Page 21 of Breaking Away

“Easy for you to say. You hate him!”

“And you don’t?”

This has the effect of making Kavi jerk up straight. “Don’t you get it? Ilovedhim. And he’s going to keep calling me and telling me that he doesn’t actually want to be open, and I’m going to get convinced of it.” Her hands shake, before she grabs the knife again. More donut stabbing starts, but her voice is calm… and defeated.

“The apology gestures will keep coming, my parents are going to push even more, and if I get married to him because it’s objectively idiotic to say no to someone like that, Tyler will cheat on me secretly and I’ll never figure it out. You might not think it—because, again, you hate him—but I’mstunnedby everything that’s happened. I thought he was a good person. Maybe not the best, but he… he bought me this camera, five years ago. As a gift. And he calls me his good luck charm. And we like the same food.” She sighs. “I swear there are good parts about him. Lovable parts.”

Her face scrunches.

“That’s why my brain is all over the place.” She shudders. “I’m even wondering if being open is the worst thing to be. We can both have some fun. And he’ll come home to me…”

There’s that hollow laugh again. And?—

Fuck. No.

Another tear rolls down her cheek. This time, I can’t help myself. My hand blurs across the table, reaching over to wipe the tear away. “Stop that. Stop crying.”

“Ignore me.”

My molars ache since I’m grinding so hard. “I’m trying, Basra.”

Desperately.

Big eyes watch carefully, somewhat confused. For the tear is gone, but I can’t stop touching her skin.So fucking soft.

And for a second, I think she’s about to drop her face into my palm, but she doesn’t. There’s a measured breath in before she drags her face backward.

There’s that digging feeling rippling through me again. Something unnamed… and insistent, driving me to get closer, to help, to fix everything.

“The donut,” Kavi says suddenly. Her lip quivers. “Look what I’ve done to it. It’s ruined.”

It’s in pieces. And she’s staring at it like it’s the saddest, most depressing thing in the world.

Without thinking, I bring the plate close to me and start reassembling it. The weight of her stare is heavy. My voice is low and quiet when I speak.

“I can’t imagine Smith letting you fuck other people.”

“Yeah.” She inhales sharply. “He’d have all the options. He’s the superstar captain killing it in the league with his skills, and I’m—I’m—not going to do better than that.”

The best thing I can do formycareer is to get up and walk away. “You’re wrong.”

“How?”

“I’m better than him.”

What the fuck am I saying?

Kavi doesn’t know either. Her mouth opens.

“If he said you can’t do better—” I’m explaining this to myself as much as her. “—prove him wrong by doing better.”

“What does that mean?”

“Be with me.”

Her lips part wider.

“Seenwith me,” I adjust, panicking.Fuck. My mind races, imagining this through. Smith’s team already hates me. Coach benched me because of our vendetta. Having Kavi show up on my arm would be a complete nightmare.

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