Page 108 of Facing Off
“I don’t see it.” That’s Hughes. He sounds like he’s standing right behind me, but I don’t turn around to confirm. An electric current runs down my spine in response to his low voice being so close to my ear. I want to shiver, but don’t.Can’t.
Flattening my lips, I tilt my head sideways. “Appreciating black doesn’t make us the same person.”
“Agreed,” deadpans Mikael.
“And I can’t stand most people.” I’ve no idea why I needed to clarify that, only that I have. I expect him to argue that he’s not most people.
“Ialsohate most people.”
“See?” whispers Kavi.
“I also don’t love anyone,” Hughes boasts louder than usual.
“That’s a lie,” says Lokhov. He’s come and wrapped an arm around Kavi’s midsection.
“Remember your last birthday?” Quinn brings up eagerly. “We ate at that pizza place in New York, and when the bill came, you paid for everyone’s meals. And when they clapped, you got on the chair and said you loved them all?”
“That doesn’t ring a bell,” Hughes denies, scowling.
“Okay, how about this? Remember when Jai’s boyfriend broke up with him? That prick who cheated on him. You made us start practice with a group hug, telling everyone to share one thing we loved about Jai.”
“He was a rookie at the time, and you’re…misremembering,” insists Hughes, making a frustrated noise. “I said to share reasonswhyhe’s worthy of love.”
“And then you said we loved him,” quips Quinn.
“I remember that,” Lokhov adds.
The two hockey players keep going. There are plenty of examples.
“Remember,” says Quinn with a crooked smile, “when Adrian peer-pressured the whole team and we spent the afternoon planting trees in that one park? What did our captain do? The really old tree, he went up to it and hugged it and said?—”
“Something about love,” finishes Lokhov, snorting.
Hughes comes around to stand beside me. “Trees don’t count!Whodoesn’t love oxygen?”
Okay, what’s wrong with me? A smile tugs at my lips, wanting to come out in front of everyonein public. It’s because the sight of him so flustered is undeniably cute.
They’re clearly making fun of him. But it’s also unavoidably obvious how much Hughes cradles emotions in his hands and corrals others to join him to be more generous, open, earnest, and sweet.
I should turn around and run the other way. His vulnerability is clearly contagious and has been infecting me continuously. Because I might be justifying everything by saying I’m balancing the scales but does thatproperlyexplain why I’m doing things I’ve never done before? Flying overseas, sitting on laps, asking about childhoods, secretly holding hands at a game?
I tuck my elbows tightly by my side and rub my arms.
Mikael steps in front of me. “How long are you staying?”
“Just for the night. No matter what, I have to go back tomorrow.”
Factoring in travel time, that means I’ll have taken three days off. Mostly. Close enough.
I really hope we find Jung tonight at the party.
“What’re your plans for tonight?” Mikael asks.
“There’s a party.” Kavi answers for me, shamelessly eavesdropping. “You should come, too. I’ll get my husband to text you the details.”
I give my best friend a pointed look.
She ignores me.
