Page 49 of Stay

She lifts her head and kisses him. “I did what as well?”

“Came dressed to kill,” he says.

Ruby grins. She’s in the Mustangs colors and looks great.

“Hey, Sutton,” she says. “Have you seen Felicity yet?”

“Hey. Uh, no. Where is she?”

Ruby’s grin widens. “Behind you.”

I turn and my mouth parts, all the mental clarity I’ve been working on for the past couple of days where she’s concerned going out the window. She’s wearing a tiny white jersey crop top, inches of her toned stomach showing underneath, and her pants are like a second skin. This is the rated-R version of what she was wearing when we came to the game with Owen. There’s nothing inappropriate about what she’s wearing today, except where it takes my thoughts.

“Hi,” she says, nonchalantly. As if she can’t tell that I’m struck speechless by her.

“Hey. Sorry if there was confusion about getting here. I’d planned on bringing you.”

Callum and Ruby move to talk to someone else and I step closer to Felicity. Her cheeks are slightly pink, her full bottom lip sliding through her teeth for a second.

“Not a big deal,” she says. “I thought it was best if I had a backup plan since I haven’t seen or heard from you in a couple of days.”

Why do I feel like the child here?

“I’m sorry to leave you hanging. I’ve had a busy weekend.”

“I’m sure,” she says.

Her tone isn’t sharp and neither is her expression, but I still feel her anger.

I glance around the room. Everyone is talking and laughing and eating. Owen and Dakota are playing with a few toys theybrought. I reach out and almost touch Felicity’s arm before I think better of it.

“Can we talk?” I ask. “Somewhere private?”

Felicity looks around and then nods. She turns and walks to the side of the room. There’s a small hall connecting the suite to the bathroom.

“Is this okay or would you rather go outside the suite?” she asks.

“This is fine. Felicity, I just want to say I’m sorry.”

“You’ve already apologized,” she says.

“And yet, it doesn’t feel resolved. I can’t tell you how sorry I am for putting you in that position. You’ve done nothing to warrant that behavior, and I’m ashamed of myself.”

A crease forms between her brows. “You make it sound like you did something scandalous.”

“Well, it was. I shouldn’t have?—”

“There wasnothingscandalous about it,” she says, her voice rising, and the anger that I’ve been feeling from her finally shows. She points her finger at me but brings her voice down to a whisper. “I can’t decide if you think I’m too young or you don’t want to jeopardize my working with Owen. But either way, the only thing you did wrong was not finishing what you started.”

And with that she turns and walks away, and I stand staring after her, wishing I could fuck it all and follow.

CHAPTER NINETEEN

CHEESE AND GRUDGES

FELICITY

I’ve managed to avoid deep conversations with my parents, asking them for no shop talk at the beginning of the night, and it’s been the same with my sister, but near the end of the game, Olivia corners me when I stand to get a drink.

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