Page 125 of Echoes of Us

“After you.” He stepped aside.

“Okay.”

It was all terribly cordial.

Two weeks later, I still wasn’t done dealing with it. Noah held up surprisingly well, considering patience wasn’t his strong suit. The first couple of days were awkward, filled with tentative smiles from him and a lot of avoidance from me. As the days went by, I noticed Noah trying to get closer, trying to strike up a conversation, even if it was just about training. He lingered after, almost waiting for me to say something, but I never did. The smiles became less frequent, replaced by a frown that seemed to deepen with each passing day.

One day, right after training, we were walking out. Noah was stalling his departure, looking towards me, when I ran into Mathew. He waved and I approached him.

“Hey, are you just getting out?” he asked.

“Yeah.”

“It’s nice to see you, Att. It’s been a while,” Mathew said.

“Same. Did you just get out of class?”

“Yeah.” This was a little awkward. He laughed, breaking the tension. “Do you have a minute? Sit down with me.”

We sat on a nearby bench. The rest of the team was still walking or talking at the entrance. Noah was looking over at us with a frown.

“Congratulations on the championship,” Mathew said.

I smiled. “Thanks.”

“Do you have any more matches this year?”

“Not big ones. We have two more practice matches. Basically, for fun.”

He watched the rest of the team. “How about your problem? Solved that yet?” His smile was leaning on flirty.

“Not really. I guess I just learned to get used to it.”

“So you didn’t get back together?” His tone was casual but curious.

“Nope,” I answered. “Just a whole lot of awkwardness.”

“But still not up for dating?”

I gave him an apologetic look, shaking my head.

“That sucks. You’re looking great.”

I smiled softly, my eyes flickering downward, feeling self-conscious under his gaze. “Thanks.”

He shrugged. “Too bad. If you ever change your mind, though, you have my number,” he added with a wink.

“I’ll keep it in mind.”

“Hey, is that Noah Rossi?”

“Um, yeah, that’s him.” I looked towards Noah, and he turned quickly back to his conversation. I never got used to people just knowing him.

“I heard he was back in school. I’d never seen him in person.”

I pressed my lips together.

“Is he on the team?”

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