Page 38 of Out of Bounds

Why would he listen to me? Why would I eventhinkRyan Cross would listen to me?

"He wouldn’t know and he’d show up at six anyway," Ryan finished.

I raised an eyebrow. "Wait. You cancel practice tomorrow and he wouldn’t know?"

Problem solved.

"Yes."

"No. Ryan. Listen to me." I leaned back, trying to get him to connect the dots. "You texteveryonethat practice is canceled, right? And Adam gets there anyway."

"Yes."

"At six in the morning? Only one there?"

Understanding dawned on his face. "He’d have…no idea."

"Bingo."

Everything was quiet and Ryan ran a hand through his hair, mulling it over. "Adam’s one of my best guys. He is. We go back a long way. But it was like the second I got the captain badge, he figured he could fuck off and do whatever he wants." His jaw tightened. "I’ve been making excuses for him. Putting my neck out for him—he knows that, goddammit. His final chance was the photoshoot and—" He sighed again. "I’m sorry."

"For what?"

"That isn’t your role."

I frowned. "My role?"

"You’re my fake girlfriend, you’re more of a sideline position," Ryan explained. "This is confidential information. It’s above your rank."

Ouch.

Why did that hurt? It wasn’t like I cared about my role or my rank or however the hell Ryan classified us. Me. I shifted back in my seat.

Why am I letting this bother me?

"But thank you anyway," Ryan said.

I nodded. "Yeah, he won’t have a clue,"

My seat belt slipped off, but my fingers hovered over the handle for the door. It was late, and I’d just weaseled my way out of an early practice. I should’ve been elated. Except the business between Ryan and I felt unfinished.

"I guess…I’ll leave you to it then," I told him.

"Alright."

"Hope you get some sleep. Especially with that shiner."

"It’ll heal fast," Ryan replied without hesitation. It couldn’t have been his first bruise.

"You would know, ball dribbler."

He hesitated. "Kassie?"

I glanced back to see those dark honey eyes on mine again. I couldn’t read the expression on his face. Was he pleased to find a solution for the Adam problem? Was he irritated about the whole thing? I didn’t know. All I knew was that my heart slowed down in my chest.

"Yeah?"

"You need to be there for practices," Ryan informed me. "We’ll let you know when you’re expected."

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