Seducing the Golden Boy (Wrong Quarterback)

CASEY Gray and I will be there in ten. Maria was telling me something about a girl at school, but I was having trouble focusing on what she was saying because of the text my brother, Ben, had just sent me. Gray Andrews. The object of every daydream I’d had since the moment he’d come through our front door four years ago. Ben’s best friend. Assistant captain of the school’s basketball team last year. Two years older than me. Completely out of my league. I self-consciously ran my fingers through my hair, wishing I was wearing something cuter than cut-off jean shorts and an old t-shirt. “Did you hear what I just said?” Maria huffed as we stepped out of the theater, the warm evening air a welcome contrast to the chilliness inside. I really needed to remember to bring a sweatshirt—or better yet, a blanket—next time. The sidewalk outside the movies was crowded with people milling around, talking and laughing. I recognized a few people from class. Maria immediately started waving at them, but I ducked my head and stood there awkwardly, hugging my phone to my chest, waiting for Ben and Gray to show up. While my brother had been the most popular guy in his grade…I was the exact opposite. A quiet nerd who preferred to stay in the shadows and who played the piano for fun. Just another reason that Gray was always going to be nothing but a daydream to me. “OMG, Caleb’s over there,” Maria hissed, hitting me in the arm to get my attention. “Hi, Caleb!” she yelled in a weird, high-pitched voice. Grumbling as I rubbed the sore spot, I kept my eyes on the road next to the theater, not particularly caring if Caleb was here or not. He may have been one of the cool kids in our grade, but he was nothing compared to Gray. I was saved from Maria pushing me into an awkward conversation by the familiar headlights of Ben’s Jeep pulling up to the curb. He was sitting in the passenger seat, which means he’d been drinking at the party they’d been at. And he looked pissed. Ben was my favorite person in the whole world, but he was so annoying to deal with when he was mad. I scowled, my stomach twisting; it wasn’t like I wanted to call him, but Mama was stuck at work late, and there was no other option. This was going to be fun. Gray was probably pissed too—and that only made it worse. I swung open the back door of the Jeep, and Ben didn’t even wait for me to get in before he started. “Seriously, Casey?” His voice came out sharp, cutting through the air. “You couldn’t get a ride from anyone else? You had to call me?” I waved goodbye to Maria, who immediately joined another group of girls, and slid into the backseat with a sigh. “You know Mama’s working late…and I don’t know anyone else here well enough to ask them for a ride. You were literally my only option.” Ben groaned as I slammed the door and buckled my seatbelt. “What are you going to do next year when I’m gone?” I frowned, not wanting to think about that. Ben and Gray would both be going to the University of Tennessee in the fall, and I didn’t like the idea of being in a silent house with nobody but Mama for company. Ben might be annoyed with me right now, but he was my best friend—somehow not minding all the things that made me weird and drove Mama crazy. Gray glanced at me in the rearview mirror, his lips twitching into a small grin. “Hey, Case,” he said, his voice casual, as if Ben wasn’t pitching a fit in the seat next to him. His blond hair caught the last of the evening light, turning the strands almost golden, like the sun had dipped down just to brush against him. It always seemed effortless with him—his hair, his smile, the way he moved through life without a care. I managed a small wave, trying to ignore the way my heart fluttered at the sound of his voice. “Hey.” Ben wasn’t done yet, though. “I had to leave the best party of the summer because you didn’t plan ahead. Again. Whitney was all over me.” I grimaced at that. Whitney was gross, and it was in Ben’s best interest to stay far, far away from her. He wasn’t wrong though about the other part. Ben was constantly needing to save me. I was so socially awkward that I felt weird asking people for rides. “I’m sorry,” I muttered. “Yeah, sure,” he grumbled, crossing his arms and leaning back in his seat. But his voice had lost its edge. He never could stay mad at me for long. “She probably saved you from being a baby daddy at eighteen, though, bro,” Gray commented, shooting me another quick look in the rearview mirror and giving me a wink, mouthing, “Grump” before he pulled the Jeep away from the curb when Ben scoffed at what he’d said. And just like that, the butterflies were back. Winking should be illegal. Or maybe just for him. I was quite sure that a wink from any other guy wouldn’t have quite the same effect on me. I could feel my face heat up as I shifted uncomfortably in the backseat, hoping neither of them noticed that my face resembled a tomato at the moment. Gray turned up the music, tapping his fingers against the wheel, and I let myself relax into the familiar comfort I always felt when it was just the three of us. When I was with people at school, I was always on my toes, trying not to do anything that would push me further down the social pyramid, but with Ben and Gray, I didn’t need to pretend so much. They already knew I was a dork and still tolerated my presence. For a while, the drive was smooth, and the night was quiet outside the car. I could almost forget how annoyed Ben was. Almost. “Maybe we can just go back,” Ben muttered from the front seat, turning to look at me. “You wouldn’t completely hate that, right?” Before I could answer, headlights flooded the road in front of us, blinding, too close. “f**k!” Gray cursed, jerking the steering wheel hard to the left. The tires screamed, and the Jeep veered off the road. I felt the drop in my stomach as we flew down the embankment, the trees rushing toward us in a blur. “Hold on!” Gray shouted, his voice panicked. The impact hit like a punch to the gut. The front of the car crumpled against a tree; the sound of metal crunching so loud it drowned out everything else. My head snapped forward, and pain exploded behind my eyes. The airbags slammed into Ben and Gray, but in the back, all I felt was the glass shattering against my skin. Everything slowed. The world became a blur of noise, of pain. My head throbbed, and my right hand…I looked down at it, how blood was dripping onto my legs from a deep cut…was that my bone I could see? The metallic smell of the gash filled my nose, and I blinked, trying to get my bearings. “Casey!” Gray’s voice cut through the haze. I blinked again, focusing on him as he twisted in his seat, panic etched into every line of his face. “Are you okay?” I tried to nod, but my head swam. “I…I think so,” I whispered, the words slurred, like my mouth wasn’t working right. Gray’s eyes flicked from me to Ben, and suddenly everything shifted. His expression changed, terror flashing in his eyes. He leaned over, shaking Ben’s shoulder. “Ben! Ben, man, wake up!” Ben didn’t move. Gray’s voice broke, his hands trembling as he shook him harder. “Come on, Ben! Wake up!” I couldn’t breathe. My body felt heavy, and I tried to call out to them, but the world was spinning too fast. I watched Gray, his face desperate, his voice fading as everything around me blurred into darkness. When I was five years old, I’d fallen into the lake behind our house. I remember sinking below the murky depths and a sense of calmness washing over my skin. The water was warm, and it felt like it was almost calling for me. For a second, I hadn’t even tried to get back to the surface. I’d just stared out at the darkness. It was only when my oxygen had totally disappeared that I’d begun to struggle, kicking my legs violently as I tried to get to the surface. Ben had been the one to save me and pull me out of the lake before I could drown. Waking up felt like trying to swim through that thick, dark water again. Everything was heavy, pulling me down, my body refusing to cooperate. I blinked, but my eyes wouldn’t focus. The light was too bright, stabbing through my head like a knife. The steady beeping of machines filled the air, but it all felt distant, like I was hearing it from underwater. I tried to move, but even the smallest shift sent pain shooting through me. My hand…my head…everything hurt. I forced my eyes open, slowly, the world coming into focus in pieces. A white ceiling. Harsh fluorescent lights. Where was I? Something bumped my leg, and my gaze darted down to a figure slumped over me on the bed. Mama. Her eyes were closed, but her lips were moving, like she was talking in her sleep. Only, I couldn’t hear her clearly because sound was still coming in all garbled and messed up. I blinked a few more times, and more details came into focus in the room. The hospital. That’s where I was. There was an IV pump next to me, and my left hand was bandaged. I stared at Mama again. She looked pale, like she hadn’t slept in days, her hair tangled, dark circles smudged under her eyes. Her hands were clutched to her chest, so tight her knuckles were white. And I could finally understand what she was saying. “Ben.” Over and over again she was saying my brother’s name.