“Gabe asked if I’d come to his game this afternoon.” I don’t know why I said that out loud. I’d already decided against going.
Adriana turns to look at me, her penetrating stare drilling holes into the side of my face. “Do you want to go to Gabriel’s game?” she asks.
It feels like a trick question, so I shrug.
With a sigh, she slumps back in her seat. “That’s a yes.” I open my mouth to refute her statement, but she holds up a hand to stop me. “It’s fine. We can go. I actually like soccer,” she tells me. “I played a little as a kid, and it’s been a while since I’ve gone to a game, so why not?”
She gives me another considering look. “How are you with crowds?”
“Not great,” I admit.
Her sculpted brows are drawn together. “Okay. We’ll park toward the back of the lot so we can get out of there fast if we need to. You do alright at school, so you’ll probably be fine as long as we avoid the crush of bodies when everyone rushes to leave at the same time.”
Sounds like a good idea.
“What time is the game?”
“Two,” I tell her.
“Perfect. Enough time to eat and get ready.”
11GABRIEL
My eyes flick over the stands, searching for Cecilia. She never confirmed whether she’d show up to today’s game or not, but a part of me is really hoping she does. Things have been good between us. Not great. But good.
They’re steps in the right direction, even if they happen to be baby steps. Her showing up today would?—
“Hey, man.” Julio jogs up beside me and slaps a hand to my shoulder. “What’s Cecilia doing hanging out with Adriana?”
“What?” I turn to him with a scowl. He points to a different section of the stands, and I follow his line of sight. Sure enough, I find her. My girl sits in the middle section of the stands on the end by the staircase. Beside her sits Adriana Aguirre, a former friend and fucking backstabber. “Shit. I wondered if that was the Adriana she was talking to.”
Julio’s dark brows pull together, and he rubs the back of his tattooed neck. “Do you think it’s a coincidence?”
“Maybe. Maybe not.” I shrug. “If she wanted to fuck with any of us, you’d be at the top of her list,” I remind him. “It’s beenyears since I’ve spoken to her. Adriana doesn’t have any reason to mess with me.” Not one that I know of, at least. And if she plans to use Cecilia as a means to get to us, I’ll put a stop to that shit real fast.
Julio nods, but doesn’t look convinced. Frankly, I’m not either.
No one in our crew walked away from Adriana on good terms. She fucked one of our friends over and the entire group was hurt by her betrayal. Allie took it the worst, but Julio was right up there with her. He and Adriana had a different relationship from the rest of us. Friendly, but also something more. He’s always been tight-lipped about whether anything ever happened between the two of them.
I know about the time he got drunk and made out with her at a party last year, but according to J, it was a mistake, and not one he planned on ever repeating.
We gave him shit for it, anyway. Allie did too. But none of us really held it against him. He wasn’t pursuing a relationship with Adriana or anything. He was hammered and made a mistake. We’ve all been there.
Mine was with a cleat chaser freshman year and it took me a full semester to shake her. I stopped going out and drinking at random parties after that.
I don’t know what went down between Julio and Adriana after that night. It wasn’t any of my business, and it’s not like Julio is the type to bring it up.
Felix called him out on it when it happened, and that was that.
Seeing Adriana talking to Cecilia now, it doesn’t feel right. Her expression is blank, but she’s got her body turned toward mygirl, a sign she’s engaged in the conversation. Her spine is rigid and her eyes are trained on the field in our direction.
I’d put money on her gaze being locked on J.
Cecilia, meanwhile, looks to be having an okay time. There’s a small smile on her face as she animatedly talks to Adriana. The longer I stare, the more I wish I could hear their conversation. Adriana must know we’re looking because she raises her hand toward her head and gives me a quick salute.
Cecilia stops talking long enough to follow Adriana’s line of vision. Her gaze washes over me, and she lifts her hand, giving me a hesitant wave. I return the gesture right as one of the refs blows a whistle, signaling that it’s time to start the game.
It’s half-time,and we’re getting our asses handed to us. The score is three to one, with Crown Point University in the lead. If we don’t get our heads out of our asses during the second half, we’re going to lose, which will hurt our chances of being selected by the NCAA selection committee for the Championship at the end of the season. There’s always a chance we’ll get another shot against Crown Point during tournaments, but it’s not how we want our season to go. It’s always better to face a team in the tournaments that you’ve already won against.
