Page 47 of Play Dirty
“Nicolas fucking Reyes.” Tatiana snaps as she cuts through the field, her movement sloppy due to the heels on her boots. Zayden murmurs, “Oh shit,” before chugging the rest of his water. “Fuck, here we go.” Thiago groans, already taking his place beside me, as we watch her stomp towards us. A woman on a mission… to fucking kill me.
“STAY AWAY FROM SHILOH!” She yells, jabbing her finger towards me like she’s aiming a gun. “She doesn’t need you fucking with her head more than it already is. She’s not a fucking rehab.”
I blink, sweat dripping down the side of my head. “Tati–”
“No,” she snaps. “You don’t get to say my name as if we are friends, one thing is June and another is Shiloh. June hasn’t even been dead for long. Here you are already trying to fuck her friend. Her best friend.” Her tone is venomous and full of disgust.
“That’s not what happened.”
“Know your place, Nicolas.”
With that, the coach stands between us, debating whether to let her continue or end it. I stay silent, just letting her land all the killing blows I deserve.
Because the worst part is that she’s not wrong.
I want to kiss Shiloh.
I want to crawl inside her and make a home out of her heart.
I've wanted Shiloh from the moment I laid eyes on her.
I want the very thing I could never have.
Ezra is the one to step in. “Can we talk off the field, please?”
He tries to plead with his ex as she shoots daggers at me with her glare. She looks one last time before she turns around and allows Ezra to guide her off the field and towards the benches, leaving fire in her wake and silence so thick it chokes. Brad usually always has some shit to say, “Damn, and I thought I had women problems, but I like yours much better.”
“Can it, Brad.” Zayden snaps, taking a step forward and making him take two back. Fucking pussy. Coach clears his throat. “Break is over. Reyes, in goal.”
Of course.
Punishment wrapped in professionalism.
Walking towards him, I grab the pair of gloves and jog to my spot outside the goal. Trying not to let the poison of Tatiana’s words consume me, but I think we are beyond that. The damage is done, and just like June’s life, I’m also the villain in hers.
Chapter Nineteen
Shiloh
Isit in the back of Dr. Hellen’s lecture hall. It’s odd being in this classroom now that Xavier has been replaced. Something about having to tend to an emergency. Still, something doesn’t feel right. I feel like I’m stuck in the middle of the game while someone else moves the pieces.
Like a pawn.
Tracing the curve of my coffee cup, I try to listen to her words; at this point, I’m mostly pretending. Dr. Hellen clears her throat as she adjusts her red color glasses; chestnut curls frame her face.
“Renaissance,” she continues, “Comes from the Latin word- renasci.” She stops, folding her hands together in front of her. “Does anyone know what it means?”
Hands raised to the air, eager to respond, yet it’s my name she calls. “Ms. Johnson.”
Snapping me out of my ruminating thoughts. “It means to be reborn.”
She smiles, her red-stained lips expose her braces.. “Reborn, the time of Michelangelo, Da Vinci, and Machiavelli. A true rebirth, after the plague and ignorance. This paper will focus on the time period, providing a detailed analysis.”
Groans fill the classroom, while my gaze focuses on the empty seat where June would have been. Grief has a funny way of showing up inthe most mundane things. I could be eating a cup of ramen, only to be reminded that she’s no longer here.
Sitting here only makes me think of my deepest wounds— the ones that are still open, jagged, and bleeding. My smartwatch beeps, I look down at the text, tuning out whatever else Dr. Hellen is saying.
Tatiana
