Colt’s fingers gently tip my chin back towards him, and his voice is quiet enough that only I can hear when he says, ‘She’s not even an option next to you, Manmayi Velasco.’
My heart flutters against my chest, butterflies scrambling to escape my rib cage, and when our lips meet, the butterflies go absolutely feral. His words are like honey, sweet, all-consuming. When I close my eyes, I relish every single one of them. Thisis business, I know, but as easy as the smile was, this is easier. It’s so easy for me to fall into his affection, even all these years on. As his thumbs stroke my jaw, his strong hands moving to cup my cheeks, I can’t figure out whether that ease of falling is a good thing, or a terrible thing.
The crowds scream around us, but the only thing I can hear is the blood rushing behind my ears as we pull apart, and a corner of Colt’s mouth tips up in a little smirk. ‘Not bad for no rehearsal.’
The thudding of my heart is still uncontrollable. Adrenaline, certainly. We’ve just won a game. Of course, that’s what it is. This is definitely not a teenage fantasy come true. I’m not losing it right now.
‘Not bad,’ I repeat.
Well. Not bad, and then some, but you won’t catch me admitting that to him.
Chapter Twenty-One
No Signal
May
‘You know, I can’t get a read on you.’
‘Huh?’
I regard Colt’s look of confusion with a raised eyebrow as I kick my sneakered feet up on the bleachers in front of us. The entire field’s empty now, the crowd all gone home, and the only indication that they’d ever been here is all the ravaged shooters and beer cans lying in the stands, where we’re sitting now. ‘I mean, come on. First, you leave me in the dust in high school. Then, you throw all these things about “regretting it” every which way. Andthenyou put me in what youknowis the most uncomfortable possible position in practice. And then,finally, you kiss me in front of the entire university.’
Colt grabs his backpack, fiddles with the whistle still around his neck. ‘I won’t lie to you, May, this game plan thing hasn’t been the easiest for me. It’s … yeah, we have a history, and thathasn’t helped it.’
‘I’m afraid it’s been more confusing than anything else.’ I clear my throat, running a hand through my now-loose hair. I have to pause before carefully choosing my next words. ‘I just want to know, Colt. You’ll make it through the rest of the semester, right? Because—’
‘Yeah. Yeah, I will, I swear.’ I watch a light go out in those deep eyes of his the second the curt words are out of my mouth.
Colt shoots me a tight smile. ‘See you tomorrow, May. Good shit today.’
My heart plummets a little at the sight of him leaving the field. It reminds me too much of that memory in the hallway, the last time I saw him. But now, I’m not asking myself why he’s leaving any more. I’m asking myself why he’s back – and why, this time, I’m driving him away.
‘Good shit,’ echoes Rod’s voice. My head snaps right to the source of his rich baritone, and there’s Colt’s right-hand man, a couple stair-steps below me on the field, leaning against the bleachers. ‘You guys gave it a pretty solid shot. I might have bought it if the both of you weren’t so emotional in love.’
‘Weren’t so … um, boughtwhat?’ I manage to stutter out. I barely know this guy. He’s also the last person I expected to start saying shit like ‘emotional in love’.
‘You don’t have to keep playing dumb.’ He smiles wryly with a shrug. ‘It’ssoobvious you two aren’t actually in a relationship.’
My jaw nearly falls straight to the floor of the bleachers. He’s been here for less than a week. There’s no way.
Concern enters Rod’s eyes, and he bounds up the stairs of the bleachers, gesturing to the empty spot beside me. I nod, and he awkwardly takes a seat. ‘Okay, so you’re clearly falling topieces right now. May, let me clarify, I’m not going to tellanyone. I’ve been close to Colt for years, and even though I definitely – obviously – haven’t known the guy as long as you, I’m not out to ruin your lives, that I promise.’
I met the man days ago. I’m not sure what reason I have to take anything he says as gospel, but there’s something about his presence, something genuinely warm and compassionate, that makes me think he’ll absolutely stick to his word.
‘I think I know enough to put the parts of the story together. I’m not here to do that, though,’ he says quickly. ‘I’m here ’cause clearly, part of the reason I saw right through you guys was because I know when Colt’s bullshitting. And he’sdefinitelybullshitting with you.’
‘Excuse me?’
‘Alright. I’m doing a terrible job at this.’ He turns to face me. ‘May, do you know why he’s here? Like, why he’s really here?’
I snort, finding a spot of dirt on my kilt to focus on. ‘That thing all the pros do. Probably to keep himself relevant while he’s injured, right? So he can get the clout he needs from “back home”?’
Rod’s next smile is a little sadder than his typical. ‘May … I’ve been debating telling you, but honestly, I want to keep this real. Because I think Colt hasn’t, and I think I know why. Has he ever, I don’t know, come up with stupid ways to avoid the stick? To try not to—’
‘Oh, to try not tolacrosse? Yeah, making me bin that dumb shot,’ I cut in with a little huff. ‘I get the knee injury. But come on. Not being able to touch a ball and stick is a little much. What about it?’
‘After Colt dislocated his knee last season,’ starts Rod, ‘he meta couple of complications that honestly weren’t expected to happen at all. We were all ready for a smooth recovery, to have our captain back, but instead Colt got a shitshow, in the form of inflammation so bad it was still fuckin’ braced up at Christmas time.’
