Wishful Thinking Read Online Free Page A

wanted the friendship too. What really irked me was not knowing if it were true or not. The state of my relationship with Summer was rocky at best, but I couldn’t let the guys know that or see me sweat about it.  
    “What? You’re tripping she went home with Emily." I just hoped what I said was true or else I’d be opening an invitation for torment.
    "Sure, Emily was with them, but they got into Trevor’s car."
    Phew. Though she was still with Trevor and that didn’t sit well.  
    “Front or back?” Nate asked.  
    “Huh,” Tyler said looking totally confused.  
    Nate slapped him on the back of the head, “Was she in the front or back seat?”
    “Who?” Tyler replied.  
    “You’re an idiot,” Nate said, “no wonder the girls keep walking when you stop. Who was riding bitch?”
    “Oh,” Tyler was laughing now aware of what Nate was asking. “Emily was up front.”
    Nate patted my shoulder and gave me the universal head nod like Emily riding up front said it all. Wish I knew what all it said.
    I shook it off, "Trevor can sniff all he wants, but he ain’t getting it. And Nate we have a game Saturday."
    Ian ran a hand through his blond hair, "Nah man, you didn’t hear? The Wolverines coach was canned last week, inappropriate hands or showers or something. Jackson High is trying to brush it under the rug but I guess the team sort of disbanded."
    "Where’d you hear that?" Nate asked unfastening his Rolex and putting it inside a lockbox he kept inside his locker.  
    "Coach, on the phone yesterday," Ian said.  
    "Damn, I’d love to see a coach get handsie with me, I wouldn’t hesitate to pop him in the jaw," Caleb said demonstrating his right hook.  
    I nodded along but I was only half-listening to their conversation. This Trevor, Summer thing was making me itch, or maybe it was my shirt. She’d avoided me all day and sent me one lousy text. Tyler slapped a hand down on my shoulder, “You hit that yet?”
    "None of your business."
    "I’ll take that as a no. Girls know in three-seconds whether or not they’ll sleep with you. How long you and Summer been together? Four months right and nothing?"
    Nate stroked his chin as though Tyler had said the most brilliant thing ever. “Excellent point,” Nate responded. Tyler preened under Nate’s admiration.  
    "I know it’s hard for you two to understand the give and take of relationships since neither of you have ever had one, but they’re about more than just sex."  
    “Everything should be about sex,” Tyler added.  
    “Summer isn’t a virgin,” Nate said.
    “Yeah, she’s been with plenty of dudes,” Tyler added moving closer to Nate’s right. Tyler was being a dick, aligning himself with Nate and Nate wasn’t helping.
    “I’m not having this conversation," I said and stormed off. Another item to add to my list of things that pissed me off today. I needed rugby practice bad. Things were piling up on my plate and I needed to release them before I blew.
    Kyle was talking with Dean and Coach along the sidelines when I walked up on the field. I didn’t even get within thirty feet of them before Coach blew his whistle, “Castle, four laps.” He blew his whistle again. I waved my hand and headed to the starting point on the track lanes.  
    Jonathan, our tight end, Wade, our blindside, Ryan and O’Rourke, the centers and Walter our fly-half, were already running. I caught up to Jonathan easily enough and passed him then made my way around Wade and Ryan, but O’Rourke looked over his shoulder, saw me and said, “Not today,” and doubled his speed.
    A challenge was just what I needed. If I could beat O’Rourke than I could beat Trevor, and the old memories bothering me. I won and it all went away.  
    “Accepted,” I said to O’Rourke’s back. I took several deep breaths keeping an even pace going. I finished two laps and had two laps to go but couldn’t burn my speed yet if I intended to win, and I did. At his current rate he’d