Page 84 of Sin

“When do you think we can meet up with Coach Rodriguez?” I ask Noah.

He pulls his phone from his pocket. “I’ll text him now. If I say it has something to do with Ethan, he’ll see us right away. That’s his golden boy.”

I nod. “Let’s see him as soon as possible.”

Chapter Thirty-Six

Ethan

We’re on a bus on our way to play against Redwood State. It was at a game against them last year that I first got the attention of scouts. They were there to see Redwood’s cornerback. He’s really good, and this is the biggest game of the season.

I don’t give a shit though. Football doesn’t make me happy anymore.

Not without her.

She’s been fobbing me off for three fucking days. I texted her the moment I left Brandon’s, ready to pour my heart out, and she said she had “unfinished business” to take care of before she could talk to me.

Unfinished business? What the fuck does that even mean? I’ve been aching with the need to resolve our differences since we had our big fight, even before I realized the changes I need to make within myself.

Maybe she doesn’t feel the same way. Maybe the time we spent together—soul searing and life-changing for me—was only a fling for her.

The idea alone is a physical ache in my chest. I want to spend the rest of my life with her. I don’t even care that she doesn’t want to get married. I’m done with my false god of chastity and meaningless rituals. I’m ready to worship her, throw myself on the altar of Lily Greenwood.

“Hey.” Noah’s voice cuts through my reverie. He sits down on the leather bench and scoots beside me. My pulse kicks up. He’s been ignoring me ever since our fight, which was to be expected.

I sensed the surprise among our teammates when he didn’t take his usual seat next to me after boarding the bus. No one was brave enough to take his place. Not after I punched one of our teammates.

I welcomed the privacy. I’m too in my head for polite conversation anyway.

“Did you see Mason’s face?” Noah asks.

A smile rises to my lips. I saw Mason right before we boarded the bus, and I’m surprised Coach didn’t bench him tonight. His nose is purple and blue, the skin around it puffy and discolored. He’s also been avoiding eye contact with me, his usual cockiness completely gone. He’s a shadow of his former arrogant self.

He deserves so much worse.

Noah chuckles. “You should see your own face right now. You look bloodthirsty. Not that I blame you.”

His light mood is odd given our last conversation, but it eases the tension in my shoulders. I ought to be ecstatic that I might have my best friend back.

If only I had Lily too. Then I’d have nothing left to wish for.

I scratch the back of my head. “So I take it you had a talk with Lily…about what happened.”

“Yes,” he says through clenched teeth. “She told me everything.”

I nod slowly. “I would have punched him weeks ago, but she made me promise…” I flinch. “I guess I’m not as good at keeping promises as I used to think I was. As you’ve learned.”

“Ethan… Are you talking about your chastity vow? It’s really none of my business.”

I shake my head. “I meant your rule that no teammates are allowed to date your sister.”

He groans. “It was a stupid rule. Actually, Lily told me it was patriarchal. Her exact words were, ‘Noah, you’re acting like a patriarchal little bitch who would sell me for a pair of oxen a thousand years ago.’”

Laughter rumbles from my chest, and yet I somehow want to weep at the same time. Fuck, I miss her sense of humor. It would border on viciousness coming from anyone else, but she’s too playful to give serious offense. It always feels like she’s laughing with you, pulling you out of your own head and into her world of light and warmth.

Noah laughs along with me. “She’s ridiculous. I wrote her direct quote down in my phone because it was so unhinged.”

“Fuck, I love her.”

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