Page 36 of Waiting Game

I looked at Antoni and raised my hands in the air, questioning, and he just shrugged and shook his head.

“What did I fucking do?” I asked.

“Nothing, man,” he sighed, “I’m sure she’s just confused.”

I ripped my own gloves off, throwing them hard at the wall in my frustration.

“Hey,” Antoni called, “don’t worry about it.”

“I don’t know what to fucking do, Toni.”

“You guys did leave together last night, didn’t you?”

I shrugged, looking away from him. I couldn’t admit it to his face. I had never mentioned a word about Valerie and me to him. It was too weird.

I never knew how he would react.

She was his little sister, and bro code said that she was off limits. At the same time, he had never told me to stay away either. He never gave me any hint that he was onto us back then, and he had never said a word since.

I didn’t know what to think.

“Look,” he sighed, “I know you had your hopes up that she was coming back. But she’s not, mate. She’s not the same girl. We’re not the same guys. I don’t think it’s worth getting too worked up over.”

“You don’t understand,” I sighed, running my hands through my hair, “You say that Rome is your person, right? What if she’smyperson? What if she’s my only person, and she’s just fucking… gone? What if I’ve fucked everything up because of a decision I made at seventeen? What if there is no one else for me?” I rambled.

He looked at me with sympathy in his eyes, but didn’t say anything.

“You don’t know what we had, Toni,” I shook my head.

“I know more than you think,” he said simply.

I looked at him and he smiled slightly, clapping me on the back. It was the default way that guy’s comforted each other, with a simple pat as if we were dogs. I don’t know why I chose this moment to basically confess my love for his sister. But I couldn’t hold it in.

I couldn’t hide it anymore.

I wanted her more than anything.

And I would do anything to make her stay.

11

Chapter 11

Valerie

Ihad to admit that the city was beautiful at night. I stared out the window of Rome’s car at the dots and lines of yellow lights against the black sky. She hadn’t said a thing since we left the gym, and I sat in the passenger seat with my arms crossed.

“I’m sorry for before,” I said quietly.

She only smiled and glanced at me from the side of her eye.

“You going to fill me in and tell me what the fuck is going on?”

I sighed.

I couldn’t tell her what was going on, because even I wasn’t sure.

Even I knew that I was being childish, and overly defensive. But it was the only thing I had, it was the only defence that I had against him and the power that he had over me. I had to keep myself guarded, I needed to be careful. I knew that I was weak when it came to Ren.

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