I sniffed. “Thanks.”
It wasn’t what I expected, standing there with her, finally alone for the first time since school started. I’d dreamed about having this moment for so long, what I would say, what I would do… but none of it felt like I thought it would.
Part of me longed to hold her, to reach out and pull her into me, to demand answers and ask why she was doing this.
But there was another part of me, louder than it had ever been, that was just… annoyed.
“Daddy was watching, too,” she said. “He wanted me to tell you how proud he is of you.”
That burned me more than I cared to admit.
Cory was the closest thing I’d had to a father figure since my dad left. They’d been close friends when I was younger, and I didn’t know if it was because of that or because of Maliyah that he’d taken particular interest in my life. He helped me when school got tough and Mom didn’t know what to do, or when I needed to shake off the mental pressure of football. He was a lawyer, calculated — but smart as hell.
His pride was something I wanted, even when I hated to admit it.
“I appreciate that,” I said with a little less bite.
Maliyah folded her arms over her chest, eyes a bit sad as she asked, “How are you?”
“How do you think I am, Li?”
My chest ached with the nickname, and I wondered if it did the same for her because she looked down at her shoes, rubbing her arms with her hands like she was cold.
“You seem to be doing fine,” she said to the floor, then dragged her eyes back up to meet mine. “With Giana.”
Fire sparked in my lungs with the mention of her name, both because of what I’d promised her I’d do, and because I knew just by that assessment alone that Maliyah had noticed us.
And that our little game was working.
“And you with Kyle,” I shot back.
“Kyle means nothing to me.”
She waited, like she expected me to say the same about Giana, but I knew Maliyah well enough to know that if I gave in too quickly, she’d lose interest just like she had before. I’d loved her for years, and one thing I knew better than anyone was that she loved a challenge.
And she loved to win even more.
When I didn’t respond, Maliyah sighed, looking around to make sure we were alone before she uncrossed her arms and stepped into me. Her warmth invaded my space, and she reached out, just the tip of her fingertip trailing my forearm.
“I see the way you still watch me when you’re with her,” she said, smiling as my skin pebbled under her touch. “What exactly is it you’re doing, Clay?”
Her eyes slowly slid up to mine, and she smiled coyly, leaning even more into me until her chest was flush with mine.
And again, I felt myself at war.
The urge to crush her to me and claim her mouth with my own battled with the powerful desire to give her a taste of her own medicine.
And something else… something foreign that I couldn’t quite name.
“I’m doing exactly what you wanted me to,” I said, angling my mouth for her ear.
She tilted her neck back, hand wrapping around my arm and squeezing tight as her lids fluttered close.
“I’m moving on.”
I whispered the words against her neck before abruptly pulling back and peeling her hand off me. I pushed past her and into the locker room, not bothering to turn and revel in seeing her jaw on the floor.
Maliyah wasn’t used to being denied.
I kicked the bottom of the locker they’d assigned me in the visitor space, drawing a few looks from my teammates before I forced a ragged breath and peeled off my jersey. Pads came next, and then I hobbled toward the showers, running the water as hot as I could and planting my hands on the cool tile wall as it rained down on me.
It was the first time we’d really talked since everything went down, since she threw me out like old garbage and walked away like it didn’t hurt her at all. Even now, I knew she was playing the game, dropping a tempting piece of bait right in my face to see if I’d swipe up and take it, only for her to reel me in and toss me back out again.
It pissed me off.
It broke my heart.
But that wasn’t what worried me most.
What made me stay in that hot shower until my fingers pruned and my skin was beet red was the fact that something in the way I felt about her had shifted, transformed into an emotion I didn’t recognize.
And now, I wasn’t sure what the game even was anymore.
Or what I was playing for.
The bus ride back to Boston was long and rainy, just like the game had been.