after or ever about Jayâs interest in being her Snow Ball date. And she certainly wasnât going to share with Jay her secret fantasy of losing enough weight to get up enough courage to ask him out herself.
Leah winced as she rubbed her shoulders. She was going to be sore as hell tomorrow. Her workouts would be greatly dwindled until her muscles healed again. âI donât know how Iâm ever going to lose all this weight,â she muttered, pinching an inch of skin around her waist.
âYouâll do it.â Jay gently shoved her hand away from the pinching. âDonât push yourself too hard. Youâre in pretty good shape already, you know.â
Not nearly as good as Jennifer. Leah had a vision of Jennifer leaping into the air, pom-poms in hand, hard abs flashing the audience. No, definitely not nearly as good as Jennifer.
âYeah, right.â Leah released his hand. Reluctantly. She loved holding his hand. She would give anything to be able to do it anytime.
âPlease. How many jump shots did you make during the game yesterday?â
âA lot.â Leah smiled. Two times more than the rest of the team combined. At the rate at which she sank baskets, there was no chance that Sonoma would miss out on the state finals this year. She was bound to get them there single-handedly.
âYouâre the star out there. Donât stress out too much about this whole weight thing. Youâll get there.â
âYeah, I guess so.â Leah suddenly couldnât stop smiling.
He smiled back and gently flicked her chin. She held her breath as his hand lingered a bit longer than usual. Their eyes met and Jay parted his lips. âLeââ
âDalal! Get a room or get on the court!â
Leahâs eyes popped open and came face-to-face with a basketball coming full speed toward them. Instinctively, her hands flew into the air and she caught the ball in midair, breathing a sigh of relief. If she came home with a broken nose, her mama would smack her into next week.
âGood catch, babe.â Tony Qi, a lithe Chinese senior, gave Jay a knowing grin, glancing at Leah.
Leah blushed. Babe?
And what had just almost happened between her and Jay? Heâd almost kissed her. Right there in public. In front of everyone.
âHey.â Tony nodded toward Leah. âYou must be Jennifer. Sorry for interrupting.â
Leahâs smile disappeared. No, she certainly was not. Apparently Jay had told all his friends about his interest in the petite cheerleader. And apparently he had forgotten to give a physical description.
âUh, this is Leah, actually.â Jay sprang to his feet. âMy neighbor. I was helping her get a workout in before you nearly killed us. Nice going.â
Neighbor? That was it? That was all she was to him?
âSorry.â Tony shrugged. âYou coming or what? Coach was wondering where you were.â
âDamn. Sorry, Leah. Practice.â
âI get it,â Leah said shortly. âI gotta go. I see Coach giving me a dirty look.â
âSee you out front at six?â
âFine. Whatever.â
Jay didnât even hear her as he took off after Tony, tackling him hard onto the floor of the court. âJackass!â
Leah watched the boys roughhouse for a few minutes out of the corner of her eye. Heâd already forgotten about what had almost taken place between them.
Leah felt a tightening in her stomach and for a second, she thought she was going to bawl right there.
Wuss.
Dumb-ass wuss. Shut the hell up and pull yourself together.
Leah swore to herself not to get that caught up in him again. Obviously, he was flirting with her. But he wasnât going to go any further.
Not yet anyway.
She had to work fast. If Jay was actually telling people about Jennifer, it was getting serious. She could lose him for good if she didnât get up the nerve to actually make a move.
The next morning, Leah lay in bed,
Barbara Boswell, Lisa Jackson, Linda Turner