Page 71 of The Fake Out

That frown of concentration turned into one of concern. “You personally?”

I cleared my throat and shifted slightly so I was closer to him. “Not exactly me.”

His eyes widened. “About the Revs?”

Slowly, I shook my head. I had nothing bad to say about a single member of this organization. They had always been great to me. He craned his neck, surveying the room over my shoulder.

When he focused on me again, he was wearing a knowing expression. “About the reason you want to hang at your apartment so much lately?”

It was a backhanded way of asking me whether I was talking about Gianna. The carefully worded question gave him the ability to deny that he knew anything more than that there was a reason I didn’t go out lately.

I gave him a clipped nod.

He returned the gesture. “I’ll have Zara text you.”

I gave him a murmured thanks, then moved back to my locker. I needed my wallet.

“You okay, Bambi?” Chris asked from next to me.

“Yup.” I flipped through cards until I found the one I was looking for. White. Embossed. Gold letters. I scanned the number, then plugged it into my phone.

A moment later, a response came through, and the tension in my shoulders eased. Fixing the issues took away some of this throbbing anger. I set my phone on the shelf and sank into my chair, attempting to steer my thoughts to the game. It was no use. Over and over, my mind kept shifting back to Gi.

Was she okay? Or was she sitting by herself, crying again?

Her friends were in New York. She’d left them.

I’d agreed to a fling, but I wanted more. For days, I’d been running through ways I could win her over and get her to see me as a relationship possibility. But even if I got us past this fling and we committed to trying for a real relationship, what would that mean for her? In a year, I could be playing for the Tridents. If I dragged her with me, she’d be stuck in Vancouver. Alone. Even farther from her friends and family. In a country she didn’t know.

Boy, was I familiar with that concept. Unease churned in my gut as I tried to block out the thoughts. Now was not the time.

“Hey,” Chris said, pulling me from my moment of panic.

I looked up at him hovering over me and blinked.

“You okay?” he asked, his brow furrowed.

With a steadying breath, I cracked my knuckles and went for easy. “What do you mean?”

“I don’t know. Did the team cancel your off days for your sister’s thing next week or something? You looked furious a minute ago, and now you look like someone ran over your dog.”

“You won’t let us get a dog.” Deflection. It was a great tool.

He crossed his arms and kept his eyes locked on me. Apparently, the tactic wouldn’t work today.

“But no,” I assured him. “I’m off after the Metros game next week.”

Chris would be pissed on my behalf if the Revs didn’t approve my time off for Isabella’s graduation. He knew how much that shit mattered to me, and he’d have my back.

Hooking his foot around one leg of the folding chair by his locker, he pulled it closer. Then he dropped into it and rested his elbows on his knees.

“I don’t know what, but something is going on.” He lifted his head, surveyed the guys who were milling around, ignoring us, then lowered his voice. “You’ve been weird. Distracted. And the only thing I can come up with is woman drama. But from where I’m standing, it seems like the only woman you’ve been hanging out with is Gi.” He shifted slightly. “So what’s up?”

Fuck.

The idea of lying to my best friend just about killed me. But rocking the boat with Chris over something that had an expiration date? Causing issues between him and his sister? Did I really want to do that? I didn’t see how Gi and I could be more than a fling. I wouldn’t push her into uprooting her life. No matter what, I’d never put her through what I went through.

Maybe it would be easier to start over as an adult. Regardless, the dread that consumed me on my first day of high school in New Jersey still haunted me. The stares, the loneliness. The fear that hit me every time I had to speak, since the teachers insisted I only use a language I wasn’t even completely comfortable with.

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