“Well, you should be. Not nervous. But excited. You’re at the start of a lot of good things.”
She meant well. She always did. But she only knew the good stuff—not that I’d be lining up with Alex at the scrimmage. The one person I couldn’t outrun, even after a year of pretending I had.
I opened my mouth to respond, but Emily’s hand brushed mine—a soft, grounding touch—and my brain went somewhere it shouldn’t have.
Straight back to Brackett Lake... to the night everything between me and Alex cracked open.
The music from the party had faded behind me, swallowed by the trees. I’d stormed off—furious, hurt in a way I had no name for. Then he found me by the water.
Go back to your friends.I said.
I don’t want to.The words sweet on his lips.
I told him I was done pretending. That he messed me up. That I couldn’t stop thinking about him. The words spilled out before I could stop them, and when I looked at him, he looked relieved. Like he’d been waiting for me to break first.
It’s just you and me.He said. And for some reason, that was enough.
I grabbed his shirt. He whispered.Do it.
“Liam?”
Her voice tugged me back hard.
I blinked, the lake dissolving, moonlight sinking away. I was back at the table with Emily, her brows pinched in that soft, worried way.
“Hey,” she said, leaning in. “You okay? You spaced out.”
“Yeah,” I lied. “Sorry. Long day.”
She smiled, but I could tell she didn’t buy it. And she was right—I wasn’t here, not fully. Part of me was still holding Alex’s shirt, moments from kissing him for the first time.
But I couldn’t let her see any of that. What she deserved was honesty, and all I had were half-truths.
I cleared my throat. “I found out who I’m racing in the scrimmage.”
Her face brightened. “Who? I was hoping you’d tell me.”
I forced the word out. “Harrington.”
“So Tyler was right.”
I nodded, but the weight in my chest didn’t budge because I could tell her I was racing Alex. But I couldn’t tell her the truth about us—about the night by the lake, about the kiss, about why just hearing his name made my heart beat faster.
“How do you feel about racing him?” Emily asked.
“Fine.”
“Fine?” She said, skeptical. “You’re telling me you feel nothing? Because the tension between you two... it’s like a bro crush.”
Heat rushed up my neck. “What?”
She watched me a beat too long before laughing. “Liam, relax. I’m kidding.”
Crush.A dangerous word when attached to Alex.
Why would she say that? Was it that obvious? Is that what everyone thought?
Emily grinned. “Don’t worry. You’re going to beat him. You’re like... a rowing dragon.”
