Page 79 of Trick Play
She cocks her head and looks at me, her eyes skating over my face. “Besides the fact that he bullied me into staying away from him for most of the last decade?”
“What?”
She nods. “Oh, yeah. When Simon and I first got together, we hid our relationship from him. He was always big mad if I even so much as happened to show up at the same party he was at. And they weren’t even football parties.” She throws her hands up, still clearly frustrated by the whole thing. “I wouldneverhave gone to one of those. These were other people’s parties, and he still tried to throw me out every time.”
I’m super confused now, because he’s never seemed to have a problem with his sister being around that I’ve noticed. I mean, there was that one time where we were supposed to have the house to ourselves and she came in to get something she’d forgotten and he was annoyed, but I’d be annoyed if someone had promised to give me privacy for a set amount of time and didn’t, too. And also, she tried to warn him, but I’d made sure he didn’t have his phone because of my issues, so he never got the text.
Other than that time, he’s been friendly with his sister. At Friendsgiving, he even sat with her for quite a while. Sure, he stared at me like he could incinerate my clothes with his eyes, but I did the same to him. And I watched him laugh and joke and tease his sister. I thought they had a relationship a lot like mine and Gray’s. Or at least the way mine and Gray’s used to be.
“Anyway, he’s made an effort to not be such a complete dillhole to me anymore, but that’s more to do with Simon than with me.” She shrugs, acting unaffected. “I’ll take it, though.”
“So you’re not here to like, spy on me and report back to him?”
She sniggers. “No. Much to his dismay.”
“Meaning he asked you to.”
She shrugs, but doesn’t confirm or deny anything. “Do you really want to talk about my brother?”
I press my lips together. No, I don’t. But also I do.
With a soft chuckle, she pulls me in for another hug. “Seriously. We can, if you want to. And you can tell me if you want me to answer as your supportive friend or as his little sister who has intel. But I didn’t come to talk about him. I came to make sure that you and I are still good.”
Nodding, I hug her back. A real hug, not the awkward pat of a few minutes ago. “We’re still good.”
“Awesome.” She steps back and heads for the door, giving me a finger wave as she drops her other hand on the doorknob. “Simon’s already waiting for me, so I’m going to leave you to your studying. I’ll text when I’m back in town, okay?”
I give her a smile, trying my best not to let the sadness slip in. “Sounds good.”
I stare at the door for longer than a sane person would after she leaves. She has intel on Cal. And she basically just offered to tell me what she knows.
Do I want to know?
No, I decide at last, returning to the couch and my review sheet. That’s why I’ve ignored all his calls and deleted all his texts and voicemails.
“No more boys,” I say out loud. “No more drama.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
Cal
“I hope you’re proud of yourself,” Kilpatrick grumbles as we switch places, me stepping up to run routes with Martinez.
I toss him a questioning look over my shoulder as Coach Miles tosses me a ball. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, man. I thought we agreed to stay out of each other’s way.” I mean, we didn’t sit down and have a tea party and discuss our feelings or anything. But I’ve been steering clear of him. He’s been steering clear of me. And when we’re forced into these types of situations, we both pretend the other doesn’t exist. It’s been working since our blow up in the tape room last week that ended with Piper refusing to take my calls.
After trying to get her to talk to me all weekend and trying to bribe my sister to convince her to give me at least one chance to explain myself—which she flat refused—I’ve mostly come to the conclusion that whatever was between Piper and me is over. The knowledge sits in my belly like a hot, molten ball of anger and disappointment.
I’d honestly love nothing more than to blame Kilpatrick for his part in the situation. Him and Foster. If Kilpatrick hadn’t come after me in the locker room that day … If Foster hadn’t taken it upon himself to loop Piper in on the conversation he only half heard …
But really, I only have myself to blame. I did approach her with the intention of fucking with her brother.
I just didn’t expect to catch real feelings for her in the process. I didn’t know she was going to be so awesome. I figured she’d be an arrogant shit like her brother.
Though, I don’t know, probably I’m projecting a little there. Everyone else seems to like him. And I probably would too if he hadn’t stolen my spot.
Sighing, I wait while Martinez starts running his route, firing off the ball. It goes long, and he has to jump to tip it out of the air before catching it and pulling it close, slowing down and jogging back to his starting position.
“Focus,” Coach Miles barks. “For someone who’s been bellyaching all season about not starting, your accuracy is shit.”
