"I don't know if you know this about me, but I kind of suck at all physical activities," I told Gabe as I reluctantly pulled on my jacket.
"Don't worry babe, it'll be fun," he said with a a huge grin.
"Stop calling me that."
"Calling you what?" he asked innocently.
"You're annoying."
"Annoying is such an ugly word. What about persistently charming?" he asked, smirking.
"Persistently annoying," I sang, sticking my tongue out.
He frowned and stuck his own tongue back at me. I smiled and turned back to my feet, struggling to stay upright and get them into boots.
"I'm gonna suck so hard," I whined.
"That's what she said," he immediately replied.
I rolled my eyes and put on a pair of gloves as I heard Nate yelling to Will upstairs to hurry up.
"It's going to be freezing," I said, looking outside and seeing it snowing already.
"You're coming, Ava," Gabe said with finality.
"Against my will," I muttered, fixing my hat.
I turned to face Gabe now, seeing him in his own hat and jacket, grinning once again at me.
"You're cute all bundled up," he said, flicking my nose.
I felt my stomach flip but ignored it and shook a fist in his face.
"If I make a huge fool of myself, or injure myself in any way, I will not hesitate to blame and possibly kill you," I said, shrugging my shoulders.
Gabe laughed and grabbed my outstretched arm, pulling me toward him. Close. Really close. Forgetting what you were just talking about close.
"You won't," he breathed, smiling again before pressing his lips against mine.
I won't lie. I was kind of hoping this would happen one of these days, or else I was totally misreading signals, but it still managed to take me off guard.
I completely and totally and utterly lost every comprehensible thought in my mind. My gloved hands slipped around Gabe's neck and I could feel him press closer to me despite my layers of Winter clothing. I moved my mouth and...
"Whoa! The Saportas are getting it on!"
I pushed away from Gabe and saw Nate shielding his eyes. I felt myself turning red, but Gabe just put his arm around my shoulder and laughed. I glared at both of them, but couldn't seem to find words as Gabe turned me around and pushed me out the door.
"Don't be embarrassed," he whispered as I climbed into the car.
I made to protest, but he just kissed me again. And just like that, the words were gone.
"Pass it to Ava!" Gabe shouted to Will who currently had the football, snow clinging to his hair as he turned left and right.
"No! Don't!" I protested.
Gabe laughed as he covered me, arms outstretched.
"You have to at least try," he said, as Will's pass was intercepted by Ryland.
"I am trying. This is my best effort," I told him.
"Shouting not to give you the ball is not effort," he laughed.
"Not giving me the ball is in the best interest of the team," I protested.
Gabe smiled as we ran in the opposite direction, watching as Ryland sprinted down the snow covered field. He slipped slightly, but recovered before Will reached him and scored a touchdown.
Gabe cheered and suddenly I felt my weight being lifted as he spun me around.
"You know I'm not supposed to be happy about your team scoring a touchdown," I yelled, not being able to hold back a laugh.
"I don't care, you should be."
I felt him put me down and pushed him before running to line up again, standing between Will and Alex. I squinted from the snow falling and pulled my hat tighter against my head. Gabe stood across from me, crouching down lowly and narrowing his eyes at me. I smiled and waved as he took the ball.
I didn't really understand what was going on. My dad always liked football, and I didn't mind watching with him, but that didn't necessarily mean I always knew what was happening. I hated that I was such a girl about the whole thing. I think it was just the fact that I didn't really like doing things I was so bad at, so I'd just never bothered with it before.
Still, I knew enough that I had to block Gabe. Which wasn't fun when he was about a foot taller and could run about two times faster.
I struggled to keep up with him, almost sliding on the snow a few times, but finally I reached him and hit both my hands against his back.
He stopped running and laughed throwing the ball away. I heard my team cheering behind me, probably entirely shocked that I had done something helpful.
"Way to go Ava!"
I laughed and Gabe suddenly tackled me, bringing me to the ground. I let out a huge breath of air as my back hit the cold ground, snow immediately seeping into my pants.
"Ah, jerk!"
"I would've scored a touchdown!" he laughed.
"Too bad!"
I was getting wetter by the second, but somehow I didn't mind. I watched as the flakes fell into Gabe's hair, because his hat had fallen off in the tackle.
"Ava...I want to know everything about you," Gabe said, suddenly serious.
I felt my smile fade, looking up at him curiously.
"Right now? My butt's a little cold," I joked.
"You know, I don't even know your last name," he claimed, still hovering above me.
"Davis," I said with a smile.
He nodded and stood up, reaching a hand to me. I grabbed it and pulled myself up, dusting the snow off my now very wet pants and jacket.
"C'mon lovebirds, we're going to get lunch!" Alex called.
I watched as the group headed toward the cars, Gabe and I lagging behind slightly.
"We definitely won," Gabe boasted.
I linked my arm with him, rolling my eyes.
"My team did pretty good, considering the fact that I barely counted as a player."
"You weren't that bad."
"You lie."
He chuckled again as we reached the fence gap, everyone getting into their respective cars.
"Ava Davis?"
"Gabe Saporta?" I mimicked.
"Will go on a date with me tonight?"
I looked up at him, his dark eyes staring down at me with a few snowflakes now clinging to his eyelashes.
"I would love to."
