Dean: WTF no
Callum: I need three of five votes. I already have my team. We will discuss at 4.
Oliver: I’ll be there. My vote is up for purchasing.
Xavier: I’m intrigued.
“There. The meeting is on.”
“Hey.” Oliver leaned forward and placed his hand on my shoulder. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” I smiled. This brought me so much joy, helping others. Could it be a deflection because I wasn’t working on my own shit? Perhaps. Did I want to dive any deeper into that thought? Absolutely the fuck not. I was content living in denial. More than content.
I welcomed the locker room when we walked in. Using a workout as a distraction would be ideal,where I could push myself hard and to the point of exhaustion. A ripple of anticipation flooded my stomach, the familiar nervous energy that I lived with the last few years. It was hard to describe ortame, but it was like having a faucet run without being able to turn it off. The current ran hot or cold but never stopped.
It did when I was with Ivy.
The second I thought about her, I sought her out. Her midnight black hair and orange ribbon took half a second to find. She stood toward the back of the weight room, her large black glasses sitting perfectly on her nose. She spoke with the dork who worked with her, her lips curved up in a smile.
It was normal for them to be friendly. They worked a lot of hours together, but I didn’t like how easily her smiles came for him.
She was like a black cat, prickly and selective, and there was no way he put in enough time to earn her laughter. That shit took years.
Way to be totally normal and cool. Great start to getting her friendship back.
Shut up.
Today was an endurance workout for an hour before heading to the field to run defensive drills. I loved playing defense. Luca and Dean liked offense, scoring and taking charge on the field. That wasn’t my flavor. I still had the same drive they did when I stepped onto the field, but I liked being the subtle one. Defense won games. We didn’t take the same risks, but we changed the game.
Ivy told me once after a huge loss against our rival in high school that defense was the spine. You needed all the other parts: the brain, the arm, the strength, etc., but without a spine, the thing holding it all together, the body was worthless. We sat next to each other on the top row of the bleachers, the cold fall weather blowing her hair in every direction. She wore ribbons then too, ones with my number painted on the ends. Instead of hanging with my hookup at the time, I sought Ivy out. Sheunderstood me better than anyone else had then, and I wanted that again.
I’m the spine.When I was down, I repeated that. I was a spine that had a shit-ton of records broken, and my jersey sold as well as Luca’s, but all that superficial shit meant nothing. Football wasn’t the dream it used to be for me. It was my escape out of high school and a way for me to get that extrovert time I craved. Being a part of a team and leading others was my shit, but going into the NFL? I didn’t know.
Then what the hell are you gonna do?
I ran a hand over my face, shaking off the worry yet again. I had time. Probably.
I watched my former best friend, a smile forming on my face as she took orders from her boss. Henry was all right, a little intense but a solid dude. Ivy nodded and headed toward me. Once she moved in sight, I eyed her outfit, spending more time on her legs than I intended. She wore white shoes, professional joggers, and a team polo that fit her really well. She had always been a skinny little thing, no real curves growing up. It didn’t matter to me because I loved her soul, and I had no intention of ever hooking up with her. She meant too much for that. But now? Admiring her curves caught me off guard. When did that happen? This was the third time I’d noticed her.
I frowned, the guilt of missing three years crushing my chest like Luca had sat on it. Her gaze landed on me, and her face lit up. It didn’t last long before she masked it, and I hated that she did that. Seeing that joy got me through some hard times, and knowing it was there even for a second gave me an extra bounce to my step.
“Hi, Callum.” She gave me a half-smile, not the one she gave Abe. “You look particularly formidable today.”
“Just a normal weekday for me. The more scowls or eye rolls I get, the better. I’ve honestly considered myself an energy vampire, where other people’s annoyance fuels me.”
“It would explain so much.” She put way too much emphasis on the wordsoand looked pleased about it. “You probably get spam callers to hang up on you.”
I cackled. “That only happened once, and it was a dare.”
She hit my shoulder and laughed. Hearing that sound directed at me was a blast from the past, sending a wave of comforting nostalgia that very little could ever replicate. Her throaty, almost octave too low voice rang as she bit her lip, and her laughter died. An unfamiliar buzz formed under my skin. The urge to yank her into a closet to prevent anyone else from hearing that joyful sound wasinsane.
“I want to hear this story, honestly. Only you would do that.” Her gaze warmed. “I have?—”
“Grab a coffee with me,” I blurted out. It didn’t matter that I had a huge list of things to do. None of them mattered. I couldn’t explain how everything was better when she was around. “Please.”
Her narrowed eyes shifted to contemplative. “Mm, nice save with the manners, Callum.”
I flashed my best,what can you dosmile that let me get away with literally anything. It worked on women, coaches, teachers, my family. It was a gift. I used it whenever possible. Never on Ivy though. She scrunched her nose and flicked my forearm.
