Page 16 of Play Dirty
“I can try to get my dad.” Thiago starts with his nonsense again.
“Back off.” I snap, harsher than I intended to be, but his help is useless. It does nothing but piss them off. He knows that. I know that.
Fuck, the team knows that.
We walk in silence, because that is where we find comfort. We don’t need to have a heart-to-heart— bleeding into the grass.
We play.
We train.
Being on the field is our therapy session.
One I look forward to. Not a day goes by that I don’t enjoy being in that patch of grass, pumping my legs as I run a ball between my feet, scanning for my brothers as they flank me. The sound of a ball ricocheting off the pavement cuts my spiraling thoughts. One of the other Sirens, Elijah, jogs towards us. As usual, no shirt, exposing his sculpted and toned body dripping with perspiration, hair buzzed on the side, and curls drenched in sweat.
A newbie, and one day, he will surpass us all.
He runs a hand down the dagger inked in the middle of his chest, just before he kicks the ball towards us. “Thought you fuckers retired.” He grins, flicking his chin at us. “Or you're just allergic to sunlight now?”
I don’t answer, but when the ball rolls to my feet, my body responds beautifully.
Tap.
Flick. Turn.
My thoughtsdisappear with a simple movement, and the chains feel less heavy. My body is no longer theirs, but mine. I control it with precision.
“Oh shit, he’s awake. You’re fucked now, fresh meat,” Thiago taunts. Elijah tenses for a second, and I kick the ball towards him before turning towards Thiago and offering him a scowl.
“Watch your mouth.”
But before he can answer, the ball comes flying towards him. Jumping in the air, we watch as he intercepts it with his head, sending the ball flying my direction. The book falls from my hand as I dribble the ball back and kick it towards Elijah. Thiago starts to chase when another player joins in.
Our captain.
Ezra Roberts.
For a few minutes, we are just boys. Just bodies moving, no eyes watching, no collars, no robes, no masks. No red doors. Only the green grass and the blue open sky. But the moment dies, the moment Rowan— the university nurse—steps into view. Tight black scrubs hug her thick curves, her brown hair twisted up with her pen. She has her usual calm face on, but it’s the way her hips sway as she walks. The way she doesn’t scan the field like she usually would tells me she’s going somewhere specific.
Behind her, Ezra follows. Casual. Loose shirt and dark aviator glasses. So nonchalant, as if being with him couldn’t ruin her life. As if he’s some random rich kid and not the Siren team captain or the son of one of the major donors. Like the nurse he’s sneaking off with isn’t ten years older than him and someone’s mother. I shake my head, not from disapproval, but I know what can happen when you don’t follow the rules. They can fuck who they want. And Ezra is just putting her in harm's way. That’s a fact.
“This shit isn’t going to end well,” Thiago mutters, jogging beside me.
I track Ezra’s hand ghosting her lower back as they disappear behind the east hall doors. “Mind your business, T,” I say quietly, flicking the ball up with my knee and catching it under my foot. I look down at my watch and find it weird that I haven’t heard from June since last night.
She left to go home in tears because once again, we tried, and it didn’t work. Eating her pussy only resulted in her bursting into tears and dumping me like the loser that I am. At least it was over, and I no longer needed to pretend. It still fucking sucks to know she’s hurting, to have seen it written all over her face as she told me about myself and left my dorm in a hurry. My eyes scan the grounds as I walk towards my next class, Thiago trailing behind me. “Have you seen June?”
He shakes his head. “I saw her leaving last night, then you left.”
Something drops in my stomach, he noticed. I thought I left without the boys noticing. Zayden and Wyatt were out of the dorm while I was busy trying to fuck the girl I’ve been dating for almost a year.
The rest of the day passes in a blur of lectures and hallway smiles that don’t reach my eyes. I sit through economics, chew the corner of my nails during studio theory, and dodge Shiloh anytime I get a hint of her on campus. I try not to think of June, or the fact that she hasn’t texted me…Now that I think of it, I haven't seen her around at all.
Maybe she’s just avoiding the awkwardness between us, and just avoiding me.
But something tells me she's not.
This small voice in my head screams at me to find her. Something is wrong. By the time the day is done, the sun is setting, casting long shadows across the courtyard as I make it back to my dorm. Still no word from June. My limbs ache. After our breakup, I ended up going to the fields to run around and kick the ball.
