Page 34 of Scoring Lessons

“I’m sorry, that was mean.” I let out a tired sigh, followed by a hollow laugh. “It’s been a long fucking day.”

Her eyes pierced mine, and for a fleeting moment, they softened. But then she slightly shook her head, scrunched her nose, and pushed to her feet. “Ew. Don’t you dare apologize to me ever again. That was fucking weird.” She strode to the kitchen, Daisy hot on her steps.

“This is what I get for trying to be nice?” I let out a scoff, following after them.

She opened the door of the fridge and grabbed an energy drink. “Since when are we supposed to be nice to each other?”

My hand rested on my hips as I swallowed in hopes of erasing the sudden dryness in my throat. I didn’t know why I thought that, because we hung out and managed to not kill each other (though barely), meant that we could maybe…become friends?

There was something seriously wrong with me.

“You’re right. I don’t know what I was thinking.” I forced a laugh. “I’m gonna get out of your hair and go take a shower.”

“Please do, because my eyes are watering from that horrid smell.”

A grin spread across my lips as I took a few casual steps closer to her. She stared at me with a puzzled expression, and before she could take a safe distance from me, I draped an arm around her. “Tough it up, Livvie girl. You’re around this smell all the time.”

She groaned as she tried to push me away with all the force she could muster, but I tightened my hold on her. “Wesley, for the love of God! Why are you acting like a twelve-year-old?!”

Her whining turned into a fit of laughter. Olivia’s laugh couldn’t be cataloged as girly by any means, but I still loved the way it sounded, like a spark catching in the dark, small but bright enough to make me forget everything else. It made the heaviness I’d been carrying in my chest instantly lift, and I was more than grateful for it.

I finally let her push me away completely as she faked a gag. The lack of contact felt strangely odd. I was already missing it.

“This is me not being nice to you. Good luck getting rid of that smell. I’d throw those clothes away if I were you.”

She flipped me off as she took a big gulp of her drink, then she licked her plush, soft pink bottom lip, leaving a trace of moisture behind.

Since when had being around Olivia made me feel this alive? I thought the other night had been a fluke, but…nope.

I turned to retreat to my room, but Olivia’s whisper stopped me in my tracks.

“Wesley?”

I looked over my shoulder expectantly.

Her sigh was soft, thoughtful, as she nibbled at her bottom lip. “Are you okay?”

Her question threw me off guard. She was…fucking confusing. One minute, she was nice. Then the next, she’d go back behind whatever wall she liked to put between us.

I should have retorted with a joke or a sarcastic comment. I should have used my own defense mechanism. I should have put on the clown mask and not shown the cracks in my life.

But I didn’t want to. Not with her.

“No. But I will be.”

Or, at least, I hoped more than anything that I was going to be.

TEN

OLIVIA

THE WORLD ISN’T GOING TO END BECAUSE YOU FIND ME CUTE.

The first away game of the season was done, and I was more than happy to be back on the road doing something I loved.

The guys managed to snag a 3-2 win, though it was no easy feat, especially with the new line changes Coach Sloane had made. It was still too early in the season to tell if the lineup was going to work, but the chemistry between some of the guys was still brand new, and it was clear they were struggling.

After the game, everything was chaos between forcing Owens to let me work on his lower body after I caught him doing a weird limp-slash-walk out of the locker room and getting to Parker’s shoulder after he took a heavy hit against the boards in the second period.