Chapter 1: Brown Eyes

*Jessica*

I sat on the cold metal bleachers, making it look as though I was watching my university football team, The Barbarians, do what they do best, win. I cheered when the other students cheered. I booed when they booed. But I wasn’t invested the way they were. Not in the game, anyway.

Football was just burly people running around and slamming into each other. As a sport, I never saw the appeal.

That wasn’t to say I couldn’t see the appeal of the people who played it though.

One such person was the only reason I was here.

It was at that moment I saw him break away from the mass of bodies, running with such speed that he could have been flying across the field to catch the ball, taking it and cradling it in his arms as though it were a newborn baby. With his cargo he continued down the field, effortlessly outrunning his opponents, and dodging the other team’s defenders with such grace he might as well be dancing.

Within seconds he had crossed the goal line, earning the final goal the Barbarians needed to claim victory.

That’s what Robin Heath does, he wins. Football games. And hearts.

Including mine.

The crowd erupted in cheers at Robin’s touchdown, and I joined them, cheering honestly now.

Across the field, the university cheerleaders launched into their victory routine, and the rest of the Barbarians swarmed their captain.

The cheering and applause lasted until the cheerleaders finished their routine and the crowd began to disperse, but I stayed longer, waiting for the teams. The opponent team–I don’t even remember what they called themselves–was the first to go. The Barbarians began making their way off the field when it happened. Robin broke away from the rest of his team…

…and walked towards me.

I pulled the blond hair hanging in front of my face out of my eyes to make sure I wasn’t seeing things. I wasn’t.

Even as I watched, Robin removed his helmet, revealing his cropped black hair, and the smile spreading across his handsome face. A smile that was so open and so happy that it could make anyone treated to one feel as though they were the only one in the world.

That’s certainly how I was feeling.

But the best part of Robin’s smile was the twinkle it brought to his beautiful brown eyes. Eyes filled with so much warmth and light that was meant to be shared.

And those eyes just kept coming closer, their twinkle growing brighter, the smile below them getting wider and happier.

I felt my heart pounding in my chest as I rose to my feet to meet him and let my own smile spread across my face, though I had to fight to keep the nervousness I was feeling out of it.

Robin opened his arms, but just as I was about to take my first step forward, it all fell apart.

Another girl who must have been sitting somewhere behind me stepped around me and walked right into Robin’s waiting arms. Arms that wrapped her into their strong embrace. The smile this girl had been treated to disappeared but was quickly replaced by something else as Robin leaned down and pressed his lips to hers.

Their kiss lasted for an agonizingly long minute before it broke, and Robin and this girl walked off together, one of his strong arms still wrapped across her shoulders.

As I watched them go, a hand made of ice wrapped itself around my heart and began to squeeze, killing me a little inside.

I dropped back onto the bleachers and turtled in my hoodie. Mentally I was kicking myself.

Of course, Robin hadn’t been walking over to me.

Of course, Robin hadn’t been smiling at me.

And of course, I wasn’t going to be the one Robin would want to kiss.

I jumped slightly as something touched my shoulder. “You okay, Jess?” a gentle voice asked me.

I lifted my head and pulled off my hood to find my friend Gloria Lincoln standing over me, still in her cheerleader’s uniform. I gave a quiet sigh. “I’m fine, Linc,” I replied. She hated her first name, and my nickname for her had ended up sticking. “It’s just…”

Linc turned in the direction I’d been looking in as I trailed off. It must have been obvious because she had a scowl on her face as she turned back to me, her raven-colored hair swaying around her chin. “Seriously, Jess?” she asked me.

I could only nod.

“Come on, Jess,” Linc said as she sat down next to me. “You’ve got to get over this little crush. Robin’s not worth it. Or if you can’t get over it, you can at least be patient. That’s the fourth girl I’ve seen him with this week, and the second girl I’ve seen him with today.” She touched my shoulder again. “He’ll get to you eventually, and you’ll have your moment in the sun.”

I shook my head. “But I don’t want a moment in the sun, Linc,” I told her, trying to keep the hurt and frustration out of my voice. “I want a lifetime.”

Linc gave me a sympathetic look. “Considering his attention span, I think a moment is the best anyone can hope for.” Linc took my arm and gently pulled me to my feet. “Come on, that’s enough wallowing for now. We have places to be, remember?”

I nodded and started walking, happy to let Linc lead me. Ahead of us, I could still see Robin and his partner, and I felt myself die a little again.

“What if there was a way to get more than just a moment from Robin, Linc?” I asked her. “What if I could … persuade him to give me a lifetime?”

“I would say that’s impossible,” Linc replied dismissively.

I turned to give her a small smile. “We’re witches,” I reminded her. “We can find a way.”