put it on." Mia said, motioning towards the jacket.

"It's all Perri's fault really." Lex shrugged nonchalantly, making Perri gasp.

"You bitch." She said, while Lex just winked in return.

"Well, we uh we better get going, then." Ryan said, out of the blue, ushering Harry to walk away from us towards the stands.

"Good luck, Green! Kick some ass!" Harry yelled over his shoulder.

Ryder chuckled, yelling a thanks in return, before making me turn to face him again. "Now, about the jacket." He said.

"Uh ooh Cole just texted me, they've saved us seats. We should probably go help them hog the seats." Perri rushed out, quickly walking away, not so subtly.

Mia and Lex followed after her, leaving me alone with Ryder.

I looked back at them with a frown.

Fucking traitors.

Ryder cleared his throat, making me turn to look at him. Just as I was about to apologise about what Lex said, he cupped my cheeks, making my eyes widen.

"Miles, I know it was a little too sudden for me to ask you to wear my jersey and I just want you to know that you don't have to feel obligated to wear it, okay?" He said, looking intently into my eyes. "If it makes you feel uncomfortable in any way, you can always change."

How can I hate this boy?

He's going to be the death of me.

I couldn't help but look at him in surprise and admiration, as a small smile grew on my face. "Really?"

"Really."

"But I have nothing to change into." I mocked a frown, making him motion to somewhere behind him.

"I have some extra t-shirts in my locker." He said, moving to walk into the change room. "I'll get one for you."

He turned to walk away but I held onto his arm and pulled him back with a jerk, making him turn to me wide eyed.

"I don't need a t-shirt." I said, chuckling at his startled self.

He frowned at that, tilting his head to the side. "Uh Miles I don't know how I'd feel about you sitting out there without a top."

I raised my eyebrows at him, before I burst out laughing. "I'm not gonna sit topless either, Ryder. I'm not changing."

His eyes drifted down to my form and I saw him gulp. "Are you sure?" He asked, as I nodded in response.

I sighed. "I was just... scared for a moment." I said, making him frown.

I need to talk to him.

Communication is key.

"Perri might have mentioned something about a guy giving his jersey to a girl as a huge step in their relationship and well, I didn't know what to make of that. Of us." I said, looking down as I realise how ridiculous I sounded.

I felt his large fingers grab my chin, making me look up at him. He was looking at me with a small reassuring smile of his own.

"Let's just focus on now, yeah?" He said, tucking a piece of hair behind my ear and leaned into my ear. "One step at a time, beautiful."

I felt a shiver go down my spine as his hot breath hit my neck.

He pulled back, leaving me breathing heavily, with my lips parted. When his eyes landed on my face, he groaned. "I don't know how long I'm gonna be able to control myself." He said, under his breath.

"10 MINUTES!" Someone yelled making me snap out of the trance that Ryder always manages to put me in.

I pat his chest. "You should go. Make me proud, Green."

He chuckled. "Where's my good luck?" He said, making me frown.

"Uh good luck?" I said, sticking out my thumb in a thumbs up, in confusion.

He rolled his eyes. "Nope. Not good enough."

"What do you want?" I sighed, crossing my arms over my chest.

He tapped his chin, pretending to think, before his eyes lit up and he leaned down, lining his face with mine, making my eyes widen.

He, then turned his head to the side and tapped his cheek, making me raise an eyebrow.

"You want me to slap you?" I frowned.

He clicked his tongue and sighed. "No Miles, I want a kiss. Because I'm obviously the normal one between us."

I smacked his shoulder at that making him chuckle.

"Come on, you heard the man. I don't have all day. The match starts soon." He said, closing his eyes.

I bit my lip and with a newly found confidence I decided to be the one to surprise him for a change.

I leaned forward and instead of aiming for his cheek, I moved a little to the side and placed my lips on the corner of his mouth.

I heard his breath hitch and his body tense up. Feeling satisfied with his reaction, I moved away, taking slow steps backwards while he looked at me wide-eyed.

"I better be wearing the jersey of a winner by the end of the night, Green." I said, throwing him one last wink before turning to walk away.

*****

GREENFIELD HIGH was displayed on the board and our side of the stands went crazy with cheers as our school team was about to enter the field.

I slowly took off the jacket, making the murmurs from people around us get louder.

The girls looked at me wide-eyed.

"YES QUEEN!" Perri yelled, making me chuckle as we attracted more attention and more heads turned towards me, or more specifically Ryder's jersey.

I noticed as our school team entered the field with a senior leading them, who's probably the captain, followed by the quarterback, who was Ryder, making the girls scream at an octave that I think only dogs could hear.

But instead of bathing in the cheers his eyes roamed the stands before landing on me in the crowd, making heat travel up my neck and cheeks.

His gaze dropped down to my from and his eyes widened, before meeting mine again. He mouthed a 'You look beautiful' cupping his mouth, making more people turn to look at me but at this point, I didn't care what they thought.

'I know' I mouthed back, making him chuckle.

He grinned and threw a sneaky wink in my direction before jogging towards the rest of the team as we took our seats for the much awaited match of the season.