Page 104 of The Fake Out

“Send me the picture,” I gritted out through my teeth. “I’ll make my own statement.”

My hands shook, and my heart pounded as I pulled out my phone. Had Gi seen this? Was this why she’d gone radio silent?

My phone buzzed as the picture landed in my inbox. A second later, it was downloaded, and I was clicking over to my own Instagram. From there, the words poured out so easily. Naturally. But when I was done, I didn’t feel any better.

Choking back the outrage growing inside me, I stood. “Did you need anything else?”

Slowly, Hannah shook her head. So I turned on my heel and stormed back down to the locker room. On my way, I called Gianna, but she didn’t pick up.

Me: Hey, I don’t know if you’re upset or mad at me, but just call me. Please.

I slammed through the door and stomped to my locker. Once I got close, I tossed the phone inside.

“So…” Kyle spun the chair next to my locker and dropped into it.

“What?” I snapped. I had zero patience to deal with anything right now. No, that wasn’t true. But the only thing I wanted to do was go to fucking New York and track her down.

“You just posted some heavy shit.”

I nodded, hit with a wave of unease. Until this moment, I hadn’t even considered how the guys would react. And I hadn’t thought about Chris.

Rather than give me shit like I expected, Kyle did the damnedest thing. He stood up and wrapped his arms around me. My body went rigid, but it only took a second to relax and allow myself to sag against him.

Fuck, I was tired.

He patted my back twice and pulled back.

I took a deep breath and roughed a hand down my face. I hadn’t realized how much I needed a hug. “Thanks,” I said.

“I’m not going to touch the other shit yet.” He pulled back. “But, uh, you’re really not sure about playing with us next year?”

“My agent hasn’t heard anything.” I sank into my chair with a shrug.

“I thought the media was just stirring shit up.” Kyle scratched his head.

The locker room door flew open and banged into the wall behind it. “What the fuck is this?” Chris demanded.

Heart lurching, I blinked at the phone in his hand.

Kyle took two steps back, holding both hands up as Chris stalked across the room.

“What the fuck is this?” he asked again, looming over me.

With a sigh, I ran a hand over my face. “I know you asked, and I know I said nothing was going on between us, but…” I swallowed and tipped my head back to meet his eye. “It’s not nothing.”

Chris worked his jaw back and forth, then blinked twice and dropped into the chair next to me. “So what is it?”

Damn if I didn’t want to tell him everything. But I had to talk to Gi first.

“A mess,” I said, dropping my elbows to my knees. “And I know you don’t think I’m good enough for Gi?—”

“What?” Chris spun in his seat so he was facing me head-on. “Why wouldn’t you be good enough?”

I snapped up straight, at a loss for how to respond to that question.

“Dude, you’re my best friend. One of the best damn people I know. You’re loyal. You’re caring.” He shook his head. “Fucking hell. If you put half the effort into a relationship with my sister as you do our friendship, you’d be better than every other guy she’s ever dated put together. You’re beyond good enough.”

I blinked and forced air into my lungs to keep my emotions tempered. “You told us to stay away from her…”

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