Amazing. He even sounded right. I had a better memory than I'd given myself credit for. His voice held exactly the right amount of rumbling deepness. And just like in real life, he sounded as if he was trying not to laugh at me.
Well, I was the one in my underwear here.
"Why do you keep staring at me? Aren't you going to say something?" I blurted out. This dream was getting a little ridiculous. Who fantasized about a boy sitting there staring at them? Shouldn't that be more in the first-date nightmare category? Not that I'd know about first dates from personal experience, seeing as how I'd never been on any.
His thick eyebrows shot up. "What should I say?"
"Oh, I don't know. But if this is a dream, it could at least be interesting." Where were my pants already?
He chuckled, tempting me to smile. "You're a lot more talkative than usual."
I shrugged. "It's my dream. Shouldn't I be allowed to say what I think and feel?"
"I thought this was my dream."
"Great. So even in my dream, you have to be cocky."
"Cocky? Look who's talking, Miss Nothing-but-a-T-shirt and-Attitude."
"Yeah, you'd think since I know it's a dream, I could fix that."
He grinned. "Oh, I don't know, it's not a bad look on you."
"Mmm, a compliment. Finally. I thought players gave those out a lot more often." I returned his grin. "Quick, say some thing else nice." My toes scrunched down in the grass. I could get used to having this kind of dream.
"Bossy."
I had to laugh. "I said say something nice."
It was his turn to laugh now. "You didn't want the truth?"
Hmm, good point. "No, actually, a large dose of truth would be lovely right now. But maybe with a touch less rudeness."
"Had a bad day?" His smile faded.
"You can say that again." I sighed and yanked up a piece of grass. "My life would've been a lot easier to handle lately if everyone had just told me the truth all my life. At least then I could have grown up knowing...things, and be better prepared for them, you know?"
"Okay, so we'll stick with the truth, then, if that'll make your day better."
"Yes, please," I breathed out on a sigh.
"Why don't you make eye contact with anyone at school?"
My head popped up, and I instinctively turned my face away. "I didn't mean I wanted to play Truth or Dare."
"Chicken?"
"No." I met his gaze and discovered I couldn't breathe. When he grinned at me like that, with the laughter shining in his eyes...it was almost too much, the feelings too intense to handle. Like he could see my every thought and emotion.
"That's better," he murmured. "So tell me about your day."
"I'd rather not think about it, to be honest. Tell me about yours instead. You looked like yours was much better." I waved a hand at the spot where he'd been lying and looking so peaceful a few minutes before.
"Yeah, it was pretty good. Which is a surprise, since it was training with my dad."
"Training...for football?"
The smile melted out of his eyes first, then from his mouth. He gave a short, stiff nod.
"So tell me why it made you happy." I didn't want my subconscious to turn this into an uncomfortable dream.
It was his turn to pluck a blade of grass and play with it. "Oh, I don't know. I guess it was just cool that I could have fun hanging out with my dad. He always used to sort of scare me. But lately we've become almost like friends."
"I've seen pictures of your dad in the newspaper. He does look a little scary with that beard. Kind of like a big polar bear."
Tristan laughed with me. "Yeah, exactly. But it turns out he's pretty funny. Like how protective he is of my mom and sister and does all this stuff to keep them safe, and they don't even know it. So he's playing the big bad undercover bodyguard because he thinks they're so fragile, and yet he has to be sneaky while he's doing it because he's afraid they'll find out and get mad."
That really made me laugh. "You men always think women are weak and need to be protected."
"Aren't you?" Smirking, he reached out and brushed my toes with a piece of grass.
I sucked in a breath and jerked my feet in closer. Oh, no, he remembered how ticklish I was. Though saying I was ticklish was a major understatement.
"Hmm, still ticklish? There you go, a sure sign you're a fragile female in need of protection. Can't even stand a little piece of grass on your toes."
He tickled me again, forcing sharp laughter out of me. I swatted at his hands. Laughing, he captured both my hands with one of his and continued tickling my toes with the other. I wanted to focus on the warmth of his hand on mine, the thrilling strength in those fingers, but that blade of grass couldn't be ignored.
Out of reflex, my feet pulled in then shot out to try and avoid his merciless attack. My heels thwacked against his right shin.
"Oh, sorry!" I yanked my feet back in as I reached out to pull up the elastic cuff of his sweats. "Ouch. It's already turning blue."
He grinned and rubbed his shin. "No worries, it's just a dream, right? Besides, it was worth it."
"Why?"
"It got you to bare your legs for a few seconds."
I gasped, and heat flooded my cheeks.
Tristan
I was still laughing at her when I woke up in the backyard.
I lay there for a few seconds, grinning like an idiot. I'd done it. I'd dream connected with Savannah. And all I'd had to do to avoid Mom's spell was fall asleep in the backyard again.
My parents would kill me if they found out.
That wiped the grin off my face. With a sigh, I rolled to sit up. Okay, so I'd pushed the rules a bit. But couldn't a guy have a little bit of fun every now and then? I'd been good for weeks. I'd kept my distance from Savannnah. I'd even tried dating some other girls. But none of them were quite like her.
Savannah would think last night had been just a dream, so what would it hurt? She'd wake up clueless that we'd actually connected in our dreams. And I'd woken up feeling better than I had in years...
...with a monster-size bruise growing on my shin.
Savannah
I woke up Sunday morning with a smile. One that faded too soon, along with last night's dream about Tristan, to be replaced by the memory of my failure to make the Charmers team yesterday.