Trying to keep the scowl from my face, I hid behind my coffee mug and took a bracing sip of the liquid gold.
“Hazel,” I said at last, looking into my cup as an unfamiliar sense of vulnerability stole over me. “It’s always been hazel.”
Darcy grunted, as though she still thought it was a line. I mean, it was a line, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t also the god’s honest truth. I decided it was my favorite color the first time I ever caught her eye.
Fuck. I was acting like a chick.
Clearing my throat, I looked around the outdoor setting as though I hadn’t been coming here daily for the last couple of years.
“So, are you nervous about this afternoon?” Darcy asked, clearly reaching for something to fill the silence.
“What about it?” I asked.
“The meet and greet?”
Right. I had completely forgotten. Was I nervous? My whole life depended on me making the team. I had worked toward this moment for years. Through early-morning and late-night training, through missed events and a non-existent social life, I had worked to get out of the house I grew up in, and into the life I had damn well earned.
“Nah, not at all,” I said with a confident smile. Fake it till you make it, am I right?
Darcy looked less than impressed. Then again, she looked a little dark under the eyes. Maybe she hadn’t been sleeping very well.
“Are you okay?” I asked.
“I’m fine. I just… Hey, is that Xavier Greene?”
I glanced over my shoulder and mostly kept the grimace to myself as the Golden Boy of swimming looked up in surprise from the cigarette lighter that had been en route to his mouth. With a swipe of his hand, the cigarette and lighter disappeared into his pocket as he crossed to our table. The grin on his face was overkill, and I didn’t appreciate the way Darcy’s lips stretched to mirror the expression. He’d already taken my first chance at the national team, there was no way I’d let him takemygirl as well.
Not that she was my girl.
Xavier clapped me on the shoulder, just a little harder than would have come off as friendly, and reached his hand across the table to shake what Darcy offered.
I mostly kept the growl to myself, shrugging his hand off and watching as thehand shaketook way longer than it needed to.
“Darcy Rowsthorn, Swenton Times. I’m doing a piece about the nationals tryouts. Would you mind telling me a bit about your experience with the team?”
Xavier slid into the chair next to Darcy, and as they turned their heads toward each other, I felt isolated. Left out of a conversation that really should have included me. Right?
“She’s writing about me,” I blurted.Smooth, idiot.
Xavier spared me a glance with a condescending smile that saidof course she is, before turning back to the woman who had clearly stolen my last functioning brain cell.Maybe I washed it down the shower drain with the last of my dignity, I thought idly as I continued to stew in jealousy on my lonely side of the table.
Their conversation went on for far too long, in my opinion. Darcy was engaged and interested, while Xavier soaked up her attention like the golden child fucker he was. I disliked him in high school because he was the competition. Now? If I made it onto the team, he would be a teammate. Someone to work with to be the best. Shame all I wanted to do was see how fragile his jaw might be.
Finally, Xavier glanced at his watch and excused himself to get ready for the meet and greet.
“Nice guy,” Darcy muttered as he sauntered off.
I grunted, resisting the urge to get in her face and reclaim her attention. I was an adult with better than poor impulse control. Contrary to recent behaviors I had been exhibiting, I could damn well keep it together. Especially as I noticed how tired she looked now that it was just us again.
“Are you feeling up to tonight? You look tired.”
“I’m fine,” she snapped, before rubbing her head and giving me a sheepish look. “Sorry. Really, I’m fine. I just have a headache coming on. How long do we have until the function starts?”
I watched her closely for a moment, then pushed up from the table and extended a hand toward her. “I have Tylenol in my swim bag. Come on. If we grab some now, there should be time for it to kick in before we have to swim with the sharks.”
She huffed and took my hand. No snarky comment, no argument.
I was officially worried about her.
