I said nothing.
My anger was clean. She’d known who she was and let me talk anyway. She let me say things I didn’t say to people, the kind of conversation I didn’t have because conversations like that required someone to see past the surface. And she’d stood there and watched me do it without telling me the one piece of information that mattered.
Coach’s daughter. Off-limits in every way that counted.
The fact that I didn’t entirely blame her was its own separate problem, and I wasn’t ready to look at that yet.
She held up the bag.
“I brought two,” she said. The words came out fast. “Pastries, that is. I wasn’t sure if you’d be here this early, but I thought… They’re raspberry. From this bakery near my apartment. There’s an orc who runs it, and she makes the best—” She stopped. Took a breath. “Do you want one?”
The bag had a simple line drawing of an oven with script underneath it I couldn’t read from this angle. She’d bought two on purpose, then brought them here on the chance she’d run into me.
I was aware saying nothing was petty, but I did it anyway.
Silence stretched between us, and I watched her realize I wasn’t going to answer.
“Tolrek—”
Footsteps interrupted her, accompanied by the rustle of someone carrying their own gear.
Brashe Kedish, the team’s starting goalie, came up the walk with the loose, easy stride of someone who knew exactly where he was going. He was big even for an orc, though that was the norm for this sport. Green-skinned like me, with his dark hair tied back and his bag slung over one shoulder. The coffee he carried could’ve doubled as a bucket.
He took in the scene with more attention than I liked. I’d played against Brashe enough times to know he could read everything but pretended not to, because it was useful when people underestimated how much he noticed.
“Haley,” he said, and the warmth in his voice irked me. Theykneweach other, though I couldn’t tell if there was more to this than friendship.
And that irked me too.
“Tell me you went to the Pillage and Pastry. Tell me those are the ones with the berries that taste absolutely amazing.”
“They are.” She smiled at him. Not me. “I got two, though I already ate one.”
“You’re my favorite person today. I love those things.”
My growl ripped out.
Brashe went still.
Then he grinned, all tusks. “Tolrek. Good to see you. Settling in alright?”
“Fine.”
His grin was the worst part. He’d looked between us and come up with a theory and decided he liked it.
“Right.” He adjusted his bag and started toward the entrance. “I’ll leave you two alone. Seems like you’ve got things to discuss.”
The door swung shut behind him.
The silence after was worse than anything he could’ve said.
Haley shifted her weight from one foot to the other, glancing at me before looking away.
The door was three steps away. I strode toward it and held it open, gesturing for her to go ahead.
She blinked at me.
“Go,” I said.
