His eyes moved of their own volition, traveling over her once, then twice, starting at the top of her dark hair and moving down her back, over her rear end and on down her legs as she moved toward the group of waiting boys.  Her shirts and jeans fit loosely, not hugging her at all, but if she would wear clothes that weren’t one or two sizes too big . . .

You don’t want to go there. 

Slowly, he started making his way up the hill and toward his own team, never taking his eyes away from her.

He watched as Aaron leaned closer to her, bringing his hand up to brush his fingers over the scratched area next to her eye.  The touch lingered a little too long to be simply concern and when she shook her head with a laugh and leaned into a tight hug, he felt a pang of . . . something shoot through his chest.

“Hey, Josh . . . come on, man.”

Jake’s voice caught his attention and he tore his eyes away from her and over to the group of guys to his left, intercepting the odd look that Steven was giving him.  “Sorry guys.”  He moved over to join the huddle.  “What’s the plan?”

Steven’s shoulder bumped against his.  “Hey, are you okay?”

“Yeah.  I’m fine.  Why?”

“You keep watching . . .”  Steven’s voice trailed off as realization set in, an evil grin spreading across his features.  “What exactly happened under those leaves, Josh?”

“Nothing.”  He shook his head quickly in denial.  “Absolutely nothing happened.”

“Uh huh.  The look on your face doesn’t say ‘nothing’.  It’s screaming ‘something’ loud and clear.”

“Well . . .”  His eyes shot back over to the other huddle, focusing immediately on the way Shane and Mike’s arms were draped around her shoulders.  That strange pang shot through him again.

“Seriously, man.  If I didn’t know any better . . . I’d say you were jealous of our cousins over there.”  Steven studied him for a moment.  “You are jealous.  Because they’re getting up close and personal with Jen.”

“Steve . . .”

“Hey, I’m just stating the obvious.”  His grin grew.  “You landed on top of her, didn’t you?”

“Steve!”  Blue eyes widened warningly.

“I can’t think of anything else that could’ve happened under there.  You finally figured out that she’s growing up in more ways than one.  You were on top, weren’t you?”

“Yeah, I landed on her.”  JC groaned quietly.  “God, Steve . . . I thought I finished puberty a few years ago.”

“Oh, it’s not that, kid.  Trust me.”  Steven laughed loudly.  “You just got torn violently out of the world of ‘Jen’s my best friend’ and thrown into the world of ‘Dang, Jen’s hot’.  And she is hot, Josh.  She’s a total fox.  I’m surprised it took you this long to figure it out.”

“Hrmm.”  He stared at the ground, at a total loss for what to say, and a grunt was all he could respond with.

“Aaron’s after her, you know.”  When JC’s eyes jerked up to meet his, Steven nodded.  “He has been for a while.  I think he knows that he’s not really the one for her, but he doesn’t care.”

“How do you know he isn’t?  Aaron’s a great guy and he’d be good to her.”

“Yeah, I know he’d treat her right.  But he isn’t . . .”  Steven’s voice trailed off and he studied JC carefully.

“He isn’t . . . what?”

“How can you not see it?”

“See what?”

“Man, do you really not see how perfect for each other you two are?”

JC’s eyes widened in surprise.  “What?”

“You and Jen.  I . . . I don’t even know how to explain it.  You guys just fit.  It’s like . . . well, she’s Boof.”

“Don’t call her that.”  The blue-eyed stare sharpened immediately.

“See?  I’m not even interested in her and you’re getting all edgy.”  A grin quickly followed the words.  “That’s not quite the reaction you should give when you’re trying to convince someone that she’s just your friend.”

“She’s more than that to me and you know it.  Jen is . . . she’s like my sister.”

“Yeah, right.”  Steven snorted.  “If I ever saw you look at Heather the way you were just looking at Jen . . . well, that’d be extremely freaky, Josh.”

“Oh shut up.”  JC reached up and punched his cousin’s shoulder.  “You know what I meant.”

“It’s obvious that you two love each other.”

“We’re best friends, Steve.  Of course we love each other.  But it’s a family kind of love.  That’s all.”

A dark eyebrow rose sharply, green eyes taking on an unreadable expression.  “You sure about that?”

No. 

He ignored the tiny, nagging voice and met Steven’s gaze confidently.  “Positive.”

“Okay, then.  How about we bet on it?”

“Are you serious?”

“Yeah.  If you’re so sure . . . then you don’t have anything to lose.”

JC’s eyes narrowed suspiciously.  “What kind of bet?”

“I’ll bet you five hundred bucks that you guys end up together by the time you turn . . . let’s say twenty-two.  That’ll be . . . what?  Thanksgiving of ninety-eight?  That gives you five years to pull those blinders off and see what you have right in front of you.”

“Do you even have five hundred dollars?”

“I’ve got five years to get it together . . . but I seriously doubt I’ll need it.”

JC looked back over to the other team, his eyes focusing on her once again.  He considered the chances, the possibilities and the random thoughts he’d had during those few minutes under the leaves.  Mentally, he stacked those up, measuring them against the odds . . .

There’s no way.  It’s not possible.   

With a confident grin, he turned back to his cousin.  “You’ve got a bet.  Will you even remember this in five years?”

Steven reached out and shook his hand.  “We’ll get it in writing after dinner.”  He watched as JC nodded, then turned back to the huddle, immediately joining the strategy talk.  Green eyes moved from his own team to the other, watching as she hugged Ty, her laughter carrying all the way across the yard.  He shook his head quickly, talking quietly to himself as he moved to join the huddle.  “You’d better start saving up, man.  You have no idea what you’re going to be dealing with in a few years.”