Page 34 of Unfix Me
“I mean, I have class.”
He turned to me with round eyes and pouty lips. I crossed my arms over my chest while I thought about it. This class was pretty easy and I knew we didn’t have anything due right now, plus the professor posted everything in the online portal. Not once in my life had I skipped a class. As long as I didn’t make it a habit…
“Fine, but you owe me a study session.”
With a massive grin, he clasped the back of my neck and pressed his forehead against mine. “You’re a fucking rockstar.”
We started walking again, this time toward the football field. Guilt gnawed at me the entire time, but I continued to push back against it. I didn’t have to feel this way about everything. Like Kai said, it was okay to let go of some things if they weren’t helping you improve.
*****
Had my throw become the equivalent of a toddler picking up a football for the first time? No, but it might as well have. Compared to West, I was inept. It had been two years since I’d even held a football, let alone thrown one for over an hour. I acted as his center for a while, working with him on some plays that we could do with just the two of us. Eventually, we just began throwing the ball back and forth. It was surprisingly relaxing when there weren’t any expectations.
“It’s coming back to you,” West called.
I smiled when I made a pretty solid throw. “Muscle memory, I guess.”
He jogged over to me, holding the ball under his arm. “Too bad you’re not on the team. You’re cool to play with.”
“I think there are plenty of people on the team.”
“Not good ones. They’re kind of assholes.”
“Really? I figured you’d get along with them easily.”
He snorted as he dropped to the ground and laid on his back. I did the same, keeping a couple of feet between us. The sky was overcast, just a sea of gray clouds.
“It’s like a club,” he said. “You have to earn their respect, but they don’t make it easy. Skill in the game is only fifty percent of them liking you. If you’re not in their circle, they see you as competition.”
“That’s just stupid.”
“True, but I don’t make the rules.”
“You’re an extremely likable person,” I pointed out.
His sigh made me turn my head to look at him. While he stared at the sky, I studied the tight set of his jaw and the way his brows pinched in the middle.
“Not that simple?” I guessed.
“Not really. Porter is out after this year, which lines me up for his spot officially. If the others don’t like me the same way, though… I don’t know. The whole team gets screwed up.”
“I’m sure they’re just being extra bitchy because you guys are new.”
“They love Kai,” he mumbled.
My heart constricted at his words. I hated his despondency. It didn’t align with the person I’d started to become familiar with over the past month.
“Give it time,” I suggested. “Just be yourself and they’ll love you as much as the rest of us.”
“Aw. You’re so sweet, Sen.”
“Shut up.”
My cheeks were hot and I was glad that he wasn’t looking at me.
That was kind of a gay thing to say.
No. I didn’t want to do that right now.
