“What the hell are you doing?” I ask, still breathing hard.
He doesn’t answer. Just scrambles off me and staggers to his feet, chest heaving. He looks panicked now—genuinely confused, like he can’t find the words.
I get up too, heart pounding, the air between us thick as we stare at each other. Because whatever just happened—neither of us saw it coming.
That’s when I notice it—tears gleaming in Moon’s eyes as he blinks at me. Then he turns and rushes into the showers, the door slamming shut behind him.
I stay frozen, heart still pounding, staring at the door he vanished through—completely thrown.
What the hell?
CHAPTER 2. TENSION
The next time I see Sawyer Moon is eight months after that kiss.
Not that we ever talked about it.
But I won’t lie—I spent months trying to make sense of what the hell even happened.
At first, I was pissed. I mean, what was I supposed to think? He calls me a slur on the field, then gets turned on when I call him out, kisses me, and when I don’t kiss him back, looks at me like I just broke his favorite toy. Like, seriously?
Maybe he’s that touch-starved—even a little skin-on-skin contact fries his brain. Fine. Whatever. I don’t care. But kissing me? After everything? That wasn’t necessary. What—was that supposed to cover for the fact he got hard?
After a while, I was just annoyed, because the memory wouldn’t leave me alone. It kept popping into my head. Into my dreams. And I hated that it was taking up so much brain space. Probably because I couldn’t really tell anyone about it.
Well—except Nick, my straight older brother, and his soon-to-be wife, Samia. And since they’ve been happily coupledup for a decade, neither of them was exactly thrilled with the story.
“That’s a red flag if I’ve ever seen one,” Samia said when I finished, sipping her coffee.
“Yup. Keep away from him,” Nick added, glancing over his shoulder as he loaded up a plate with leftover party food. I was staying at their place after Nick’s birthday—still a little hungover—so I’d gotten hit with a wave of honesty and told them the whole thing.
“I’m not planning to talk to him or anything,” I said with a snort, even though something twisted in my chest. Not guilt, exactly—just this weird flicker, like I was lying. I wasn’t. But some part of me still bristled at the implication in Nick’s voice.
“I know,” Nick said, smirking—and yeah, that got under my skin. Like just because the guy kissed me, I was supposed to be into him or something. Which is kind of insulting, honestly.
I didn’t tell them about the hard-on, though. That would've been weird. They know Moon as this big-deal soccer star, and dropping that detail felt like crossing a line.
Which is stupid, I know. I don’t need to be out here protecting my own bully. But there I was.
Anyway.
Since Nick knows the whole story, fast forward to today—eight months later, half an hour before the friendly between the Centaurs and the Dragons—and I get three messages from him, back to back.
Ancient One:Good luck tonight!
Ancient One:Moon’s in the Dragons’ starting lineup
Ancient One:Don’t get pregnant ;)
I sigh, rolling my eyes. I’d kind of hoped he’d forgotten about it.
Him teasing me just pisses me off—not sure why, exactly. Maybe because it turns the whole thing into a joke, when it really wasn’t.
“You nervous?”
I lock my phone and glance up just as Eric drops onto the bench beside me. He’s got that lopsided grin, looking at me like he knows something.
“Why would I be nervous?” I say flatly, summoning every ounce of calm. I’m not, really. At least not about Moon.
