Page 28 of The Comeback Pact

Being the guy that bores you to death is the worst.

Quickly, I type out:

WestB: I might have to enlarge the doorway to our dorm if Aidan’s head gets any bigger.

She reads the message and glances up at me. I nod toward Aidan, who’s also wedged between two jersey chasers and Sydney, who’s practically leaning across one of them so she can keep him engaged in conversation.

McKennaK: lol Just watching him is exhausting.

McKennaK: So, how do you do it? Do you use the whole sock on the doorknob trick when one of you is hooking up?

I read the message and look up at her again. She’s biting her lower lip, smiling at the screen. She’s moved her hair behind her ear, and I’m trying to decide if this is a test or not. How much should I tell her?

Before I can think of an answer, a gasp rings out, and the girl to my right cries out, “Oh my God, what happened to you?”

My heart pounds. I’m going to be sick.

For a moment, Kenna doesn’t know the girl is talking to her. She’s still staring down at her phone, but when the table goes quiet, she finally peers up, her face in the initial stages of blushing.

The girl points to the side of her face, indicating Kenna’s scar.

How can this girl be so fucking oblivious? It’s like the time I had to stay with my grandparents for a little while when shit got bad. I came down the stairs with a huge zit in the middle of my forehead, and my grandfather exclaimed, “What the hell is that?” as if he’d never seen a red dot on a pubescent boy’s face before.

My mind races. Kenna’s eyes begin to water, but her face doesn’t look like she’s about to burst into tears. It gets hard. It gets weary, and it reminds me so much of an expression my mom wears so often now. She’s tired and pissed all the time.

All the damn time.

“You got it from wrestling a tiger, right?” I ask, staring at Kenna. She moves her gaze to me, and I will her to keep it there. It’s like I tell her in the gym: focus. It’s just you and the weights, nothing else.

Right now, it’s just me and her.

I stare so hard it feels like I’m reaching across the table and holding her cheeks, making her stay here with me.

I can see the moment she relaxes, and it’s like a gasp of much-needed oxygen for me. A breath just seconds before oblivion. She holds my gaze like a good girl. “Actually, it was a jaguar.”

“Bitch, you told me it was a black bear,” Sydney says, elbowing her friend. Then, she peers over at the dumb girl next to me. “And if you want to see someone go all Mama Bear, keep spouting nonsense and watch where that gets you.”

“What?” the girl asks, indignant, pulling her shoulders back. “I was just wondering.”

“Oh, really? How did you get to be so tactless? I was just wondering,” Sydney mimics with the girl’s same inflection.

The girl huffs before turning toward me. “I don’t know what the big deal is. Do you want to go somewhere else?”

I don’t look at her. Frankly, I’m pissed I have to put up with this nonsense when all I really wanted to do was spend time with Kenna outside of training. “Actually, I was just about to ask Kenna if I could walk her home.”

I wasn’t. I would never…except the words just fell out when I opened my mouth. They were already being heard by the entire table before I could turn them over in my mind again and again, searching for the repercussions. Once they’re out there, though, I can’t take them back.

Panic engulfs me. She could turn me down in front of everybody.

“Yeah,” Kenna squeaks out, gaze locked on mine. “Yeah, let’s go.”

The girl next to me stares, dumbfounded. I start to scoot the opposite way and make two girls and two players stand just so I can get out and meet Kenna without having to go anywhere near the other girl. When I unfold to my full height, we immediately walk away. I open the door for her, and she leads me to the parking lot before stopping next to Sydney’s car and spinning toward me.

“Thanks for getting me out of there. I can wait here for Sydney to be done.”

My newly acquired confidence takes a hit. “Oh, you don’t want me to walk you home?”

“You were serious?” she asks, tilting her head, staring at me.

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