Page 8 of Scoring the Player
Standing before him, my gaze drops to his arms, which are hanging at his sides, hands clenched. He’s wound tight. The space between us suddenly feels way too small. I take one step to my right.
“I saw the video,” he says.
“You and half of campus,” I mutter. Who am I kidding? I’m sure everyone on campus has seen it by now. Probably even the professors.
He says something, but there’s a ringing in my ears as humiliation washes over me all over again. I hear the words from the video replaying in my head and now knowing he’s heard them too… groan.
“I’m sorry,” I say, not quite meeting his eyes.
He inches closer. He’s always doing that when we talk—moving closer like he wants to make sure he catches every word. “Why are you sorry?”
I flick my gaze up to his face, which now hovers above me, only inches away. His dark hair is covered by a black hat that’s pulled low over his eyes. Eyes that look more gray today than blue.
His backpack is slung over one shoulder and long fingers wrap around the strap. Felix has really nice hands. They’re athlete hands, strong and calloused. More than once, I’ve thought about what it’d feel like to have those hands on me. Which, in turn, always makes me a little lightheaded. But it’s not just me that fantasizes about Felix, going by how many times that video has been shared. He’s every girl’s fantasy.
A flash, and the distinct sound of someone taking a picture, draws me back to our surroundings. Great. I can’t wait to see what they say next.Desperate Girl Stalks QB.I mean, he walked up to me. I was planning on avoiding him until the end of time, but no one would believe that now after that stupid, stupid video.
He shields me from a girl quite clearly taking photos of us with her phone. He must have hit the button for the elevator too, because it opens and he puts a hand at the center of my back to guide me inside. I’m sure he means it to be comforting, but it sends about a million jolts of electricity up my spine. His palm is warm, and his fingers stretch out, spanning almost my entire back. It isn’t the exact scenario I had in mind, since there’s a layer of cotton between his hand and my skin. On instinct, I stiffen, and he removes his hand in a flash, and even though my brain was seconds from short-circuiting, I miss his touch instantly.
I hurry into the elevator and hide in the corner, out of sight from the girl trying to photograph us. Felix steps in with me. Someone calls to hold the elevator, but he ignores them and hits the close door button repeatedly until it shuts us inside. Alone.
“Where to?” he asks.
“First floor.”
Once we’re moving, he angles his body to face me. “I’m gonna go out on a limb and assume you didn’t post that video?”
“Me?” My voice is a screech. “Of course not. I didn’t even know I was being recorded.”
“I didn’t think so.” He mutters something else under his breath that I can’t make out. “Are you okay?”
“I’m…fine.” I’m obviously not fine. “Nothing hair dye and transferring to another school won’t fix.”
“Most likely it’ll blow over by lunch.”
“Yeah, probably so.” I don’t believe that—I’m not that lucky—but I hold on to his words with hope anyway.
The elevator stops and I position myself for a hasty exit. I was only half-kidding about dying my hair. I always wanted to try red.
I tap my thumb against my thigh, equal parts anxious to get away from Felix and nervous about what awaits me as I trek across campus. Except the doors don’t open. The lights flicker and the elevator dings, but nothing else happens.
Felix hits the open-door button. When that doesn’t work, he tries pressing the two, to take us back up. Nothing. “I think we’re stuck.”
“No,” I say, then proceed to push every button in rapid-fire succession. “No, this isn’t happening.”
I am a good person. My karma can’t be this bad. The alarm goes off and I jump back. Felix’s hand returns to my lower back. I jump again when a voice booms from the speaker. “Valley Emergency Services. What’s your emergency?”
Felix’s voice is calm and steady as he responds. “We’re stuck in an elevator in Monroe Hall.”
“How many people are in the elevator?”
“Two.” His gaze flits over to me.
“Is everyone okay?” the voice asks through the speaker.
Felix nods. “Yeah. We’re good.”
We are sonotgood. He might be, but I’m living my worst nightmare. I’m stuck in a confined space with a guy that knows I have a mega crush on him. Seriously, this day cannot get any worse. I feel like I want to cry or scream, maybe both.
