Catching Lucas Riley by Lauren Winder Farnsworth

course, Ashley had no idea that Sealey was interested in Olivia. Man alive, what a soap opera.
    “We’ll see,” Sealey replied, patting Ashley’s hand and pulling away.
    The rest of the game proceeded in this way. Ashley completely ignored Alex, cozying up to Sealey instead, and made marked comments about either Olivia and Lucas or herself and Sealey. Sealey would answer in short, noncommittal sentences and then turn to Alex, explaining to her the rules and points of the game.
    By the end of the first half, Alex was actually starting to enjoy what she was watching. It was pleasant to be sitting there in the sun with Sealey, his arm across the back of her seat as he pointed out Lucas’s form running back and forth on the field. Her enjoyment of the afternoon might also have had something to do Sealey markedly ignoring Ashley, but it made her feel petty to think such things, so she pretended like that had no bearing on her mood.
    As the marching band began playing their halftime show, Sealey turned once again to Alex. “You hungry?” he asked. “Want to come grab something to eat with me?”
    “Sure,” she answered, rising to her feet. Ashley watched them go, her arms folded sourly across her chest and her eyebrows scrunched. The sight made Alex want to laugh.
    “How about pizza?” Sealey asked as they walked past the various food vendors. “I’m craving bread and cheese right now.”
    “Sounds good to me,” Alex said, reaching in her purse for her wallet. She was always up for a good pepperoni pizza.
    “I got it,” Sealey said, gesturing to the wallet in her hand.
    “Huh?” she asked vaguely.
    “I’ll pay,” Sealey clarified. “I pretty much forced you here. Lunch is on me.”
    “Oh . . . well, thanks,” Alex said, disconcerted. The Sealey she was seeing today seemed like a completely different person than she wasused to. She wondered if all the talking about Olivia had improved his mood.
    “By the way, I’m sorry about Ashley,” Sealey said, not looking at her. “I wasn’t sure if she would be here. She doesn’t come to all the games. But if Lucas really told her about your date last night, then I’m not surprised she’s here.”
    “Yeah, she’s . . . you know, charming,” Alex replied, biting her lip.
    Sealey chuckled. “Yeah, she’s a piece of work.”
    “She seems to like you , though,” Alex said, elbowing him in the ribs. “Have you ever been out with her?”
    “Not really . . . not in the way you mean,” Sealey replied, shrugging. “We’ve been out before, I guess, in the sense that she’s invited me as her ‘plus one.’ But there’s nothing going on between us.”
    “No thanks to you,” Alex said, laughing. “I’m sure she’d like nothing better than to rectify that situation.”
    Sealey smiled wryly and shrugged again. “She’s not my type,” he said simply. “She’s beautiful and really smart, but she’s also incredibly manipulative. Her dad spoils her rotten, so she’s gotten used to getting her way. She gets downright irritating when she wants something.”
    “Sounds about right,” Alex surmised.
    Once they had their personal-size pizzas in hand, they headed back for the stairs to their section.
    “Hey, let’s stay down here and eat, if you don’t mind,” Sealey suggested. “Ashley’s driving me nuts, and I’d rather postpone going back up there until Luke’s on the field again.”
    “Sure,” Alex agreed, rather relieved that he suggested it. They sat on a bench side-by-side and opened their pizza boxes. “So, how long ago did you start your company?” Alex asked, taking her first careful bite of the steaming pizza. “Have you been doing this long?”
    “Well, technically, I started my company while I was still in grad school,” Sealey responded, trying to detach a string of cheese from his slice with his fingers. “I knew I didn’t want to work for anyone else, so I decided to do my own thing and focus on advertising for smaller