Page 29 of Shane

Is she attracted to him?

Is she already seeing him?

Was tonight a date for them?

Did I just unwittingly hand her over to him?

After a few obligatory handshakes and pats on the back, the team is free to leave, and I can’t get out of there fast enough.

I need a long shower to shake off the recurring list of questions generated in my head before I allow my imagination to run away from me. If I keep it up, I’ll have the two of them married by an Elvis impersonator at a small wedding chapel by midnight.

Even if she was on a date with Lorenzo tonight, what the fuck can I say about it? The girl barely likes me as it is. Plus, I gave her the tickets to use as she pleased.

It’s just…I really thought I was in.

As I mope on my way to the dorm, it’s just my luck that four baseball players are in the lounge, having the time of their slacker lives playing ping pong in sweats and pool slides. I recognize them all. Three of them were part of the melee on the yard over the summer. The fourth is Lorenzo. The bane of my existence.

Keep walking, Shane.

But instead of heading straight for the elevators, I can’t help myself and stop and stare through the room’s glass window. Lorenzo notices and throws a hand up in acknowledgment. I stand still for a moment, contemplating what I will do next. I could simply wave back and keep it moving or ask to speak to him. When he comes out of the room and walks in my direction, my decision has been made for me.

“What’s up, Sullivan,” he says.

“Hey,” I respond casually, knowing I have an audience of his three teammates.

“Did you win your game?”

“Weren't you there?” I sneer.

His lips turn up into a smirk, and I have a strong urge to smack the look off his smug face.

“I left before it ended.”

“Kennedy invited you, and you left?”

“I had a team meeting,” he says in a bristled tone.

A team meeting my ass. He’s playing ping pong.

I decide to cut right to the chase.

“We need to talk about Kennedy,” I tell him.

“She’s pissed that you keep missing project meetings,” he tells me as if its something I don’t already know.

“I’m taking care of that,” I reply.

“Then what do you want to talk about?”

I consider for a moment what I’m going to say. There’s already so much bad blood between us and the baseball team that I don’t want to add fuel to the fire, but I have to get this off my chest if I’m going to sleep through the night.

“I know you're attracted to her. That's obvious. But if you're not serious about her, which I can't imagine you are, I’d appreciate you leaving her alone and keeping things platonic.”

Lorenzo’s posture stiffens.”What do you meanyou'dappreciate it?”

“Just what I said.”

“So you speak for Kennedy now?”

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