“Let’s go grab a bite to eat.” His words, the confidence with which he said them, seemed to catch her off guard, as though she’d already accepted defeat.
“Yes,” she blurted, fingers still twisting together. She began to pick at a nail. “That diner around the corner.” A pause as her eyes scanned his face, searching for something, but Kieran wasn’t sure what. “They serve waffles all day.”
She looked like she wanted to say more, her hands still gripped tight in front of her. Kieran finally took in her full figure, from the dark mustard Cats shirt that hugged her tightly, to the loose, tattered jeans, cuffed to show off her combat boots. A tattoo peaked through the tears, something that seemed to cover a large portion of her upper thigh. Kieran had never seen it before, and he couldn’t tell from those small glimpses what it was. The idea of seeing it fully wormed into his brain.
“Waffles it is,” Kieran said, pushing all thoughts of hidden tattoos out of his head as he reached out, pressing a hand to her arm to guide her toward the door. Sammie stiffened, but she didn’t pull away. She was so obviously afraid of what Kieran might have to say, like a puppy that hadn’t yet learned to trust.
Kierandefinitelydidn’t like that. Sammie had never been afraid of him. They’d been close once, even if their relationship had faded over the years. He needed to do something, anything, to let her know that she didn’t need to be afraid.
Stepping close, Kieran rested an arm around her shoulders, leaning in. “I’m not upset,”he said softly. “That you know. It’ll be less scary once we’ve got the waffles.”
That seemed to do the trick, to an extent. Sammie relaxed under his arm, laughing softly at his terrible attempt at humor. Kieran caught a glimpse back down the hallway, and cringed when he saw three heads peaking out of the locker room, the eyes of Bowen, Eric, and Aaron wide with glee. He would need to mute the group chat, or else he would be inundated with questions he wasn’t sure he had answers to yet.
Questions. Suddenly everyone had questions for him, and Kieran could only avoid answering for so long. Pulling a deep breath into his lungs, he led Sammie out into the warm night.
Chicago Wildcats Group Chat
Bowen: yall YALL
Eric: OUR CAPTAIN IS ON A DATE
Atticus: …
Atticus: A date?
Atticus: What a strange new development. I need details
Aaron: The details make us seem like creeps
Bowen: NOT CREEPS
Bowen: just curious
Eric: just cheering him on, that’s all !!
Atticus: DETAILS NOW
Aaron: Well you see
Aaron: He just left with his arm around your sister
~
Atticus: Sister of mine
Atticus: Do you have something to tell me
Sammie: Jesus christ how do you already know?
Atticus: I have a whisper network
Atticus: Masquerading as my teammates
Sammie: Do you think you’ll still make the tourney if i murder half your team?
Atticus: … I’d say we have a 50/50 shot
Atticus: But I like the fuckers so pls don’t proceed with the murdering
