My laughter faded, and I’m faced with the possibility thatmaybe it’s just me who remained at arm’s length from David. Back home, he’d done that to everyone, but here at Westbrooke, anytime I’d come across someone who knew David, they liked him. Not in a ‘oh, he’s a decent guy’ way, but in a ‘I really respect and admire who he is’ way. Where was this respectable and admirable version of David when I was with him?
“Which is why I wanted to be sure you two aren’t seeing each other,” Hart continued while I was still trying to catch up to the whole, David genuinely can’t stand me because he sure as hell would never take a bullet for me, despite knowing me since we were in braces.
“I don’t understand the correlation,” I said.
“Being into the same person can get messy for friends,” he explained.
My stomach flipped once my mind got back on track.
“Before the season starts, the team always has this field day kind of thing,” Hart continued. He scratched the back of his neck. “It’s not exclusive for team members.”
I nodded, too nervous to offer any kind of encouragement to continue on this quest of asking me out.
“Would you be interested in coming?” Hart asked. “With me?”
I took a breath. My fingers tightened on the cold steel of the fence. My hands were still between his, benefiting from the warmth his body radiated.
It had been a year since someone asked me out. I had given little consideration to the prospect of dating. School and the org filled my calendar so well that even my thoughts barely had time off to dream or fantasize about dates, kissing, dorm room sleepovers, and morning afters.
I took too long to answer. But this didn’t feel like something I should rush. Hart was cute, and his beliefs aligned with mine, and I could see us kissing, and me not completely beingbored by the idea like I had with everyone else I dated since Ren.
But I couldn’t bring myself to say the simple, easy yes. Not because I didn’t like him, but because I hadn’t had time to consider liking him more.
A sharp, loud whistle called for our attention. One of the assistant coaches was demanding a huddle. Hart let out a sigh but accepted his fate with a simple, “Think about it?”
“Of course.”
“I’ll find you later?” he requested, giving me a chance to say,no, you don’t have to give me a second chance to answer your simple question.
“Of course,” I repeated because my brain malfunctioned. I’d forgotten how to consider romance, to imagine myself in someone’s arms and want to be there. The memory of David’s hand on my waist was a hot, heavy taunt. My throat went dry from the longing the vision tugged straight from my chest.
Hart climbed back down, tossing me one last smile before heading back on the field. I watched, losing myself in a replay of his proposed date. With my attention in the depths of delayed embarrassment, David’s appearance below didn’t register until he offered an impersonal, “What are you doing here?”
My heart felt like it restarted from the frozen state Hart had left it in. I glanced down to find the reason for my appearance in a thin tank, the sides long and wide enough to provide plenty of content for future daydreams. I had to ignore a vision of him shoving me against that large marble island in that tank. Seeing a side view of his pecs would surely be my downfall.
“You,” I said, trying to make my voice hard. But I’ve now moved on from the ‘why would he ask me’ portion of figuring out Hart’s question to the ‘why did it make me feel soft and vulnerable’? Now, it was just an open wound, readyto be poked and prodded by the one person who never let up.
“That so?” David moved closer to the fence but didn’t climb it like Hart. He didn’t seem concerned about losing my words to the wind.
“You need to help me,” I said as I regained feeling in my fingers and toes.
“I need to help you?” He laughed and crossed his arms over his chest. “Need. A very dangerous word. I don’t think you should use it so flippantly.”
“As much as I would love to delve into the philosophies of word choice,” I said. “I don’t have the time or care to make it.”
“All I’m saying is I don’tneedto do anything. You, on the other hand...”
“One day you’ll learn that unsolicited edits aren’t the right way to get to a girl’s heart,” I said dryly.
“You don’t say. Does scaling fences do it for you then?”
I smiled and studied David closer. He’d seen Hart and me talking. No, he’dwatchedHart and me talking. And from the wrinkle in his brow and the way his gaze kept consistent hold of mine, he was searching for something. Who was in need now?
“Perhaps.” I rested my elbows on the railing, bending as far as I could to get a better look at him.
David shook his head, feigning disinterest even though I saw his eyes change. Curiosity was David’s default state. Whether he liked to admit it or not, he enjoyed learning about people. He pushed buttons because he was interested in the way the gears worked. It wasn’t always for annoyance’s sake, I’d realized. Sometimes, he truly didn’t understand.
“What do I need to do, Yara?” he asked, still stone-faced, but the hardness in his voice had melted.
