Felix’s smile falters.
Silent communication passes between him and Gabriel before he nods, subtly drawing Deacon away. “Right. So, uh we’ll see you out there. Later, Cecilia.”
“Bye.” I mutter, giving him a half-hearted wave.
I’m not sure he hears me.
As soon as they’re gone from view, Gabriel turns halfway back towards me, then pauses, some of the tension seeming to drain from his broad shoulders.
He sucks on his teeth for a moment.
“You good?” His tone softens a fraction. This is Gabriel trying.
My chest squeezes and I nod. “Yeah. I’m good.”
He nods his head, and the silence stretches between us again.
“Did you forget something in your car?”
My eyes snap up to his. “What?” The question slips out on autopilot before I put two and two together and correct my response. “Oh, no.”
He tilts his head toward the doors. “You were heading to the parking lot …” he trails off.
“My last class is canceled.” I shrug. “Guess I’m all done for the day.”
He dips his chin once before tilting his face up to the ceiling, almost like he’s searching for the right words to say. Seconds tick past before he huffs out a sigh and god, I didn’t know there could be so many words unsaid in a sound.
“I don’t know where we go from here.” There’s defeat in his voice.
Neither do I, I want to tell him. But I don’t know if that’s the right thing to say or if I should say anything at all, so I stay quiet and wait for him to decide what to do. How we shouldmove forward. I took Gabriel’s choices away when I broke things off. This—allowing him to decide how we move forward—it’s the least I can do.
“Do you want to come watch our practice?” Before I can respond, he adds, “I know the guys would like to see you. Julio asked about you this morning.”
Oh.I find that hard to believe, and I don’t really need the pity invite. He shouldn’t have to see me at practice if he doesn’t want to.
“No. That’s okay. I … uh …” Julio is great. All the guys are. But they’re not my friends, no matter how welcoming they’ve been to me. They’re Gabriel’s friends. His best friends.
And I’m the girl who broke their friend’s heart.
I doubt any of them really want to be around me, though I appreciate that Felix was kind just now and said hello.
“You have other plans?” He knows I don’t. I never do. I go to school. I go home. I hit the campus pool if I need a swim.
Rinse and repeat.
“Yeah.” The lie rolls off my tongue. “I’ll uh, see you around.”
CHAPTER 30
GABRIEL
“I’m going to murder him.” I recount the moment I found Austin looming over Cecilia in the halls. How he was pressed up against her. How her eyes were wide and filled with tears. He’s fucking terrorizing her.
That look of stark fear on her face. I don’t ever want to see that look in her eyes again.
My blood boils, and my fingers curl into a fist. “Austin is a problem. One that needs to be dealt with.”
Immediately.I’m sick of waiting around. I pulled back a little after Cecilia broke things off. I know she wants to fight her own battles, and with me out of the picture, it looked like Austin was laying off her, but fuck this. It’s like the guy has a death wish.
