Page 60 of Endurance
My smile is tired but undisputable. “Amazing. It was…amazing.” I drop down onto the place he vacated on the steps. My legs feel as if they’re going to give out from all the standing I did in surgery today. “I’ve turned a corner with Dr. Miller. She told me that if I keep it up, she’ll be offering me a full-time position next year.”
“That’s incredible.” He huffs a laugh of admiration. “Seriously, I’m really happy for ya.”
“Thanks,” I reply, suddenly feeling very tired. “So what are your texts about? I haven’t read them yet.”
His happiness falls fractionally. “Our next date.”
A hopeful raise of his eyebrows has me nodding stiffly. “Ah yes, we need another public appearance I suppose. It’s been a few days. What will people think?” I bob my head, adding a touch of flare to the end but he doesn’t seem amused.
Tanner scratches the back of his neck. “There’s this thing going on at Welly’s Pub on Friday night with the Bethnal team. They don’t have a game until Wednesday, so they want a team night out. Bonding and all that. Indie will be there, too. I haven’t seen any of them since the last game and I’d like it if you would go with me. The guys have booked the place, so there won’t be any press inside.”
This confuses me. “Well, what’s the point if we’re not being photographed?” I ask.
He shrugs and speaks slowly. “It’d just be for fun.”
I watch him for a moment, trying to get a read on him. Tanner Harris is standing before me, asking me to hang out and not making a sexual pass at me. This throws so many red flags.
“Did Indie say something to you?”
“No.” He looks guilty and I scoff with annoyance. “Maybe,” he adds.
I ruffle my messy ponytail. “Bloody Indie.”
“Don’t go skinning her,” he defends, making a move closer to me. So close I get a whiff of his scent and it brings back unwelcome memories.
“Well, I should,” I snipe. “That was private girl talk shit. Not something you needed to know.”
“If I hurt you, I should know. So I can apologise and grovel and…I don’t know…do whatever it is blokes do when they fuck up. I’m sorry, Belle. I just thought…I just thought—”
“You didn’t think at all!” I exclaim, standing up and losing control of my emotions. I begin pacing the sidewalk, a renewed sense of energy coursing through my hot, angry veins. “I had literallyjustopened up to you about how much my parents hurt me by not inviting me to stuff. Then you turned around and did it the very first chance you got.”
“Christ, Belle, I didn’t think of it like that.” He makes a move to touch me, so I spin away from him, holding my hands out to block him.
“Don’t, all right? I don’t want to go crazy over this, Tanner! I don’t want to lose my shit on you right now.”
“You should!” he exclaims, his eyes panicky. “Hit me with your full on crazy. I deserve it. I was a jerk. Talk to me about that.”
“No, I’m not going to do it. Because for one silly moment, I thought you were actually human. And I thought that we had become friends. I forgot that you’re being forced into all of this. How ridiculous of me!”
“We have become friends,” he booms, his jaw taut with anger. “Fuck me, Belle, I care about you!”
“Then you have to know that how you handled the end of our weekend in Manchester is not the way you treat a friend! You’re not that stupid. You might look it, but I know better.”
“It’s more complicated than that, Ryan,” he growls and kicks at the pavement with his foot.
“See? Why’d you call me Ryan there?” I challenge him with a sadistic little smile because I already know the answer.
“What do you mean?” He rolls his eyes. “I call you Ryan all the time.”
“Not all the time. Only when you’re trying to distance yourself.”
“Don’t be mental. I don’t need to be psychoanalysed right now,” he snaps.
I have to laugh. It’s all I can do at this point. “I haven’t even got started with all the other shit I could mention. I could Deep Talk you so hard right now, you wouldn’t know what hit you.”
“Just save it, all right?” he shouts, vibrating with rage. “You don’t want to come on Friday? Don’t. You don’t want to be in this with me anymore? Then don’t. I’m not going to sit here and let you make me feel like an arse for sticking to an agreement thatyousigned up for.”
“Did the agreement include you fucking me bareback in your brother’s pool?” I scream and his face contorts with something along the lines of horrified realisation. My eyes turn to slits. “Didn’t think so.”
