Page 26 of Tell Me Softly
“Don’t move,” he commanded, his hand edging slightly closer to my neck. “Go on, Taylor.”
“I’ll try to get it over with fast,” Taylor said, giving me a reassuring smile. It meant a lot that he was worried about me—that the boy who used to always protect me was back here. It wasn’t until he vanished into the gym that I really realized who he’d left me alone with.
“What kind of idiot is afraid of giving a little blood?” Thiago asked. So much for that warm feeling his little brother had inspired. I shoved him away and glared at him.
“You ought to know,” I said. “You’re the biggest idiot I’ve seen around here.” Again, I tried to get up, and again, he stopped me.
“Will you just sit still? If you pass out, I’m not going to carry you back in.”
“I’m not going to faint!” I shouted, writhing against him, but that just made him put his other hand on my opposite shoulder, pinning me completely to the bleachers. He was there in front of me, strong and tall, and my eyes were staring straight at his T-shirt, imagining the chiseled abs under it. For a nanosecond, Iimagined lifting it and running my tongue around his bellybutton, to see if he tasted as good as he smelled.
But then I forgot all that and shouted, “Let me go!” I pushed him, but he didn’t move an inch. I looked up at him. He was smiling arrogantly.
“I’d have thought a cheerleader would have more strength than that,” he said. “Let’s make a deal. I’ll let go of you if you can manage to sit there without getting up or complaining.”
I started grinding my teeth, which I guess he took to mean I agreed.
He took a step back and looked at his watch, then asked, “Do you need me to call your dad?”
“Why?” I had no idea what he was talking about.
“So he can come hold your hand so you won’t cry?” He chuckled.
“You’re such an asshole!” I stood and lurched around him before he could grab my arm. When we were little, I’d told him how scared I was when I got sick and how Dad had held my hand when I’d had to go to the doctor and get all those shots and tests. Now he dared to use that against me? His cruel grin told me he didn’t give a damn about my feelings.
“OK, OK, I’m sorry,” he said, but I didn’t see any indication that he meant it.
“I’m going home,” I said, starting to walk off.
“Listen, Kami, I like seeing you toss and turn in the air as much as the next guy, but I have no problem telling the trainer to bench you if you don’t play along here.”
So he had been looking at me. The sneak. “Why do you even care about a stupid blood donation?” I asked.
Thiago hesitated before answering. “Rumor has it the coach might be retiring, and this is a way for me to make a good impression.”
“You think you could fill his shoes? In your dreams, maybe. Anyway, nice try with the threat, but since you’re offering to get me out of a sport I couldn’t give less of a shit aboutandtelling me I’d be able to stop seeing your face all the time, I’m tempted to thank you.”
With a skeptical expression, he said, “Number one, cheerleading’s not a sport. Number two, why do you do it if you hate it so much?”
Without even thinking, I responded, “Number one, if throwing a ball through a hoop is a sport, then getting tossed in the air, doing a kick-double, and sticking the landing is definitely a sport. Number two, I didn’t say I hated it. I said I didn’t care about it.”
I tried to walk away, but he grabbed my arm and turned me around, staring him in the eyes.
“So you still haven’t gotten over your fear of needles,” he said.
“I’m surprised you remember.” Were there other secrets, other memories behind those green eyes?
“Yeah, it’s surprising the amount of shit your brain holds on to.”
That stung, and I fired back, “Yeah, shit’s the right word. That’s what you’re full of.” That stung him, but was I wrong to think he didn’t entirely mind me provoking him? Before I could figure it out, the gym door opened and Taylor returned with a cotton ball and a Band-Aid in the crook of his arm.
“Are you better?” he asked. Then, looking back and forth between us, “Don’t tell me you two are still arguing.”
“No, your brother was just entertaining me with his charming personality,” I said.
Thiago broke his stare to turn to his brother and said, “Can you deal with her? I’ve got to get back to work.” He walked back inside without waiting for a response.
“Kami, you shouldn’t pay attention to my brother,” Taylor said, looking frustrated.
