Page 31 of Busted Dreams

He kissed the top of my forehead before disappearing back through a group of Grizzlies.

“Okay, you can stop looking so dreamy. We might as well hit the road before the rest of the crowd. I have a feeling some of these people will be here for a while trying to get a glimpse of or chat with the star players. Mainly Rhys.” Jonah slipped an arm around my back, much the same way Rhys had as he maneuvered us to the side exit.

On a whim, I glanced back over my shoulders to see two of the tall guy’s friends staring at me. Their brows were dark slashes over their eyes, and their arms were crossed defensively over their chests.

Out of instinct, I grabbed my phone and took their picture without looking at it. I’d gotten pretty good at angling my phone without the incessant need to check the screen. And something told me we’d want to remember those guys.

The parking lot was teeming with streams of people all heading toward their cars. It wasn’t hard to get to ours because we’d parked so close. Then I realized our mistake.

“Damnit, I didn’t even think about the traffic to get out,” I said, thumping on the steering wheel after making it exactly two car lengths from our parking spot before we were stopped completely.

Jonah laid his seat back a little and stretched out his long legs as he twisted to crack his back. “That’s the beauty of you driving instead of me. I’m just along for the ride.” He smiled, but it was off, not like the real one he gave to Rhys inside.

I wanted to ask what was wrong, but instead, I deflected with a bullshit question.

“So, when am I going to go to a debate meet that’s this hyped up?”

He laughed. “Never. The intellectual types aren’t this exciting. And the crowd never gets that riotous when I answer the exact start date of the Russian Revolution.”

That… That was damn funny, and I laughed so hard, tears filled my eyes.

This time, when I turned my gaze back to Jonah, he was back to himself. For the rest of the ride, we talked about deeper things than the trip up, and even though it wasn’t quite a heart to heart discussion, I really enjoyed it, and Jonah.

And right then, I knew I was going to hell, because I was crushing on yet another boy.

* * *

Like the crappyfriend I was, I feel asleep as soon as I got back to Rhys’ cottage. After a shower, I was so exhausted, I was out before my head hit the pillow. If Rhys tried to wake me, he was unsuccessful, and if he didn’t…well, that made me feel just as bad.

The alarm woke me up at six sharp, and I rushed through getting ready just to catch Rhys before Beck got here.

“Hey!” I caught Rhys unaware at the coffee machine, and I winced when hot coffee sloshed over the side of his hand. “Sorry.” Plucking a banana from the stand, I leaned against the counter and peeled it open, eyeing Rhys to see if he was going to get angry, or if he even noticed the pain.

He didn’t.

With a few dabs of a paper towel, he turned to me like nothing happened. “Morning,” he rumbled in a raspy, deep voice.

“So…” I started.

“So?” he finished.

“Come on, Rhys! Don’t keep me in suspense. What did the recruiters want?” I bent forward, almost smooshing the poor banana against the elegant granite countertops.

He shook his head and pushed his body flush against mine. My face went zero to fire real quick. These types of positions were still so new, I couldn’t quite make out how I felt in my head, except that I wanted more of it. And with all of them.

Bracing his hands on the counter beside me, he bent down so his face was mere inches from mine. “It was great. The two schools I had my eye on were there, and both invited me for a tour of the school and look into their program. I’d get to meet the team and watch them practice, see if I think it’s the school for me. They didn’t say in so many words, but it sounds like both schools will offer some type of scholarship, I just don’t know how much.”

“Holy hell, Rhys! That’s awesome!” Honest to God, for the first time in my life, I squealed. Like an excited girl. What were these guys doing to me? Where was awkward, reserved Astrid?

Oh she was still here, but apparently, she fled in the presence of her close friends.

“What schools are you looking at?” I threw my arms around his shoulders for a tight hug.

“DU and University of Michigan.”

Oh.Oh.

“What’s wrong?” He pulled back to get a better look at my face.

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