Page 13 of Loathing Ryan
She narrowed her eyes. “Can you read minds?”
I laughed. “No, I wish. I can see your thought process clear as day. You get sloppy when you’re tired.”
Izabel scowled, but she didn’t try to defend herself. She really was tired. “Aren’t you going to go after the flag?” she asked.
“Nah, I’ll let someone else get it. Maybe your new little boyfriend.”
Izabel reared back, raising her hands. “Let me stop you right there. Mark isnotmy boyfriend. I’ve honestly never even seen him before today.”
I looked down at my hands and picked at the dirt underneath a fingernail. “Well, he sure was looking at you like he wanted to worship the ground you walk on.”
“I’m not doing this with you again,” she said, flustered. Her fingers toyed with the ends of her ponytail, and she looked away, rolling her lips into a thin line. “You really have no say in anything I do.”
“What if I want to change that?” I asked her before I realized what I was saying.
Izabel went suspiciously still as her eyes found mine again. I could see the gears in her brain working hard to decipher what I just suggested. “What does that mean?”
“Maybe I’m tired of playing this game,” I said with a shrug.
“You mean, capture-the-flag? It’s almost over.” She looked around right as cheering sounded somewhere in the distance. “Actually, I think someone just won.”
I chuckled and shook my head. “No, I’m not talking about capture-the-flag. I’m talking about this.” I motioned between the two of us. “Maybe I want to be done.”
“What’s your angle here, Ryan?” she asked, exasperation dripping from her tone. “Are you trying to trick me into thinking you want to be friends? Or are you hoping I’ll just let my guard down again so you can swoop in and make a fool of me like you have all the other times we’ve danced around this topic?”
I frowned at her defensive stance. I hated that I was the only one to blame for her developing this aggression toward me. And she was right. Previously, every time I had brought up the possibility of us moving past our grievances, somehow, I found a way to make everything exponentially worse.
“Would that be so terrible?” I replied. Anticipation built in my chest. What if she was open to it? Maybe we could just move past the last few years and pretend they never happened.
“Yes. Hell would have to freeze over before I would evenconsidergiving you the time of day, much less be yourfriend.”
Without another word, she spun on her heel and started stalking toward the main field. A sharp sensation struck my chest and disappointment flooded me for a second, but I squashed it. She couldn’t dismiss me that easily. Chasing after her, I caught up and matched her stride.I could feel the anger and irritation radiating off her in waves, but I ignored it.
As we walked, my arm would brush hers, which caused an intriguing sensation. My skin was hyper-aware of every minuscule brush of her arm against mine. The same thing happened when I approached her and her new buddy, Mark. She had felt so small pressed up next to me, and something deep and protective had welled in my chest.
But now, as if she was experiencing the same reaction, each time our arms would touch, she would suck in a breath through her teeth. I wonder if she knew I noticed.
I wondered if she felt this way toward anyone else, experiencing a little jealousy at the possibility. I replayed Mark making his move on her earlier. What had he said?
Sorry, man, didn’t realize she was yours.
At first, I had outright denied it out of reflex. But now, thinking it over, maybe I should’ve gone along with it. Something was urging me to make sure old Marky Mark knew to keep his greedy paws off of her.
We were both quiet as we made our way out of the woods, as if trying to work through whatever was happening as we walked side by side. It made me uneasy. I wasn’t sure what was happening here, but I needed to make amends, put an end to all this nonsense. Yet at the same time, my defenses reared up.
She clearly expected me to fit the version of me that I had shown her all these years. Change was not an option here. Izabel was dead set on our dynamic staying exactly how it was. So if that’s what she wanted, then that’s what she’d get. I was nothing if not committed.
Once we made it to the edges of the main field, I sped up and turned on her, so I faced her. I walked backward, as she never slowed her stride. When I glared at her, she glared right back.She apparently meant what she said, that she’d never give me the time of day.
“Alright, Bells, you get your wish. I’ll leave you alone. I just thought it would be nice for a change, maybe extend an olive branch. But if you don’t want that, that’s on you. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
I shot her a wink, and then turned and took off.
Todd and Liam were hanging out near the far edge of the field. Todd was waving the other team’s flag around in the air like some kind of trophy. When both of my friends spotted me, they charged.
“Hey, man! We won!” Todd shouted, waving the flag in my face as if I wasn’t able to see it.
I pushed him back, but gave him a grin. “Happy for you. Hey, I have an idea I need to run by you.”
