The Academy - Forgiveness and Permission (Year One, Book Four) (19 page)

“Careful, guys,” Kota warned.

“Hi,
aggele mou
,” Silas said, his broad smile radiating. He was already sweating under the lights and the padding on his already huge shoulders seemed to make him a giant.

“Hi, Silas.”

“Smile, Sang Baby.” North twisted the camera toward our faces.

Silas and North leaned in. I hung over the rail to get between them. Silas pushed his cheek to my forehead and North buried his nose into my hair, snapping a picture. They shifted, Silas’s cheek found mine and North’s forehead touched mine. North snapped another picture.

“Hey!” someone from the field called. “Take pictures on your own time.”

“One more,” North said.

I was leaning in again, staring at the camera in North’s hand, trying to be ready with a smile, despite being nervous someone was shouting at them. When North and Silas moved their heads close, I thought they were going to tilt in a different way.

Instead, they pushed their noses to each of my cheeks, their lips smacking and making kissy faces. They didn’t touch, just hovered. When I realized what they were doing, I started laughing.

North snapped the photo.

“Taylor! Korba! I’m about to kick you both off my team.”

“Gotta go to work, Baby,” North said, pushing the phone back into my hands.

They dropped down together onto the grass, waved at us and rushed back to the bench. The coach waved a fist and shouted at them but they ignored it, sitting on the benches again.

Hands found my waist. Kota had stepped up. He held me as I backed off down from the rail.

“Got what you wanted?” he asked.

I nodded, unable to stop smiling. “I can’t believe they did that.”

“They’d do it again if you asked.”

The words he said made me pause. “They’d get into trouble.”

Kota’s smile softened. His hand found mine and he clutched it. “Let’s go before you’re tempted to try.”

––––––––

A
bout half way into the third quarter, North and Silas were still on the bench. Kota and Nathan conspired that the coach might be mad at them for pulling the photo stunt earlier. Ashley Waters was on the brink of gaining ground every quarter, but never took the lead.

I was freezing. The metal seat below my butt seemed to bite into my skin. Despite Kota and Nathan sitting close next to me, a breeze occasionally picked up around them, and it seeped right into my bones.

I rattled with shivers as another wind caught me in the back.

Kota glanced over, his eyes meeting mine. He raised an eyebrow. “What’s wrong?”

“I’m fine,” I said, not wanting to be a nuisance. I remembered what he told me earlier and was expecting to hear him say he told me so and I didn’t want that.

His green eyes bore into mine, as if picking apart the lie I’d just uttered and finding the truth underneath. “Cold?”

I blushed. Caught. “A little.”

A soft smirk touched his lips. He shifted, unzipping the hoodie he wore and placed it over my shoulders. “Tell me when you need something,” he said softly.

“What’s wrong?” Nathan asked, watching as I stuffed my arms into Kota’s hoodie.

“She was cold,” Kota said.

“Well shit.” Nathan backed away for a second as I finished putting the hoodie on. When I was done and had my legs up and my arms in my lap to warm up, Nathan hooked his arm around my back, putting a hand on my shoulder and pulling me into him. “Can’t have you freezing.”

I glanced back at Kota, unable to hide my surprise and partial embarrassment. They both had held my hand in front of each other but Nathan’s move, while he seemed to mean well and did it absentmindedly, felt possessive. It was the sort of thing I’d worried about. What happens when someone made it clear they were interested in something more than friendship? Was I supposed to say something?

As I was trying to think of a poor joke to get Nathan to back off a little in a friendly way for Kota’s sake, Kota’s face changed. His lips set. His eyes drew serious. He slid closer to me. With his thigh touching mine, he sought out my hand, clutched it and drew it into his lap, holding it between his hands.

“Your fingers are cold,” he said.

“They are?” Nathan asked, blinking after him and seeming oblivious to the entire situation. Nathan collected my other hand, popping one of my fingers into his mouth.

My heart thundered. With both of them being so obvious about their affection, I felt numb. I concentrated on the field, seeking out Silas and North, and waiting for something to happen so I could comment. Nathan chewed my fingers. Kota’s smooth fingertips slid against my palm. Both touches made me shiver with delight and, at the same time, pray that they stopped in an effort to avoid any problems.

But nothing happened. The game continued. Nathan eventually popped my fingers out of his mouth just to hold my hand in his lap as he complained about a bad call. Kota agreed with him, reciting a rule to me to let me know what was going on. As the minutes ticked off on the clock on the scoreboard, my nerves started to settle. Since they weren’t saying anything, they had to be okay with the situation. It made me think about what North had said about trusting the others to make their own decisions and understand that they probably knew what they were doing.

I breathed a sigh, trying to let go and let them take over.

Kota glanced over at me as if sensing me relaxing. His green eyes lit up behind his glasses and his smile softened. He collected my hand in his lap, brought it to his mouth and gave the tip of my index finger a gentle bite.

“Oh, hell no,” Nathan said, smirking after him. “That’s our thing.”

Kota laughed. “I just wanted to ...”

“Nope,” Nathan said, shaking his head. He shoved two of my fingers into his mouth. “Mine.”

He was taking claim. I stiffened, unsure.

Kota smirked at me. “Do we need a thing?”

I wanted to shrug and pretend it was no big deal, but I felt he might be insulted, like Nathan was allowed to do something special with me but I wasn’t going to let him. “I suppose we do.”

Kota quietly let go of me, lifting his hands and smoothing out his fingertips across my cheeks. He cupped my face, zeroed in on me, bringing his face to hover over mine.

My breath escaped me, dazzled by his suddenness. Was he about to kiss me here in front of everyone?

“Whoa,” Nathan said, his arm wrapped around my shoulders to tug me back. “Dude, you can’t ...”

Kota paused and lifted his head, blinking in confusion. “Why? We’ve done it before.”

Nathan’s mouth fell open, dropping my fingers from his mouth. “What? You’re shitting me.”

Kota raised an eyebrow, as if confused. He turned back to me. He pressed his palms to my cheeks. He lowered his face.

His nose nudged against mine, sweeping back and forth and nuzzling.

My own mouth opened in surprised and I started giggling. I’d forgotten about the night when I’d dared him to do this very thing. A shudder swept through me. His breath on my skin did tricks to my heart and stomach that felt similar to the other night when Nathan first started chewing on my fingers. Tingling. Breathless. My mind blanked. The crowd around us, the game going on, it all disappeared.

He backed off a couple of inches. His eyes sought out mine, penetrating through me with silent questions as if asking me if this was okay.

The best I could offer in reply was a warm, curious smile.

He lit up again, beaming. He claimed my hand again and held it in his lap, backing away.

I was sitting with my hands spread out, one in Kota’s lap, the other hanging from Nathan’s lap. If the other students around us were paying attention, I bet they were as confused as I felt.

The crowd started roaring. I’d been so distracted by Kota and Nathan that I hadn’t followed the field. There was a change of players. One of the players was supported by another team member as he limped off the field.

The coach was shouting. Silas and North leapt up from the bench and started heading out onto the field.

“About time,” Kota said.

I agreed, elated. I didn’t want them to sit out the first game.

Nathan held that serious expression, his blue eyes glued to the field. I scooted onto the edge of my seat, almost ready to bounce up. Kota’s hands clutched my hand tighter.

The football was tossed, Silas and North made contact, taking down two opposing players.

Nathan hooted.

“That’s good?” I asked, nervous that perhaps Silas and North might be hurt. They’d thrown themselves at the other players and landed hard.

“Yeah, they’ve got their first tackles in,” Nathan said. “We want them to keep this up. They need to show the team they can get the job done.”

I sucked in a breath and held it and at the same time gripped their hands back.

When the players on the field were in position again, the ball was thrown. Silas took out one player. The football was spiraling in the air. North leapt over Silas, using Silas’s back to launch himself, caught the ball in the air, falling to the ground as a ton of other players landed on top of him.

I stood, ripping my hands from Nathan and Kota and staring off down at the football players, my heart in my throat. It seemed impossible that North wasn’t hurt. There were ten guys on him. Flashes of seeing them in fights in school had my mind on a rampage.

Nathan and Kota stood up next to me, eyes tensed, lips taunt with concern.

The players started to clear off. Referees nudged the players, and they released North.

North had the ball clutched in his hands, drifting up to a kneeling position to show possession.

Nathan pumped his fist. “Yeah! We’ve got the ball.”

I inched back, hand over my chest, relieved to see North on his feet. Football was nerve wracking.

I felt a pair of eyes on me, not Nathan's or Kota's. I scanned the crowd, looking for the source.

A thin kid in glasses sat a few bleachers away. He wore tan slacks and a faded green polo shirt that looked to be a bit small on his frame. When I met his gaze, he blinked hard a few times, like it was unexpected that I’d notice. I recognized him, but it took me a moment to realize it was a student I'd sat next to in the courtyard not too long ago.

He blushed and grimaced. I understood. Sometimes being shy, I would get caught up in watching who I thought was normal, too. In empathy, I lifted my hand, and did a small finger wave. I wanted him to know it was okay. Don’t be embarrassed.

His head jerked back shortly, as if surprised I'd responded. He lifted his hand, waving a little. I smiled. He seemed nice. Was he by himself?

"What's going on?" Kota asked. With the way he shifted, he blocked my view.

"Nothing," I said. "Just saying hello."

He turned slightly, catching where I was looking. His eyes squinted. "To who?"

"To ..." I started to say and shifted to look around him, but the boy was gone. "Oh, uh. I guess he left."

Kota looked at me curiously, but squeezed my hand.

I waited until Kota seemed distracted with the game again before I looked for the boy, but he had disappeared. I hoped I hadn’t spooked him or he felt bad for staring.

We were still standing as the players switched out for the offensive team to take the field. Kota stiffened next to me, and yanked his phone out of his back pocket, glancing at the screen. He pushed a button, holding it to his ear. He listened quietly.

I couldn’t help but watch. The expression he wore brimmed with eerie concern. I couldn’t imagine who it could be. His family was home, we were all accounted for. There couldn’t be a school fight that called him into saving someone.

As he listened to the caller, his eyes fell on me. He frowned. “I’ll be right there,” he said into the phone and hung up.

“What is it?” I asked, ready for him to say Academy work, and already disappointed. We’d have to leave.

“It’s Victor,” he said, his eyes darkening behind his glasses. He touched the bridge with a fingertip. “I need to go.”

I prickled. “What happened to Victor? What’s wrong? Can I go?”

Kota shot a helpless glance at Nathan.

Nathan’s face turned serious, a mask of granite. “I’ll stay with her,” he told him. “We’ll wait for the game to end and we’ll go with North and Silas.”

“But wait,” I said, dropping a hand on Kota’s chest to stop him before he could pull away. “What happened? Is he hurt? Should we all go?”

Kota’s mouth tightened. He took up my hand and squeezed it. “He’s fine,” he said, the calm and power in his voice thundering through me. “He’s not hurt. He just needs me right now. Stay with Nathan. Listen to what he says.” He picked up my hand, brought it to his mouth. His lips brushed against a couple of my fingers and he pulled away. He marched down the steps of the stands, weaving among other students and parents. Within moments, he was gone.

My heart sunk seeing him leave. Despite his promise that Victor was fine, I couldn’t imagine Kota needing to get to him so quickly. If Victor was fine, he wouldn’t have called for help.

“Peanut,” Nathan said. He sat back down on the bench. His blue eyes gazed up at me and he found my hand again, tugging it. “Come here.”

His tugging drew me in until he pulled me onto his lap. His legs were warm against my butt, that had started to feel numb on the cold seat.

“Is Victor going to be okay?” I asked, unable to help feeling worried.

Nathan stuffed his arms around me, his cheek pressed to mine. “He’s fine. If he was hurt or needed us, Kota would have made us all go. Since he didn’t, it must not be too bad. He just needed to go see him.”

“But why? What could be wrong?”

Nathan sighed loud in my ear. “Victor stresses at his concerts. There’s a lot of pressure on him to be perfect.” He repositioned himself until he was sitting with his legs parted on the bench. He positioned me between his legs so his thighs partially wrapped around mine, with my back pressed into his chest and he could look out over my head at the game. “Don’t worry. Kota will go out there and he’ll be fine.”

I sighed, but swallowed back my desire to prod him with more questions. It felt wrong to not do anything, even at the risk of their reprimands and disapproval. I wanted to help and didn’t know how. It also felt wrong to continue to enjoy the game when Victor wasn’t happy.