I took a deep breath. He wasn’t getting it. Maybe he was choosing ignorance, or maybe it would be easier to just agree to get him to leave my space. He infiltrated my apartment, air, and thoughts, and it was just too much. I needed time to digest what he shared and reflect on that day with that new information. I wasn’t entirely innocent, but I hadn’t been the one to end everything—that was all him. “Fine. Maybe. Okay? Is that good?”
“Maybe?” He rocked back, eyebrows reaching his hairline. “I can work with maybe. I can do a lot with maybe.”
“You look way too excited for a guy who didn’t get a yes from me,” I mumbled.
“You’re focusing on the negatives. I choose to focus on the positives.” He stood and ran a hand through his hair as his dimples returned. “No one verbally spars with me like you. Fuck, I missed this shit.”
“You missed my arguing? How lovely. Clearly, you’ve only become more stubborn and set in your ways. Without me the last three years, I can only imagine the size of your ego and what it turned into.”
“See?” He grinned as warmth flooded his gaze. “Is your number still the same?”
I winced. “Yes, but uh, I blocked you.”
“Mm.” He narrowed his eyes. “Care to unblock me?”
“I’ll think about it.” My face heated, and I didn’t know what the heck to do with my hands. The silence grew, not uncomfortable but not pleasant as Callum walked to my door.
Fact: did you know when you blushed, your stomach did too? Weird. Super weird.
“See you at the stadium tomorrow, Ivy Lee. Lock up after me.”
The door clicked, and I remained in place, completely torn about the turn of events. A part of me wondered if I secretly wanted this. I knew going into this field would possibly land me a spot at the stadium. My goal of proving to my parents and myself that I could make it in sports despite my injury would always cross Callum’s. And maybe, a foolish, deep-rooted wish was to do thiswithCallum.
But him confronting us, our past and saying we both messed up wasn’t something I was prepared for. I couldn’t pinpoint what the ideal situation was, or what I wished I would’ve said, but as I sat there, chewing the side of my lip, I understood one thing.
I was looking forward to seeing him the next day. And that… that was dangerous.
8
CALLUM
Luca, Oliver, and I drove to the stadium together the next morning. Luca drove, but I demanded shotgun, since I was the unofficial DJ of the group. I was cocky about of lot of things that weren’t deserved, but making playlists? Yeah, that was my shit. My sisters and I spent every summer pretending to be DJs and curating lists for moods, seasons, movies… you named it.
If my leg were to shatter today, I’d want to find a way to get paid for playlists. Pretty sure that wasn’t a job unless I was a DJ, but hey, it was always there as a fallback.
“What are we feeling today? We angry? We excited? We sad? We pumped? I need a vibe. What vibe are we feeling?”
“Jesus, you’re the human form of a squirrel.” Luca glared at me. “It is too damn early for this many questions.”
“Did you not see Lorelei last night?” I pretended to wince. “The stick up your ass grew, I can tell.”
Oliver snorted in the back. My teammate always sided with me when I decided to poke Luca. It was just too damn easy. “I’m right, Oli. I know it.”
“You have too many energy drinks this morning?” Oliver asked, hitting my shoulder. “You’re in rare form.”
“No energy drinks.” I puffed my chest. “I don’t require caffeine to function like the rest of you. I am pure energy. Pure?—”
“Annoying.” Luca finished my sentence. “I’m a second away from ejecting you out of my car.”
I grinned. “Ooh, do you have a fancy button? Push it. Punish me.”
Luca cursed and turned up the radio to a country song. I won this round. We didn’t keep score, nor did it matter, but I enjoyed being chaos. A bubble of energy had rooted itself inside me all morning. Dare I say it was anticipation?
Of what? Seeing Ivy?
No way.
Yes way.
