Page 27 of Fault Line

“Ah.” I crack a grin of my own, directing my attention to Kaia’s sheepish gaze. “Are we sure it’s not the other way around?”

“That’s not what I hear,” Lizzie singsongs, nearly belligerent at this point.

“And what is it that you hear, Liz?” I tease.

“Well, Kaia says—” Kaia sinks down in her seat, tugging on Lizzie’s arm to get to her stop. “It’s fine, Kai Kai. Let me talk,” Lizzie chides before bursting into a fit of giggles. “Oh, my God.Kai Kaiand Rai Rai, how cute.”

We laugh at her ridiculous antics, and she immediately forgets where she was going in the first place. Instead, we all move on, placing our food orders and digging in.

It may be a miracle, but by the end of the meal, Rai manages to sweet-talk Lizzie into coming back to our place. There’s barely enough room for her in the car as it is, but Rai kindly offers up a seat on his lap.

When Bodie offers the same thing to Kaia, winking at her as he does, I about lose my shit. But I’m the driver, so I can’t very well have a girl sitting on my own lap now, can I?

Kaia, however, respectfully declines—as she should—insisting on calling herself an Uber. “Let me call it for you,” I cut in, feeling lousy about the lack of space in my convertible.

Kaia rolls her eyes, immediately declining the offer. “I can pay for my own Uber, Beck.”

“I’m not saying you can’t,” I insist, voice soft. “Just let me do this for you.”

“Fine, then.” She waves a dismissive hand, yielding to my request. “Have it your way.”

“Thank you.” I pull up the app on my phone, inputting the details of her apartment complex before saying, “All set. They’re pulling around in three minutes. Text me when you get home, please.”

“As you wish, Daddy.” Her eyes widen, and she shudders, feigning a gag at her own suggestive comment. “Oh, God. Please pretend I never said that.”

I allow the corners of my mouth to curl up into a self-satisfied grin. “Couldn’t erase it from my brain even if I tried.”

“Whatever.” She gives me a dramatic eye roll. “Thank you for the Uber. Good night, everyone.” She moves to hug Lizzie, waving to my roommates before heading out of the building.

As the rest of us make our way back to the house, I recognize how grateful I am for these little moments. The few seconds where I can forget about the stresses of the game and the pressure to perform and just be a college kid having fun with his friends.

Also, I have to admit it was a real fucking treat to see Kaia outside of the classroom again.

* * *

The next day,we have a late-morning practice that kicks my fucking ass. We definitely shouldn’t have stayed out as late as we did last night. Not to mention, those two beers I drank aren’t sitting well in my stomach, either.

With aching muscles and sweat dripping down my brow, I head back to the locker room. But just as I’m packing up my gear, Harper calls me over.

“Hey, Holden, can I ask you to stick around for a few minutes?”

I lift my chin, still feeling a bit winded from practice. “What’s up?”

Harper offers me a warm smile. I’m not trying to be a creep, but she’s a very beautiful woman. Her soft brown hair is pulled into a loose ponytail, a wild mix of braids and twists interweaved throughout. Her gray-blue eyes are shining under the harsh, fluorescent lights. She’s young and she’s gorgeous, and the rest of my teammates have definitely taken notice.

Facts are just facts—there’s really no denying her physical appeal. But despite her good looks and sugary-sweet personality, she’s starting to grate on my fucking nerves.

Sure, the chest pain used to nag at me, but I should be able to manage it fine without her help now. There’s no legitimate reason that I should have to stay late after every single practice.

It’s all getting a bit fucking redundant, isn’t it?

“I just wanted to do a quick check-in and remediate any lingering pain,” she says, leading me over to one of the training tables.

With a sigh, I move to lie down on my back, and Harper starts to work on my chest, pressing down on different points to find any areas of discomfort.

“How’s your pain level been?” she asks.

“Almost nonexistent, honestly,” I say, self-assured. “I’ve been doing all the exercises you gave me, and it’s made a huge difference.”

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