Burning Down the House by Allie Gail Read Free Book Online Page A

We’d reached the stadium by then and we seated ourselves on the hard concrete bleachers to wait. The field was still empty - the guys must be in the locker rooms changing.
    “I love Italian accents .”
    “Me, too ,” I agreed.
    “French is good too.”
    “Uh-huh.”
    “So . Um…what did you think of Trent?”
    I couldn’t prevent a smile at her not-so-subtle change in topic. “Why?”
    “I just wondered. Do you think he’s hot?”
    “He’s pretty hot.” I gave her a nudge. “You like him, don’t you?”
    “I don’t know. I wouldn’t mind going out with him if he wasn’t such a player.”
    “Are you sure he isn’t going out with Staci? She sure was acting like she owned him. It was ridiculous.”
    “She wishes she owned him! If you want my opinion, I think he just uses her. You should hear how he talks about her behind her back.”
    “Does he know you like him?”
    “No! And I never said I liked him…I just said he was hot.”
    Right . And speaking of hot guys… “I think Rob heard me call him a psycho this morning.”
    “Uh-oh. Are you sure?”
    “Yeah, pretty sure.”
    “Huh.” She grimaced. “Like I said - lock your door!”
    The guys were running out onto the field now, and I scanned their faces carefully until I located the one I was looking for. The number on his jersey was forty-two. Coach Simpson had them all getting into formation to warm up, and to my horror I saw Trent catch sight of us and wave. Half the friggin’ team looked up at us then, including number forty-two.
    “I feel stupid …let’s go,” I pleaded with Dana, tugging on her arm.
    “ What for - we just got here!”
    “This just looks obvious. They’re all gonna think we’re checking them out.”
    “We are!”
    “ You are! I’m not!”
    “Five minutes. Please? Then we can go , I promise.”
    They were all starting to do pushups and were no longer paying us any attention, so I caved. “All right. Five minutes. Then I’m leaving, with or without you. I mean it.”
    We wound up sitting there for nearly an hour. I have no idea why. Something about watching those rough athletic bodies plowing into one another was fascinating. Dana kept going on and on about how fine Trent was and what an incredible ass he had.
    I didn’t really have an opinion about that. It wasn’t his ass I was watching.

    Rob didn’t get home until nearly ten that night. I know because I was watching the clock, curious to see if he had any intention of respecting my dad’s rules or whether he’d just blow them off. I’d already had my bath and was curled up on the couch in my pajamas, alternating between reading the first chapter of The Poisonwood Bible and watching a rerun of Big Bang Theory. I have a bad habit of trying to study in between commercial breaks. It used to drive my mom crazy even though I insisted I was multitasking. She didn’t see it that way.
    He strolled past me with his backpack and gym bag and mumbled, “Hey.”
    Oh, so you’re acknowledging my existence now? I bit my tongue and instead echoed, “Hey.” So far the conversation was going just swell. Before I could think of anything else to add to that brilliant repartee, he retreated into his room. I figured I’d seen the last of him for the night but twenty minutes later he reemerged, freshly showered, to grab a bottle of water from the fridge. To my surprise he came in the living room and flopped down on the recliner, one leg thrown over the side and both eyes glued to the TV.
    “I made some taco salad if you’re hungry,” I told him.
    “I ate at Trent’s house,” he informed me, guzzling water from the bottle.
    “Okay…just thought I’d let you know. In case you were hungry.”
    He gave me a quick glance before returning his gaze to the television. “I don’t need you to play mother hen for me. I’m perfectly capable of taking care of myself.”
    How did he always manage to t ake everything I said the wrong way? “I was just making a simple