“Hm?”
My mind buzzed, and I lowered my head to hers, just a bit. She sucked in a breath, and just as our noses touched, a car drove by, blaring their horn. The intrusiveloudnoise had me jumping back, letting go of her. She breathed a little heavier, as did I, but this was for the best.
Her dad was my boss for the entire season, and it was just game one.Get it together, Reiner.
“Be careful with those two left feet,” I said, my voice a little husky. I cleared my throat and glanced down the road. Bricked buildings lined either side of the street with lots of trees that had been here for years. It was generally student or professor housing in this area, and I admired the ivy on the walls.
It was better than thinking about how I almost kissed her.
“This is me,” she said, sounding a little dazed. I totally understood. “This unit.”
“You live on the ground floor?
“Yes, with three other roommates,” she fired back. I held up my hands in surrender, and she gave me a small smile. “I’m sick of all theoh no you shouldn’t do that as a womanstuff.”
“Then I will keep my dumbass mouth shut.”
“Appreciated.” She pulled her keys out of her bag and gave me a long look, one I couldn’t decipher. “Oh, here.”
She started taking off my sweatshirt, and in the process, her shirt rose, exposing her midriff and a very sparkly gem right in the center of her stomach. She had a bellybutton piercing.
God, why was that so hot? I wasn’t a teenage boy, and I’d certainly seen piercings before on nipples, stomachs, you name it. But seeing the blue diamond on Naomi’s body sent a wave of heat through me because it was a secret part of her.
“You need it for your walk back.” She shoved it at me, and I didn’t think twice before putting it back on.
Fuck. It smelled too much like her. Lemon and cookies.
“Thank you for letting me borrow it,” Naomi said, running a hand over her hair as she leaned against the doorway. She had a great pose. One leg propped up, one arm hanging down. She looked incredibly kissable like that, but maybe it was the moonlight hitting her face.
“You’re welcome,” I said, my feet weighing me down like two cement blocks. I needed to go. It’d be smart to leave and walk home to see Freddie. But I didn’t want to. That was the problem. Being around Naomi was...refreshing. “I should—”
“I’ll see you next game, right?” she said at the same time, interrupting me.
“Sure will.”
“Good night, Michael.”
“Yeah, good night, Fletcher.” I lifted my hand in an awkward wave and forced myself to walk down the sidewalk. The cold air could knock some sense into me, making me push all those inappropriate thoughts of Coach’s daughter out of my head.
Thelastperson I should be thinking about kissing was my boss’s daughter whohatedthe sport I loved.
CHAPTER EIGHT
Naomi
My roommates Mona and Kellie took their triviaseriously.They reminded me of Michael and his constant state of competitiveness. My face flushed. Five days since ouralmostkiss and he crossed my mind no less than a million times. That was a statistical fact too.
“Are you paying attention to the rules? Come on, Fletch,” Mona said, elbowing me as the trivia master asked the question at Triv Tavern, the hipster bar on the west side of campus. Old-school video games covered the walls, and cassette tapes were passed around like candy. The question was something about movies, and Kellie was our movie guru. Her photographic memory almost felt like cheating, but it felt really good when we got matching t-shirts and a hundred dollar gift card to come back.
“It’sWhile You Were Sleeping.Trust me. My mom is obsessed,” she said, whispering as she yanked the pencil out of Mona’s hands. Our fourth roommate, Lilly, met my eyes and smirked.
Our team, the KLMNs due to our alphabetized names, was ahead by ten points, but our rivals, Quiz in my Pants, were intent on beating us. We’d attended Wednesday night trivia every week at Triv Tavern, minus holidays since last year. It was our tradition and something I’d miss after we all graduated and grew up.
“I fucking knew it!” Mona shouted after the question master said the answer. One of the Quiz in my Pants guys flipped her off, and soon enough, it was the next round.
We weren’t allowed phones during the question part because it’d be so easy to cheat, but that didn’t mean the missed calls from my sister weren’t weighing on my chest. She’d called four times since the diner. She thought we should talk. To meet up. To discuss Gage.
I wasn’t sure I wanted to. It’d change everything, and that unknown held me back. Now, I at least knew not to trust her. Opening the drama up? Having feelings all out in the open? Confronting her and acknowledging the pain she’d caused? I understood what that added up to, and no thanks. It’d hurt.
