The Nerd Who Stole The Quarterback (Astra and Zayne) novel Chapter 189

The Nerd Who Stole The Quarterback

Ordinary Little Pieces

ASTRA

I stood at the window beside the front door and watched Zane’s car disappear through the gates.

For some reason, I stayed there even after it was gone.

He’d only just left, and somehow I already wanted him to come back.

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Before Zane Ashton decided he needed to exist within touching distance of me at all times, I’d managed perfectly well without him.

But since finding me, he’d barely left my side. He’d ridden with me in the ambulance, stayed beside me at the hospital, and spent the night close enough that all I had to do was reach for him.

Maybe I’d gotten a little too used to having him there.

Now the space beside me felt strangely empty.

I folded my arms and turned away from the window.

The estate was surrounded by security. My friends were in the next room, staff moved throughout the house, and nobody could get through those gates without being noticed.

I knew I was safe.

My body just hadn’t caught up yet.

“You planning to stand there until he gets back?”

I turned to find Jason a few feet behind me.

Heat crept into my cheeks. “I was just looking outside.”

“Sure.”

“I was.”

Jason glanced toward the gates before looking back at me, a smile tugging at his lips. “Whatever you say.”

“Did you come out here just to annoy me?”

“Wasn’t the original plan, but you made it tempting.”

I shook my head, fighting a smile of my own.

His amusement faded after a moment, and he shoved his hands into his pockets.

“There’s actually something I wanted to say.”

The change in his voice caught my attention. “Okay.”

“I owe you an apology.”

My brows drew together. “For what?”

“For asking you out again at the Halloween dance. I shouldn’t have put you in that position.”

The Nerd Who Stole The Quarterback

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For a moment, I didn’t know what to say. So much had happened since then that the dance felt strangely distant now

“Jason…”

“Let me finish.” He shifted his weight before continuing. “I knew things between you and Zane were complicated, and I knew there was something between you two even when neither of you wanted to admit it. I kept trying anyway.”

“You didn’t do anything wrong.”

“Maybe not, but I wasn’t exactly being fair either.” His eyes held mine. “I kept thinking if I tried one more time, you might eventually look at me the way I wanted you to.”

“But you don’t,” he finished.

“Jason…”

“It’s okay.”

“Is it?”

He thought about that before giving me a small, rueful smile. “Not completely. Give me some credit for honesty.”

That pulled a laugh from me.

“I’ll get there.” His expression softened. “After what happened to you, I’m just really fucking glad you’re standing here. That matters more right now.”

The honesty in his voice made it hard to answer.

So instead, I stepped forward and wrapped my arms around him.

Jason hesitated for only a second before hugging me back.

“Thank you,” I whispered.

“For finally accepting defeat?”

I pulled back enough to glare at him. “That is not what I meant.”

His grin made it impossible to hold the expression for long.

“I mean for being my friend. Even when everything got complicated.”

Jason’s expression softened. “I made things complicated too.”

“You didn’t do that alone.”

For a moment, neither of us said anything before I wrapped my arms around him again, holding on a little longer this time.

“I’m going to miss you.”

Jason went still against me.

Oh, shit.

I opened my eyes as his arms slowly loosened around me.

“What?”

Thu, Aug 13

The Nerd Who Stole The Quarterback

1 pulled back, already wishing I could shove the words back into my mouth.

“I mean…”

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His brows had already drawn together. I forced a smile. “You’re being disgustingly mature right now. I’m going to miss the version of you who irritated me constantly.”

Jason continued staring at me. “That makes absolutely no sense.”

“It made sense in my head.”

He didn’t look entirely convinced, but voices came from the living room before he could question me further.

“Astra!” Priya yelled. “If you’re secretly making out with someone, I need advance warning!”

My mouth dropped open. Jason burst out laughing.

“I hate my friends.”

“No, you don’t.”

No. I really didn’t. And suddenly that thought hurt far more than it should have.

“Come on.” Jason nodded toward the room “Before she comes looking.”

I let him walk ahead of me. Before following, I glanced toward the gates one more time.

The thought of Zane still tugged at me.

Come back soon.

Just… come back soon.

By the time everyone finally left, my cheeks hurt from smiling.

Priya hugged me three times before she made it through the door, while Chloe made me promise to answer every text she sent for the foreseeable future. Elizabeth threatened to personally hunt me down if I ever disappeared again, and somehow Jaxon and Tyler managed to turn saying goodbye into another argument.

Jason was the last to leave. He hugged me once more, and neither of us mentioned what I’d said in the foyer.

I was grateful for that.

Upstairs, the silence in my bedroom felt strange after hours of voices and laughter. Everything looked exactly as I’d left it: books scattered across my desk, clothes hanging over the back of the chair, my sketchbook half buried beneath school

papers.

Patches sat against my pillows.

My attention lingered there before I forced it away.

I should clean. After the last few days, putting something back in order sounded almost comforting.

At the desk. I sorted school papers from sketches and uncovered two uncapped pens, an old receipt, three hair ties, and the lip balm I’d been looking for.

Ordinary little pieces of my life.

Exactly what I needed.

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The next several minutes passed in the simple work of putting everything back where it belonged. Books returned to the shelf, papers disappeared into drawers, and the clutter slowly gave way to a surface I could actually see again.

Eventually, there was nothing left to straighten.

My attention drifted toward the bed.

Patches sat against the pillows, one crooked ear leaning slightly to the side. I crossed the room and picked him up.

“You look terrible.”

My thumb followed the uneven stitches along his ear, and a smile touched my lips.

He’d been with me through childhood, every move, more bad days than I cared to count, and nights when holding him had made the world feel a little less overwhelming. Somewhere along the way, he’d stopped being just a stuffed bear and become the thing I reached for whenever everything else felt too heavy.

I tucked him against me and rested my cheek briefly on top of his head.

“You’ve put up with a lot from me, huh?”

His battered little face offered no opinion.

Probably for the best.

A few seconds passed before I returned him to his usual place in the center of the bed, propped against the pillows. My hand smoothed over his worn fur once before falling away.

“There.”

I should have walked away.

Instead, I remained beside the bed, caught by a strange reluctance I didn’t want to examine too closely.

The sound of the front door opening downstairs broke the moment.

My attention snapped toward the bedroom door.

Zane.

Just like that, everything else disappeared from my head.

God, this was getting embarrassing.

He couldn’t have been gone more than an hour or two, yet I’d been waiting for the sound of him coming back almost from the second his car disappeared through the gates.

Lucas shouted something downstairs, followed almost immediately by Mason trying to yell over him.

A smile slipped out before I could stop it.

I made it halfway to the door before looking back.

Patches hadn’t moved, obviously. He sat exactly where I’d placed him, his crooked little face turned toward the room.

Something made me hesitate.

For one brief moment, I considered moving him.

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The Nerd Who Stole The Quarterback

But I left him exactly where he was and headed downstairs.

田

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