Hidden Gem (12 page)

“Feels like she could be a closet freak,” Adam said as he finished his beer.
 
“Crazy’s
gotta
run in the family.”

“Alright, well that settles it,” Matt declared, holding out another beer in a mock toast.
 
“Here’s to boning Gemma Hunter before the end of the football season, huh? Can’t imagine it’d be too hard.”
 
They boys cheered, toasting their beer cups and making obscene gestures.

“Don’t talk like that.”

The boys quickly stopped and looked over in surprise.
 
Lucas hadn’t said a word the entire time on the balcony and they had practically forgotten that he was there.
 
Madison squinted at him in curiously as well.

“It’s okay, honey, they’re just idiots,” she comforted Lucas, resting a hand on his chest though feeling uneasy herself.
 
“Guys, Lucas is really good friends with Gavin and you’re all being really disrespectful.”
 
She looked up at Lucas, whose jaw was clenched tight.
 
He took Madison’s hand from his chest and set it down gently on the balcony.

“It’s warm in here,” he said into her ear. “I’m gonna get some air.”
 
She blinked in confusion as she watched him turn and leave.
 

“Oh shit,
Maddie
,” Matt said.
 
“Looks like your boy might have a boner for her too.”
 
They all laughed.
 
Madison was silent as she looked over the balcony and watched her boyfriend make his way out of the club.

~

Gemma was relieved when she found out that her friends weren’t the type to make a big deal of Halloween.
 
From her knowledge of pop culture, Halloween was the day that girls had the excuse to dress in a way that would never otherwise be appropriate.
 
Since her career as Queen Bee was all about disguise and dressing to the nines, she grew to find the practice rather routine and was happy to hear that Madison had already gotten everyone’s Halloween costumes.

“I just stepped into the supermarket and Lucas started flipping out,” Madison explained.
 
“Apparently some guy who plays for The Jets was there and Lucas, like, loves him.
 
They practice nearby or something.
 
He was really nice and was completely checking me out but Lucas was like, actually
happy
that he approved.”
 

The football player, whose name Madison couldn’t remember, ended up inviting Lucas and Madison to a game and giving them passes to the locker room.
 
Madison apparently convinced the boys to literally take their shirts off for her.

“So now I have like, five authentic jerseys.
 
I had them dry-cleaned so they’re not disgusting and I think we’d look cute wearing them over bike shorts and pumps.
 
Then afterwards, we can give them back to Lucas because he was totally bummed that I didn’t give him one.”

“Can I keep mine?” Kate asked.
 
“I think my dad is a Jets fan.
 
Or a Giants fan.
 
Shit, I don’t remember which…” she trailed off.

“You can keep yours,” Madison said, nonchalantly.
 
She turned towards Gemma and did a quick sweep of her from head to toe.
 
“Actually, you can all keep them.
 
Lucas will really only want the one I wore anyway.”

“We should wear these to The Turkey Bowl!” Leah squealed.
 
“It would be like good luck! And they’re big enough that Jillian won’t have to wear three sports bras to hide all that bouncing.”

Jillian shot Leah a look.
 
“I’m not playing this year, I’m just cheering,” she said.
 
“Some of the guys tried to cop a feel last year.
 
It totally went from touch football to molestation football.”

“I’ll cheer with you,” Madison said.
 
“Do we want to do matching outfits?”

Gemma was surprised to hear the girls planning more for the Turkey Bowl than Halloween.
 
On their first date, Damian had told her that “Jock Row” held a yearly football game – a longstanding tradition that was organized by the varsity basketball team members.
 
It was done in a secretive manner since their coach had banned them from engaging in physical activities that could result in injury.
 
The girls invited also played, usually resulting in flirtatious bouts of contact.
 
Damian said there was absolutely always a post-game hook-up.
 
Apparently this year, bets were on Gavin and Leah – simply because Leah announced she would make a major push for it despite the fact that Kylie would be in attendance.

Halloween turned out to be pretty boring – the students of Beauford High were either too stoned or apathetic to dress up or care.
 
Despite what little they did, the girls did receive nonstop attention for their costumes.
 
Gemma wasn’t sure if it was because of the story behind the jerseys or the fact that their skintight hot shorts were barely covering their behinds.
 
She had to admit, paired with her four-inch
Louboutin
pumps, her legs looked incredible.

At home, Mira had taken the day off and invited friends over to assist with the finishing touches of her elaborate Marie Antoinette costume.
 
While still at home, she took pride in distributing little bags of rum-infused truffles to the children.
 
When Gavin told her that the chocolates were a questionable choice for children, she replied, “They’re meant to be the leftovers that the poor parents get for walking door-to-door with those sugar-crazed rascals all night.”
 
She personally handed out as many as she could before leaving in a town car to attend her own affairs.
 
It was her idea of participating in suburban trick-or-treating despite having to attend her friend’s yearly Halloween bash at
Capitale
in Manhattan.

Gemma was definitely more excited for the Turkey Bowl than she was about Halloween.
 
She didn’t know much about football, but she knew that she enjoyed watching it when Gavin’s friends came over the house to play in their huge backyard.
 
She also had a cute outfit picked out to honor the school colors – an orange raglan t-shirt over a pair of dark blue leggings and white thigh-high socks tucked into white Nike
hightops
.

Gavin was also excited because he and Damian were appointed captains and had plans of playing the entire game in elaborate superhero costumes.
 
Gavin had chosen
Ironman
, which was undoubtedly going to be a challenging costume to run in, while Damian opted for Batman.

“There’s some elastic in it,” Damian said.
 
“So I should still be able to move around pretty decently.”

“You’re not afraid the boys are going to make fun of you guys?” Gemma questioned.

“Not at all,” Damian grinned.
 
“Last year Gavin convinced our team to dress up as Power Rangers, so everyone expects it again.
 
We can’t disappoint.”
 
Gemma rolled her eyes at her brother’s antics and Damian laughed.
 
His laugh was mischievous but somehow sweet.
 
She wondered what it would be like to kiss Batman.
 
Her eyes ventured to his lips and wondered if they could be the couple that hooked up after the game.
 
A large part of her hoped that they would be.
 
Damian’s lips turned up in a smile – she could tell he was hoping for the same.

~

The day of the game was pleasantly breezy and sun-drenched.
 
Leaves crunched under her sneakers as Gemma walked beside Damian’s.
 
As silly as the whole game was, Gemma was proud to be arriving with Damian.
 
He managed to look pretty sexy in his Batman outfit.

Madison also looked undeniably sexy in her short, pink cashmere sweater dress. Jillian, dressed in the same outfit, paled in comparison despite her two-cup advantage on Madison.
 
The pair brought orange and blue pom-poms with them.
 
Gemma watched as Madison used one to tickle the back of Lucas’s neck as he tied his shoe.

Leah and Kate had taken old, fitted t-shirts and shredded them down the middle.
 
They strategically ripped horizontal slits to show off bits of cleavage and toned midsections.
 
Kate went around painting lines of black under everyone’s eyes – everyone except for Kylie of course.
 
All the big talk that Leah had made prior to the game about seducing Gavin seemed unlikely now.
 
She stood all the way across the field and watched as Kylie draped herself around him, wearing a football jersey sheared right under her
bustline
.
 
She showed off muscular abs and to the boys’ delight, occasional glimpses of her lacy black bra.

Damian chose Gemma for his team along with Leah while Gavin chose Kate and Kylie.
 
The rest of the boys were chosen at random with Lucas ending up on Gavin’s team.
 
While the game started out seriously, it soon became a show of who could run the fastest and throw the hardest.
 
While the majority of the boys were busy flexing their biceps and showing off the yardage on their passes, Damian opted to keep his arms wrapped around Gemma.
 
She had made a passing comment about being cold and didn’t realize that it was dating code for “hold me and never let go.”
 
Not that she was complaining – Damian’s arms were strong and warm and she felt peaceful with her head tucked under his chin.
 
Every once in awhile, the ball would land in front of them and they would kick at it lazily with no real intention of playing.

But every once in awhile, Gemma would hear cheering and look up in time to see Lucas doing something spectacular.
 
Though his long and lean body was clearly made for basketball, he was obviously not limited to one sport.
 
He moved around swiftly and made what Gemma had always deemed a violent sport look like art.
 
Damian gave her a squeeze.

“He’s pretty good, huh?” he said with a big smile.
 
“Hey, if we kept playing we probably wouldn’t be freezing right now.”

“I’m not freezing,” Gemma said.

“That’s ‘cause you’re wearing me as a jacket,” he laughed.
 
He pulled Gemma in tightly and brushed his lips against the side of her face.
 
She turned her head to look up at him.
 
His smile was sweet and content as he planted a small kiss on the tip of her nose.
 
She giggled as she turned back to the field in time to see Lucas miss a pass.
 
He had been looking at them.
 
Instead of picking up the ball, he marched over.

“Hey,” he called across the field as he made his way to the pair.

“Uh oh,” Damian joked.
 
“We’re about to get yelled at…”

Lucas stopped at an arms-length from Gemma and Damian.
 
His sober face forcefully broke into a silly grin.
 
“You’re letting your team die out there, Batman.
 
I’m not even on your team and I’m embarrassed for you.”

“I know, I know,” Damian laughed.
 
“But you know how it is,” he looked down at Gemma.
 
“Got more important things to take care of.”

Lucas bit his bottom lip.
 
His smile disappeared as he looked at the ground, kicking at some dried leaves.
 
Madison began to run towards them, pom-poms in the air as she cheered loudly.

“Are we done playing?” she shouted from across the field.
 
“Let’s go get dinner!” Gemma looked around.
 
The game was no doubt over – it was clear that no one even knew where the ball was anymore.
 
Damian wrapped an arm around Gemma’s waist as he began to make his rounds to chat with team members. “This okay?” he asked, tickling her.
 
“Don’t want to piss off Gavin.”

“It’s okay.”