In truth, I hated saying that. But a part of me had pushed me to. A part that I didn’t understand. The part that wanted nothing to do with her.
All that fire I’d seen earlier reignited behind her eyes. “You know nothing about me.”
And you know too much about me, I wanted to say. But I extended my arm and held up my palm. “Give me your phone.”
She blinked. “Do you even know any normal social cues? I thought I could be difficult but you’re impossible.”
“I surely am. Impossibly annoyed.” I wiggled my fingers. “Phone. I’ll text my number from yours.”
“And why in the world would I want your number?”
I could think of about a hundred reasons, none of which I looked forward to, but I’d offered her a goddamn truce. And I wasn’t a monster. “I’ll forward you Lazy Elk Lodge’s contact information when I’m back to my cabin. The one I was given. Ring them and say you’re calling on my behalf if you want them to act faster. Ask them to refurbish the cottage.”
Her lips popped right open, shaping a wide O.
“Say you’re my assistant, if you will,” I continued. “Complain about some crazy neighbor living in a toolshed and wreaking havoc. I’m sure that’ll get their attention.”
Her gaze jumped between my face and extended palm a couple of times.
“I don’t have all day,” I told her. “And I’m helping you.”
“By calling me spoiled and being a smug, self-conceited p—” She stopped herself.
“Prick. You can say it out loud, darling.” I stepped closer. “Now, phone.”
She blew a gulp of air through her lips. “It’s in my car.”
“Christ,” I whispered, producing mine from a pocket, unlocking it and offering it to her. “Save your number in mine then. I’ll text you.”
Her hand hesitated but then she snatched the phone from my grasp, her fingers grazing the back of my hand briefly but managing to make me notice the touch. Her cheeks flushed and she said, gaze cast down, “I still don’t trust you. And if this is some way to play some tricks or pranks on me I…” She trailed off for a second, something crossing her expression. “Save yourself the trouble.”
The blood in my veins froze.
“Look up at me, please,” I told her, and my voice was low and deliberately hard. “Do I look like some dumb college boy to you?”
That blush turned into an intense shade of pink. She frowned but shook her head.
“Do I look like I have nothing better to do than play little pranks on you?” I stepped closer, making sure she met my gaze. She gave me another shake. “That’s right. Because I might not like you, and you might not like me in return, but I promise you, Adalyn, I’m too old to waste my time in pointless things like tricking you for sport.”
Her throat worked, dragging my eyes there for an instant.
I returned my gaze to hers. “I only play when there’s something worth winning. So save your number in my contacts and hand over the phone. The sooner you realize this is all Green Oak has to offer, the sooner you’ll be out of this town.”
CHAPTER EIGHT
Adalyn
My Flames credentials had been suspended.
I hit the key again, balancing the laptop on my knees as I sat on the bleachers.
Your username or password do not match any user in our system.
I reentered everything again, refreshed the portal, disconnected and connected the laptop to the hotspot on my phone. Same message.
My stomach twisted.
This couldn’t be happening. Not without a warning of some kind. This…
“Miss Adalyn?”
I looked up from that blue pop-up window that was sending waves of dread up and down my body, finding one of the kids. “María Camila Vasquez, right? You brought me the ice yesterday.” Ice that hadn’t stopped a section of skin from turning dark—just for a few days, Grandpa Moe had said—and had led me to cover my face in makeup this morning. Just like Cameron had predicted. Ugh.
María seemed a little confused for a second, so I pulled the roster out of the stack of files Josie had handed to me yesterday and that I had spent all morning studying. There was information about the Six Hills Little League—named that way because the best teams of six adjacent counties took part—a game schedule, tentative dates for the teams that made it to playoffs, and the pièce de résistance: the reason why the Green Warriors had qualified. They were the only U10 soccer team in this county.