Page 96 of Shots Fired

I find myself in another awkward-as-fuck situation, scrambling for excuses I can offer my friend without actually lying.

“I can’t make it. I’m sorry.” It’s all I can think to say.

Jack moves toward me until we’re only a few feet apart. “Is it Abbie?”

“Is Abbie what?”

Clearing his throat, he looks just as uncomfortable as I feel. “Is she, like, not letting you hang out with us? I mean, I know you’ve got a reputation, but she can’t think you’d play around with someone else behind her back?”

There are a thousand different lies I can give him, but my brain won’t allow me to spill any more. My mouth wars with my mind.

“We actually broke up,” I say after a few beats, too exhausted to continue the ruse. Like I said before, I’m not a good liar, and if I have to hear that make-believe girl’s name one more time, I swear I’ll lose my mind.

There’s only one girl’s name I like to hear.

He looks genuinely shocked, but I can’t say he’s gutted for me.

Reaching out, he clamps a hand on my shoulder. “Do you want to talk about it or …”

I shake my head; the last place I want to be right now is in this bathroom. “Nah. I ended it because the long-distance thing wasn’t going to work, and she wanted more from me, which I couldn’t give.”

He nods in understanding. “I get it. I struggle being away from Kendra for an away series, never mind months on end. Fuck that shit.”

His trademark cocky smile blooms, and I can’t say I’m mad about it. Just like with his sister, Jack looking down is not the kind of world I want to be a part of.

“So, I guess that means you’re single as a Pringle and ready to mingle?”

I roll my eyes at him, feeling my cell vibrate in the pocket of my pants. It’s probably Darcy freaking out again.

“Technically, yes,” I reply. “But the breakup is all kinds of fresh, you know? And that’s why I can’t make it to the range. I’m going to head home and get some rest. I’ve not been sleeping well.”

“Yeah.” His hand drops from my shoulder, and he circles around his eyes. “You do look kind of tired, to be honest.”

Yeah, fucking your sister every way to Sunday will do that to a guy.

Jack steps aside, allowing me to leave.

Right before I reach the bathroom door, I swivel on my heel as he pulls out his phone and starts typing.

“I respect you—you know that, right?” I wasn’t expecting to say the words, but I know why I said them.

At some point, I know he’ll doubt how much I value our friendship, and while I have the easygoing Jack standing in front of me, I want him to absorb my truth.

I think the world of this guy.

He looks confused but smiles anyway. “Yeah, I know, man. I’ve always got your back.”

My hand wraps around the door handle, and I pause again, closing my eyes slowly as I try to convince myself of a reality where he won’t want to take me out when he finally finds out about Darcy. “See you tomorrow at skate.”

The elevator doors open to my apartment just as the smart doorbell sounds.

I made it home just in time.

Dressed in black Lycra leggings and a cropped white T-shirt with a braid hanging over her left shoulder, Darcy appears in the entryway, separating the hallway to the kitchen and living space.

She looks pale as fuck, gray almost, and I can tell she’s trembling, even from the other side of the vast open-plan space.

I drop my training bag at my feet, not bothering to move it to the side, and head straight for her.

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