I recognized the voice right away; it was Ryan. His chest heaved as he struggled for breath, and his bare chest revealed the scar from where he’d been stabbed. I felt a twinge in the pit of my stomach.

“I can’t say I blame him,” Zack said, smiling down at me.

“Did you throw that at me?” I asked Ryan, knowing I wouldn’t be surprised either way. It was his idea to come to the Main Green with a blanket, and I turned him down only to come here with Jared.

“No! I can’t believe you’d think that!” Ryan scoffed.

“That was me, sorry about that,” Zack said to Jared, breathless, resting his hands on his hips. “Can we have our ball back?”

Jared showed no signs of surrendering the ball. “I think you owe her the apology, not me.”

Ryan rolled his eyes and looked at me, and then to Jared. “It was an accident, Jared. Give him the ball.”

Jared waited.

“You’re right,” Zack said. “I’m sorry. I should have been more careful.”

“It’s okay,” I said, uncomfortable that Jared had forced him to apologize.

Zack eyed the football in Jared’s hand. “Did you want to play? We’re short one player.”

“He’s not going to play. He doesn’t want Nina to see him trip over his feet,” Ryan snorted.

Jared stood up, towering over me and both of the other boys. He looked past Zack to the other team. Tucker and Josh stood among them, waiting on the opposite side of their mini-field. Jared reared back his arm and launched the football across the greens like a missile. It soared through the various tree branches, straight into Josh’s chest. Josh caught the ball, but it still made an audible thud that caused him to double over. He immediately stood up, although looking somewhat like a hunchback, trying to mask the fact that the wind had been knocked out of him.

Zack and Ryan had matching shocked expressions. I smiled at their surprise.

“I am busy. My feet have nothing to do with it,” Jared said, reaching for my hand to pull me up to stand beside him. He leaned over to kiss my forehead.

Ryan reacted with disgust.

My heart fluttered in my chest at the testosterone in the air, and Jared looked down at me. “Unless you don’t mind.”

A wide smile spread across my face. “Absolutely not. Go get ‘em tiger.”

He grabbed each side of my face and planted a quick kiss on my lips. His eyes narrowed as he looked across the grass to the other team. “I assume we’re skins.”

Zack nodded and Jared pulled off his shirt, handing it to me. I was supposed to be good, but it was hard seeing him so animated, not to mention half-naked.