I don’t answer fast enough.
Her mouth drops open. “She’s there?”
“Yes,” I say finally.
X’s fork clatters against his plate. “No way.”
Leo shakes his head slowly. “He ‘randomly’ runs into Stella Cortez in the Stanford gym, and suddenly Harvard isn’t the end-all-be-all anymore.”
“It was random,” I snap. “I didn’t even know she was there until this final visit. The contract was already basically signed before I even saw her.”
“How poetic,” Leo says.
“You horse’s ass,” I shake my head.
Jade is practically vibrating. “Back up. Back all the way up. Stella from high school? Velvet curtains, Stella?”
X bursts out laughing.
I close my eyes briefly. “We’re not doing this.”
“Oh, we’re doing this,” Leo says.
X points at me. “You kissed her behind the stage.”
“I remember,” I mutter.
“She ran,” X adds. “Maybe the kiss wasn’t as hot for her as it was for you.”
“She hates me. Tried to kill me with a volleyball when I entered the auxiliary gym. Her serve is lethal. My ears rang for two hours after the ball slammed into the concrete wall. Missed me by two inches.”
They all go quiet.
I rub a hand over my jaw.
“I liked her,” I admit. “I had a massive crush on her. I panicked when the lights came on. I didn’t say anything. And then the rumor started. She thought I humiliated her.”
Leo studies me.
“And you never fixed it,” he says.
“No.”
Jade looks genuinely offended on Stella’s behalf. “She was a scholarship kid, Tristan. You were… you.”
“Yeah,” I say quietly. “I know.”
Jade suddenly slams her hands on the table. “That’s it. We’re flying out.”
“What?” Leo says.
“For his first game,” she insists. “I have to meet this girl.”
Leo stares at her. “How, Jade? I’m a walk-on now, remember? I’m still playing ball even though Tristan left me and the team. We still have a season.”
She waves him off. “We’ll figure it out.”
Leo looks at me again.
