The tan color of his skin made me think of beaches and sunshine and not Lawton, Alabama. He turned to me, and I quickly moved my eyes back to the notebook on my desk.
âYou must be Willa Ames,â his deep voice said, drawing my attention back to him.
âYes,â I replied, wishing I knew who he was. I searched his face to see if I recognized him. Everyone had changed so much over the past six years I had a hard time remembering them all.
âYou donât remember me, do you? But then I was about seven inches shorter and less muscle or no muscle the last time we saw each other.â
I forced a smile. I felt awkward not remembering who he was, but then would he have recognized me if he didnât have the knowledge that the new girl was Willa Ames? I wouldnât beat myself up about it. Although I had gone to school witha lot or most of these kids, Iâd not run in their social circles. My only friends had been Gunner and Brady. I didnât get invited to birthday parties as a child, or any party for that matter. I was the Lawtonsâ helpâs granddaughter, who had been brought into this world by a âsluttyâ teenage mother.
He grinned and dimples appeared. Not expected on a guy his size. âAsa . . . Griffith,â he said, adding his last name as an afterthought. This was the party guy whose name I had heard before. Digging in my memory, I tried to think of a boyâs face that might resemble the much more mature one in front of me now. Had he come to play with Gunner often as a child? I couldnât remember all the friends Gunner had over.
He chuckled this time. âDonât guess I made an impression on you back in the day, but then youâd always been Gunnerâs. We didnât get to see you much when we came over after Nash called you hot once. Gunner got all pissy, and that was the last time we ever played with you.â
That struck a memory.
âYâall have changed with pubertyâ was the only comment I had to that.
His dimples deepened, clearly flirting at this point. âAnd so have you.â
I wasnât going to try and decipher what he meant by that. I just smiled and turned back to the notebook in front of me.
âYou coming to my birthday party Saturday night? Iâll be the big one eight.â
Was this an invite? I glanced back over at him. âI wasnât aware I was invited.â
He continued to grin. âIâm officially inviting you. I just figured Gunner or Brady already had.â
Should I agree to this? The last time I partied . . . I didnât want to think about that right now. It was different. Everything about that night had been different. This was a birthday party with football players. I could do this and not feel guilty. Couldnât I?
âThat frown concerns me. Iâm not a bad guy. Promise,â Asa added as I realized he was watching me and I hadnât responded to his invitation. Which was rude.
âIâm sorry. I was just thinking about my schedule. But yes, Iâd like to come. Thank you for inviting me.â I sounded entirely too formal. Trying not to wince at my own ridiculous response, I once again stared down at my notebook.
âI think I make you nervous, Willa Ames. I like that.â He sounded amused, and I didnât look back at him.
âWill Gunner be walking you to your next class like he did this one, or can I have that honor?â He was mimicking my formal tone, and I bit back a smile. I think I liked Asa Griffith.
âIâd like that,â I replied, letting the smile touch mylips. It felt good to want to smile again. I was doing it more and more since my arrival in Lawton. A few months ago I thought Iâd never smile again.
But with that thought the reality of what Iâd seen, what Iâd done, and all Iâd lost came back to me. The darkness I carried like bricks on my back weighed me down, and I once again