Page 87 of The Hearts We Fumble
“Mad at me?” He grabs the ice pack, pressing it against his knuckles. “Why would you be mad?”
I cross my arms over my chest—a mistake, considering his gaze immediately drops to my boobs. I clear my throat, and his eyes snap back up to mine.
“Why do you think?” I challenge.
He sighs, rubbing a hand down his face before setting the ice pack on his chest.
“Are you going to tell me what happened tonight?”
“Of course I am,” he says, shifting slightly so he’s leaning on his forearm. “But not right now.” His voice drops, eyes softening. “Right now, all I wanna do is hold you.”
I exhale slowly, fighting the pull he has on me. He makes it impossible to be upset with him. Truthfully, I’m just worried.
Without another word, I pull back the comforter and climb into bed beside him. The second I do, he sighs, like something in him finally relaxes.
“Are you in any trouble?” I ask softly, fluffing my pillow and avoiding his stare.
“Probably,” he admits. “There were a lot of people with phones. I’ll know how bad it is when I talk to Coach tomorrow.”
I nod, tucking myself closer to his side. “Okay.”
That’s all I can say.
He shifts, adjusting until his good hand rests on my hip, his fingers warm through the fabric of my shirt. I don’t miss the way his breathing slows, the tension in his body easing as I curl into him and lay my head on his shoulder.
Whatever happened, whatever’s weighing on him will still be here tomorrow.
And when he’s ready, we’ll talk about it.
***
“You saw the videos too?”
Everly nods, her expression serious. “Hayes told me about it last night when he got home.”
I jerk my head toward her. “Wait—he was with him?”
“Yeah.” She sighs, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear. “Zane picked up Hayes, Reed, and Colter before they took off to find Myla.”
I clench my jaw, uneasy with the realization that I’m hearing about all of this secondhand instead of from Zane himself. I’ve been going out of my mind ever since those videos surfaced online. The grainy footage of fists flying, the muffled shouting, the chaos—it’s been replaying in my head all morning. I won’t see him until later, but I can’t wait that long.
“What else did Hayes say?”
Everly studies me, probably wondering why I’m asking her instead of going straight to Zane, but thankfully, she doesn’t press.
Mrs. Rodriguez drones on about media ethics, but I barely register her words.
Everly lowers her voice. “Katie called Zane, freaking out because Myla disappeared at a party. She went to use the bathroom and never came back. When Katie went looking for her, no one claimed to have seen her.”
A sharp pang of unease twists in my stomach.
“That still doesn’t explain the fight.”
“Luca Calloway,” she murmurs. “He was there. Made some nasty comments about Myla. He said some shit to piss Zane off, and, well… after that game against Keaton, I think they were already on edge.”
I press my fingertips to my temple, massaging away the tension building behind my eyes. Everly doesn’t even know the half of it—how Zane caught me leaving Alpha Nu wearing Luca’s shirt or how he saw me flirting with him at Whiskey Sinner’s the night of his birthday.
Luca never seemed like a bad guy—at least, I hadn’t thought so. But I also knew what he was doing that night at the bar. He had to know Zane was full of shit when he called himself my brother. And now, seeing how easily Luca got under Zane’s skin, I have to wonder if all of it—the flirtation, the teasing—was just a game to him.
