And here we go! Julie Jones makes an appearance on this blog today (because as you know 32 Seconds is coming out this November ooooooooooooooh yeah!). And the book is looking better than ever!
Without further ado, please welcome Julie Jones!
***
As the players scattered, my eyes followed Dan. He grabbed a Gatorade from the cooler and chatted to the water guy and the other players standing nearby.
I couldn’t stop watching, feeling like a spy. Drink half full in hand, Dan waved at me. The black streaks under his eyes had smudged onto his cheeks because of the sweat. Boy, he looked so handsome. I suppressed a jolt of pure excitement as he walked in my direction.
“What’s up with you, nerd?” he said with a raspy voice I found super-duper sexy. Kill me now!
“Nuthin’,” I replied with a shrug. “Nothing exciting, at least.”
His face welcomed my comment with raised eyebrows. “Oh really, so…” And he proceeded to brush the side of my arm with his fingers. I couldn’t contain myself, and an army of butterflies was unleashed inside my stomach.
“You really like football, don’t ya?” he said, giving me a dreamy smile.
I nodded. “Yeah, football’s awesome.”
What was with the sudden conversation? I only did his homework. We never chatted about football!
“I heard you’re leaving soon.”
Ah, so that was it.
“Yeah. Newsflash, huh?”
“Yeah, news gets around pretty quickly.”
I looked away. “Good. I mean, okay.”
He laughed. “Mike’s planning a big party for his birthday at the end of the month. You wanna join?”
Hold on to your horses.
I shrugged to pretend I didn’t care much. Just because… I didn’t. I really didn’t.
“Ah, yes.” I cleared my throat. “I have much packing to do. No clue if I’ll attend. Plus, I’m not a drinker. So…”
He brushed my arm again. Lordie have mercy, did he know the effect he had on me?
“But… it’d be a way to celebrate your departure, and your upcoming birthday too, am I right?”
He grinned, and I was dying to land a kiss on his beautiful mouth. I really didn’t know how to kiss a boy properly, but with him, I’d surely learn real fast.
“You should come.”
My turn to raise eyebrows. “Really?”
He nodded. “Really.”
He took a sip of the Gatorade. Whatever he did looked so darn killer. I was on the verge of dissolving into a puddle of pure lust.
Stupid hormones.
“Well, I’ll see. I…” my voice trailed off.
As he leaned toward me, I recoiled. But he kept going, to give me a slight kiss on the cheek.
Now my heart was dancing the salsa inside my chest.
And the puddle of lust? Yes, it was coming too.
Boy. Oh boy. I was in trouble.
“You’ve been kind enough to do my homework. You know, it’s only my way of saying thank you.”
He winked.
The heart attack would happen in one, two…
I brushed the air with my hand. “Sure, of course. No problem.”
“So I’ll see you there?” he asked.
“Right, yeah, I’ll do my best to come.” As I answered, my voice climbed two octaves in the span of two seconds.
He smiled again. “Great. I’m gonna jump in the shower. I’ll catch you later. Probably in the library, huh, nerd?”
I chuckled. “Right. My favorite spot on earth.”
As he stared at me, my legs turned to jello.
“Gotta go. See ya, nerd.”
He ran back to the locker room. I was mesmerized by his stride. His back, his legs, his butt… How would I justify going to this party to Mom? Nonsense. I’d find a way.
The joy I felt inside made me want to fly.
The Manicheans 