“It was nothing special,” Kieran chuckled, running his fingers through his own shower-damp hair.
“Don’t sell yourself short, man,” Bowen continued. “Takes precision to cut it between the blockers like that. You should have seen the looks on their faces when they realized you were faster than they thought.”
It warmed Kieran. Everything had felt so… rocky lately. He’d missed practices, had worried that his team was going to move on without him as he let them down.
But they were his team. His volleyball family.
“Kieran.” Atticus’ voice pulled Kieran’s attention toward the locker room exit. His setter gave him a too obvious wink. “Good luck!” And then he was gone, leaving behind several sets of questioning eyes that Kieran decided to resolutely ignore.
“What was that?” Bowen was at his side in a flash, bright, wide eyes boring into the side of Kieran’s head.
“It wasn’t anything.” Kieran hitched his gym bag onto his shoulder, intent on making his escape.
“Definitely wasn’t nothing,” Eric said, sidling up next to Bowen and effectively barring Kieran from leaving. Aaron made his way over a second later, and all three men stared at him. Ducklings awaiting an answer.
Except that they weren’t ducklings. They were his friends. Hell, he’d just been thinking about them asfamily.
“I, uh,” he began, his mind still not quite caught up to the fact that he was about to confide in these morons. “I’ve got a tough conversation coming with somebody I care about.”
Bowen whooped. “Captain’s got a girl!” He paused, head tilting. “Or not a girl. Maybe he found a cute streamer dude too, like Mills did.”
“Who?” Eric asked, leaning closer, white cheeks rosy as he smiled wide, showing off the small gap between his front teeth. “Who?”
Kieran might trust them, might feel compelled to even confide in them, but there was no way he was going to answer Eric’s question.
“It’s Sammie,” Aaron said matter-of-factly.
Everyone turned toward him, equally stunned, if for different reasons. His warm brown skin flushed under the attention. Heshrugged. “What? I thought everyone knew.” He then waved a hand toward the door. “Plus, Atticus told me.”
Kieran blinked as an image of Sammie flaying her twin popped into his head.
“Atticus told you?”
Another shrug from Aaron. “He said you couldn’t go out with us tonight because you’re going out with her.”
“Keeping it in the family,” Bowen said. “Nice.”
“Ew.” Eric visibly paled. “Ew, man.”
“Sammie isn’t family,” Kieran said, pushing past his teammates. No, Sammie wasn’t family, not like his team was. She wasn’t even really a friend, not like they’d been as kids. Kieran didn’t know what she was to him, considering what she now knew, but hedidknow he couldn’t keep hiding out in the locker room to avoid finding out.
He pushed through the door into the dimly lit hallway. A figure stood at the end, close to a side exit that the players used. She was bathed in shadows, but Kieran thought he would recognize her form anywhere.
Sammie looked up as he approached, and Kieran pretended not to notice the way she held herself more stiffly than usual.
“Hi.” The word was quiet, tentative, but somehow too loud in the emptiness of the hallway. Sammie’s blue eyes flashed in the flickering lights, heavier lidded than her brother’s, giving her a semi-permanent sultry expression. How had Kieran never noticed that before? The way she was looking at him, hesitant as it was, sent shallow sparks racing under his skin, a soft static that pooled in his gut. He might hide his own face in his content, but a face like Sammie’s would drive people wild.
“Hi.” Kieran adjusted the strap of his gym bag on his shoulder. He’d just taken a cool shower, but he already felt sweat prickling the skin of his back. He needed to say something, anything, but Sammie was standing there looking at him, andeven as he saw fear in her eyes, she didn’t break their gazes apart, pinning Kieran in place.
They finally spoke at the same time.
“I’m sorry,” Sammie began, just as Kieran let out a strangled, “I should have messaged you back.”
Sammie flushed, her sun-tanned cheeks going a pretty shade of red. “I shouldn’t have sprung all that on you. I wasn’t… thinking clearly that night.” She paused, gaze finally falling away from his, dropping to her hands that were twisting together. Kieran had a sudden urge to reach out and grab them, to hold them still for her.
“We can pretend it didn’t happen,” Sammie continued, and there was something new in her voice that Kieran couldn’t quite place. Something small, soft. Something sad.
That hadn’t been his goal. Sure, maybe he didn’t actually know what his goal was yet, but Kieran found the sight of a disappointed Sammie to be something he truly disliked.
