“Alright!” Rissa cheered as she came in for a double high-five. Nathaniel was right next to her and offered me a fist pump.
“Execution was flawless,” he said in his calm, nature documentary narrator voice.
“Brilliant,” Hart agreed, coming into focus and offering me a wide smile.
“Thanks.” I tried to smile back and not look so taken apart.
“It’ll only work once,” Rissa said. “But that’s more than enough. Weston’s going to try and use that pretty head to be creative.”
“Well, that’s his specialty,” Nat warned.
“Yeah, but now, while he’s running through millions of possibilities—” Rissa squeezed his shoulder. “——we can sit back and play it by the book. Gotta shake things up and thenreturn to normal. That always confuses an opponent. Now, come on, guys. Places!”
I hung back with Hart, taking my time before scrambling into position. I needed a few more minutes to recover physically and mentally.
“That was quite a Yara effect,” Hart teased. He was a little less smiley but not an ounce less friendly.
I look up at him, chest tight with words I’d eventually have to say.
“Rissa’s right,” he said with a half-shrug as if accepting something. “You and David look nice together.”
It’s a simple release from our maybe, could-be, almost romantic relationship.
I smiled, grateful for the ease of this transition. “Not really.”
“You just don’t see it yet.”
And that’s where he was wrong.
18
The blue team won,and Hart, Nat, and I didn’t let David and Weston hear the end of it on the ride to a beachside bar.
“You got lucky,” David said with an amused glint in his eyes.
“And you got distracted,” Weston teased. Their gazes met in the rearview for a second, and I would have given away my lecture notes for free just to understand what passed between them. Whatever did resulted in red on David’s neck, and a muffled laugh from Weston’s lips.
I had piled into David’s car after the game because Haven had found herself deep in conversation with Rissa. My best friend swatted me away with her hand behind her back when I mentioned needing a ride to the bar, where almost everyone agreed to meet up after.
My phone finally buzzed with a text from her as we were pulling up into the bar’s parking lot:
Haven
She wants surfing lessons! She’s beautiful and sweet, and she wants me to teach her how to surf.
Sorry I couldn’t drive you! I got tunnel vision.
No worries! I get it. Are you coming to the restaurant?
Haven
Yes…
Because she’ll be here?
Haven
…I love you. See you soon!
