Page 152 of We Shouldn't Be Together
“Anyone ever told you, you’re cocky?”
His hand plants on his chest as he taps the soccer ball onto the field. “Who, me?”
Like I’m magnetically pulled, I follow him onto the field as he works the ball from foot to foot.
“How long did it take to learn all those fancy tricks?” I ask, too awestruck to lift my gaze from his shoes.
“Depends what you’re referring to,” he replies. “Some things I learned a long time ago. Other things I’m still learning.”
“Seriously? How many more soccer moves could there be?”
“Tons. And I need to be the best.”
“Do you hear the cockiness coming out?” I tease.
“I’m serious,” he says, flicking the ball into the air and hitting it with his thigh and then his chest. “If the goal is to play in the World Cup, then I need to be the best on the team.”
“So soccer is your number one goal?”
He steps onto the ball, and with an almighty swing, kicks the ball across the field and into the goal. He gulps for air, and says, “Absolutely.”
Kai coaxes me into jogging alongside him as we catch up to the ball, which spins idly between the goal posts.
Needing to clear the air, I say, “I hope me being here didn’t make things awkward between you and your parents.”
Kai laughs. “I think Mom was worried you were gonna tell her you’re suing us for your phantom foot injury.”
“I really didn’t mean to upset your mom. Dad never told me he called her.”
“Relax, Tabby. I’m playing.”
“Your mom did seem rattled.”
“Only because she wanted to yell at me and realized she was in a public place.”
“Well, besides your parents, I ran your friends out of here.”
“They were leaving anyway.”
“While giving me tons of side-eye.”
“Which friends are you talking about?”
“Well, Jamie seemed appalled that I was here, and Tyler’s eyebrows were bouncing so much they may as well have been playing jump-rope.”
Kai snorts. “Umm, yeah. Tyler knows I think you’re pretty.”
“Oh, gosh.” I pinch my fingers against the bridge of my nose. “What must they all be thinking of me right now?”
“Did Parker and Lewis notice you?”
“Not that I could tell. Why?”
“Because they have the biggest mouths. Ty keeps things to himself until someone comes out with information, and Jamie… Jamie doesn’t want to talk when I bring up the subject.”
“That’s a different tactic to how my friends act.”
“Oh, please. Nothing is as bad as your friends.” Kai rubs my arms. “I get it was huge for you to come down here today. Believe me, you scored extra brownie points today.”
