Page 22 of Offsides

"Why wouldn't she? She's single. She's gorgeous. While she doesn't often dress to provoke attention, she's experienced some major changes in her life lately. Maybe she's wanting to try something new. Maybe she's wanting to break out of her shell. She’s always had a boyfriend before. Even when they weren't actively dating, she still considered him her boyfriend. But now?" She spreads her hands in front of her again. "Now things between her and Luke are well and truly over. Maybe she wants to find out what she's been missing all this time.”

I slump in my seat, not really excited about the idea of Dani wanting to find out what she's been missing. Especially when that exploration doesn't seem to include me.

Autumn leans her chin on her hand again, a small smile tugging at her lips. "Are you wishing that she realizedyouare what she's been missing all this time?"

All I can do is grunt. We both know that's what I want. Otherwise why would we even be here having this conversation? But I know I can't say that out loud. Not to Autumn. Not right now when she's actually offering to help me. And not after I just apologized for being a jerk to her. I have to actively not be a jerk if I want her to keep helping me.

Her smile grows wider, and she lets her hand fall back to the table. "Alright, so you want Dani to consider you as a potential romantic partner.”

I nod.

"And all you've managed to do so far is alienate her."

I nod again like she asked a question even though she’s just listing facts at this point.

She taps her finger on her pursed lips, staring into the middle distance once again. "So we need to come up with a way for her to not only forgive you, but also realize that you're what she really wants."

"That about sums it up," I quip.

Autumn skewers me with a look. "Don't be glib," she scolds.

"Sorry," I mutter.

She drops her hands on the table. "All right, let me think about this for a bit. I'll let you know when I’ve come up with a plan." Without another word, she stands, reaches for Jackson, and they leave the room hand in hand.

I stare after them, wondering what I've just agreed to. And hoping that this won't just make everything worse.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Dani

"Come in!" I yell in response to the knock on my door.

Autumn's head pokes through the doorway, and she gives me a friendly smile. "Hey! How are you feeling today?"

Letting my phone fall to the side and my head loll to look at her, I raise my eyebrows. “How do I look like I'm feeling?"

Cocking her head to one side, Autumn examines me with narrowed eyes. Then she shrugs. "You look like someone wallowing who doesn't usually wallow.” She steps through the door and closes it behind her, her turquoise-and-pink streaked hair still piled on top of her head in a messy bun.

I push myself to sitting and circle the air in front of her. “How do you do that?”

Her eyebrows jump. “Do what?”

“Your hair. How do you get it to do that and stay that way?”

She grins at me again. “Are we giving Dani another makeover?”

Scoffing, I shake my head. “I hardly consider a ridiculously high messy bun to be much of a makeover, do you? Considering my signature style is a ponytail?”

Her grin doesn’t budge, and she lifts one shoulder. “It’s still a change from your usual. Here, I’ll show you.” Reaching up, she frees her hair, letting it fall around her shoulders in waves. She fluffs her hair with her fingers close to her scalp, and I watch semi-amazed at how easy this is for her. Like walking or snapping her fingers. Something easy that she’s been doing forever.

Whenever I do my hair, even my signature ponytail, I still feel like an awkward idiot. Like I’m missing some fundamental thing where it comes to the typical feminine pursuits of self care. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I know the basics. I can brush all the tangles from my hair, I know how to shampoo and condition and shave without cutting myself. But even my ponytail often takes a few tries to get smooth, without wonky bumps here and there sticking out around my head. And don’t even get me started on the baby hairs that twist around and half the time look like devil horns.

Bending at the waist, Autumn flips all her hair upside down and starts gathering it. Once she has it secured in one hand, she turns right side up again as she twists it, wrapping her hair around itself then securing it with the hair tie stored on her wrist. “Ta-da!” she says with a little flourish.

She doesn’t seem bothered by the fact that her hair isn’t smooth along her scalp. That she has frizz in a halo around her head.

“Huh.”

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