“Definitely,” I say, and hope it’s reassuring. I’m positive it’s okay; they basically insisted on it. Even Nikki said it was time to break out of the relationship bubble, and she’s all about romance. Not that this is romance lately—it’s more like he’s falling apart, and I’m putting him back together, and in between we kiss and I do homework. It’s a lot . . . but I don’t mind. And it’s partially my fault for insisting he keep up the charade.

The scrimmage finally ends, 6–4 Jayla’s team, and I head down to the edge of the field with Ridley. Jayla is leading a meeting, bringing the whole team back together and fulfilling her co-captain duties. Ridley shifts nervously beside me; we’re supposed to be hanging out with everybody after this.

“Should we just go home?” I ask him.

“No,” he says, a little too quick, and then squeezes my hand.

Nikki and Jayla grab their gear and jog over to us. Jayla’s rubbing her side where she took an elbow at the end of the last half, but she’s still smiling. “What’s up, Batboy?”

Ridley nods but doesn’t say anything. Nikki holds out her hand, and Ridley looks at it for a moment before shaking it, like he isn’t sure exactly what to do. “I’m Nikki,” she says, all out of breath.

“Nice to meet you,” he says, so quietly that I squeeze his hand again. “I’m Ridley.”

“I know,” Nikki says.

“Right.”

Jayla tilts her head but swallows whatever snarky thing she was about to say. I’ll have to remember to thank her later.

“What’s the plan now?” I ask.

Jayla picks up a giant mesh bag full of soccer balls. “I was thinking we’d head back to my house, hit the showers, get a pizza, and hang out, unless you guys want to actually go do something.”

I glance at Ridley, not sure exactly how much socializing he’s up for. “We could go back to your place for a little while and go from there.” I told them I wanted this to be like a quick first visit to ease him in, but I guess they aren’t going to let me get away with that.

“I’m gonna help Coach pack everything up,” Jayla says, tossing me her keys. “You want to go meet me at the car?”

“I’ll help Coach too,” Nikki says, but not until Jayla elbows her.

The girls run off, and we head over to the parking lot, where I hit the unlock button over and over again until I finally hear the beep and find her car.

“Am I that obviously freaked out?”

“What? No,” I say. I turn the car on long enough to put the windows down, and then pull Ridley into the back seat with me.

“They pretty blatantly just gave us time alone, so.”