Page 5 of Facing Off
My smile spreads wider as delight zings through my chest. I lean in a little closer.
And she does too, just barely while still glaring at me.
The air between us crackles.
Sonya scoffs, about to say something that I’m dying to hear, even if it’s an insult?—
But then Quinn comes out of the dressing room.
And all of a sudden, I’m back to being invisible. Because as soon as Sonya sees him, she pushes off the wall and walks over. Her arms are still crossed tight. “Are you hurt?”
He smiles despite his split lip. “No.”
“Good.” Sonya nods tersely.
Quinn tilts his head. “I thought you were busy tonight?”
“I was. I am busy. I have to go back, but I saw the fight. On my phone.” Her chin lowers. “Just…don’t fall. Again. Or else.”
Her words are sharp and hurried, and delivered with an unsettled expression crossing her face. As if she’s deeply uncomfortable, but needs to get everything out, so Quinn understands the seriousness of what she’s saying.
Frowning at him, her hand twitches. “And…call me. If you really need something. Bye.”
With that, she stalks off, only briefly glancing at me on her way out. That’s a relief because if she looked any longer, she’d realize I’m oddly locked in place.
Quinn notices me. “Oh, hey, Cap. Ready to grab some food? I’m starving.”
I inhale sharply, forcing a hand through my damp hair. “Yup. Let’s go.”
I need to distract myself. But for some reason, Iwatched their conversation, and now I can’t shake the thought that Quinn was right.
The way she acted around her brother because he got hurt…it’s concern shielded by thorns. Grumpiness with an almost invisible undercurrent of care. Tough, yetworriedannoyance.
There’s more to Sonya than what she shows the world.
Seeing that isn’t even the worst part.
It’s that I can picture it.
Her coming over to me, telling me not to fall. Ever again. Saying it all in that same stiff, defensive way. Like she’s guarding herself as much as she’s trying to watch out for me.
Can you imagine? Her telling me it’s okay to call her if Ireallyneed to.Fuck. The thought of that bothers me. Because I can’t stop thinking about it.
3
ADRIAN
Sonya doesn’t showup again for another month. But the next time she’s at one of our games, I pounce at the chance to ask her out.
Because I can’t stop my mind from wandering, and thinking about her.
Because if she says yes, it means there’ssomethingbetween us. We hook up, have our fun, get it out of our systems. That’s how this stuff works, right? No big deal.
“Have dinner with me?” I ask Sonya, jogging up to catch up with her as she leaves the stadium from a side exit.
Sonya pulls out an umbrella from her bag. “Not a chance.”
Whoa. A flat-out rejection. And she’s not even looking at me.
