Free That Boy by Jillian Dodd Page B

doesn't quite work as I imagined because my leg gets tangled up with his, and we both go down.
    BOOM.
    I land on my side with a THUD and literally bounce off the grass.
    And it must've knocked the wind out of me because I can't seem to breathe.
    I try to take a breath, but before I can, Phillip rolls me over on my back, pins my arms above my head, and sits on me.
    At first, I think he's going to tickle me or something, but then my oxygen deficient brain registers his brown eyes flashing black.
    Uh, oh. I don't think he's very happy with me.
    I painfully suck in a breath of air, just as he leans down close to my face. Warm, minty breath blows on me when he yells, “YOU DID THAT ON PURPOSE!”
    “What are you talking about?” I ask, ever so innocently.
    Who? ME?
    “You're being a shit! I don't know what your problem is, but I won't let you hurt us both. I'll be damned if I'll miss senior year football with a broken leg because you can't play nice.”
    “Poor little Phillip. Can't play with the
big
girls?”
    “I play
fine
with girls,” Phillip answers, with a smirk of his own.
    A little too fine lately, if you ask me.
    He may be getting too cute and confident for his own good.
    He pushes my hands into the ground, “I'm serious. No more cheap shots.”
    “You can't tell me what to do, Phillip.”
    “Maybe not, but I'll tell your dad you've been a poor sport.”
    Shit. He's got me on that.
    “Fine. Get off me.”
    Phillip stays where he is and says in his calmer, sweeter voice. “What are you so pissed about anyway? Are you mad at Danny?”
    Is he serious? I mean is he really that clueless? How could he possibly not know what has me so upset? And really, why do I care what he thinks anyway? He's just a big, fat dork who dates clueless girls. Girls who wouldn't know a tight spiral pass if it hit them in the uh, well, you know.
    “Hey! You guys gonna get a room, or do you wanna play some football?” Danny yells from across the yard.
    Danny. Wow. I had almost forgotten he was here.
    But I'm glad because his comment jerks me out of my feeling-sorry-for-myself mood, and my cockiness comes rushing back. I raise an eyebrow at Phillip and then let my eyes wander down the length of his body.
    I mean, he is on top of me.
    He gives me the evil eye, gets up, and throws the ball back to Danny. “I've had enough,” he says.
    I hop up and follow Phillip to where Danny's standing.
    All of a sudden my legs feel itchy.
    Crap.
    A bunch of loose grass clippings have stuck to the oil on my legs. Not particularly attractive, I think, as I try to brush them off.
    Danny, trying to ease the unusual tension between Phillip and me, laughs and points at me. He calls me the Grass Monster or something equally juvenile and stupid.
    Phillip finally laughs too and then says, “I'm starving!”
    “Yeah, me too. Let's go,” Danny agrees. He bends down, grabs his T-shirt off the grass, and slides his feet into a pair of flip-flops.
    “I've gotta run home and grab a shirt and some shoes,” Phillip tells us.
    I start to head to my house to grab a shirt too.
    Danny responds to Phillip by saying, “Jay's driving that hot new Mustang of hers.” Then he runs up behind me, snaps me on the butt with his T-shirt, and follows me home.
    “What was that all about?”
    “Oh, he was just pissed because he thought I tripped him on purpose.”
    Danny looks at me like a human lie detector, “Did you?”
    I chuckle. “Maybe…”
    I shove my shoulder into his and say, “So, I know what
Phillip
thinks of the bikini, but you never gave me a straight answer. So do you like it? Come on Danny, I value your opinion, and I really don't want to wear it to the party if it looks stupid on me.”
    Danny thinks for a moment, like he's not sure what to say.
    I mean, come on!
    Any other girl in a bikini and Danny would be giving me much more information about the bikini than I would ever want to know. You'd think he'd at least be able to answer one simple question