Page 60 of Until We Burn
I keep my voice low and discreet for her. “Penny for your thoughts?”
“Andrea and her stupid cohort are pissing me off by trying to take control of everything,” Diana huffs. Her wrist trembles as she tries to twist the bottle cap off. “Not only that, but I’ve also been scouring the internet for any sign of someone seeing me at the Wing and Flame in case word traces back to my family, and it’s driving me crazy.”
“Di, people were too hyped up on booze and hot wings to notice you were there that night.” I tear into the box of root beer and start organizing the cans into the cooler. “They might’ve seen you, but I doubt they were sober enough to remember anything.”
“I know.” Diana groans, giving up on the water bottle cap. “I’m driving myself insane for no reason. I just feel like everything is spinning out. The Howler. The trajectory of my whole life—” She slams the bottle down and smacks it. “This stupid cap that won’t open!”
I take the bottle and crack it open for her.
Diana blushes and avoids making eye-contact. “Thank you.”
I can’t help smiling a little. “No problem.”
She takes a sip of water. The anger and panic that had rattled her fade into a familiar exhaustion that’s been dragging at my bones, too.
“Honestly, there’s gotta be something in the air making everyone fucking insufferable today.” I tear apart the cardboard boxes. “I just had a group of jackasses try to get me to sign a picture of a guy on steroids in front of Anthony Benigno.”
Diana’s eyes widen as she gulps down her water.
“Oh god, Kai.” She frowns. “That’s…I’m so sorry.”
I shrug. The rage tensing in my bones unleashes through every soda can box I rip into. “Yeah, so if it’s any consolation, you’re not the only one having a shitty time here.”
Diana narrows her eyes and turns to scan the field.
“Where are they?” she demands. “Point them out to me.”
I chuckle. “And what exactly will you do to them, princess? String them up on the flagpole?”
“Yes, and I’d let the seagulls peck out their eyes.”
A determined, furious look flares across her face. Pure, uncontrolled want breaks through the anger and panic warring in my head. Being turned on by violence is so fucked up—butgoddamn.Diana’s willingness to fight the assholes in my life makes me want her so much my knees are ready to give out. My head is so eager to bury itself between her thighs to let her know just how much I appreciate it.
“Kai’s a great player, Bensy. I don’t know, though, you heard coach the other day. He’s still debating whether he’d want Kai on the roster. There’s too much controversy around him.”
My breath goes still. Across from us, Roger, Sam, and Anthony talk over burgers at the picnic table.
“So what? Who in the league isn’t wrapped up in controversy?” Anthony fires back.
“They’re not wrapped up in it like he is,” Sam points out. “People talk about his personal life more than they talk about his plays. That’s gonna get into his head. We don’t need a player with that kind of baggage if we want to make it to the playoffs.”
Panic bursts inside of me, trembling through my hands as Anthony sags back.
“I guess you got a point.” He scratches at his beard and shrugs. “Although, I’d still keep an eye on him and see how he does at the Frozen Four.”
Pressure presses down on my chest. My breath comes out shallow, shaking under the weight of Anthony’s words crushing over me.
“Kai?”
“I-I’m fine.” I grab a box of seltzer and rip it open. The gaping hole sends the cans tumbling out.“Merde!”
Diana bends down to help me pick them up. I chuck the cans into the other cooler. Panic winds around my lungs like a drawstring, growing tighter and tighter.
I’ve always dreamed about playing for the Vancouver Phoenix since I was a kid. But when I got recruited to Division I, I didn’t care about where I was going. As long as I could get signed and play the game, I would go to the fringes of this country just to do it. Now, the chance to be recruited is dangling right in front of me, and it’s being batted farther away by rumors I’ll never be able to run from.
“Kai…” Diana’s elbow brushes against mine, so warm and steady I can’t help but lean into her. “The season just started. You can prove to them and everyone else about the kind of player you are. There’s still time to change their minds.”
I groan and put a bottle of seltzer into the cooler. “I want to do thatandbeat that group of assholes with a hose.”
