Page 13 of Offside Rule

She let out a squeal of surprise as I lifted her into my arms. “I can walk by myself,” she puffed, trying to push on my chest so Iwould let her go, but she didn’t really want me to. I could tell by the little amount of force she used.

I chuckled. “I know, but you don’t have to.”

We settled into a comfortable silence as we walked around the park toward the store where I could grab her some ice.

“Why ‘fire girl’?” she asked. I looked down at her, somehow surprised that she’d spoken. She rolled her eyes dramatically. “I mean, it doesn’t take a genius to understand, but I was just wondering if it’s more than that.”

Her head on my chest and the intense stare of her green eyes made me squirm in my own skin. I swallowed, and decided to look at the path in front of us to avoid crashing into anyone by mistake.

“Because you looked like the kind of person who deserved a special nickname to be remembered by, even if you were just a stranger,” I admitted. When I stole a glance at her, I found her speechless. “Plus, it kind of fits your attitude, not just your hair.” I held back my laugh when she slapped my forearm. “See?”

When she laughed, I felt like I had made this date work—even if we were just strangers who probably lived miles apart. For me, nothing mattered as long as I saw her smile more often today.

NINE

ARIANNA

Icleared my throat, throwing the rest of my ice cream into the trash. My knee was feeling a lot better thanks to Xavier, and we had embarked on afriendlywalk through the park.

My eyes swept over to him, but he was already looking at me.

“Ask away.” He grinned, one of his curls touching his forehead.

I smiled, letting out a breath. “It might be something personal, but you don’t have to answer if you don’t feel comfortable,” I started, wanting him to know he wasn’t forced to share anything he didn’t want to. When he nodded at me in encouragement, I continued. “What’s up with you and Isaac? Why are you so harsh with him? He’s your cousin, after all.”

He took a deep breath. “My problem is really with my uncle, not him. I know it’s not fair to put the blame entirely on Isaac, but I guess he’s just collateral damage since I can’t lash out at my coach the way I want to. It makes me a coward, but I chose the easy path,” Xavier sighed, glancing down at his feet. “If he’d focused on the team and not just his son, this wouldn’t have been the first year our team made it this far in the championship.”

I nodded, placing one foot in front of the other. “I get it. I noticed he tried to make Isaac take all the important shots. Itwas nothing I hadn’t seen before, but it was the first time you lost your temper on the field. That surprised me.”

Xavier was silent for a while, and I dared to meet his eyes again, only to come face to face with the biggest grin on his lips. I couldn’t help but smile as well; his grin was contagious.

“What?” I asked.

He shrugged and looked away, still grinning. “You watch me play a lot?” Xavier looked down at me again, raising his brow in question, a profound kind of confidence swimming in his expression.

For some reason, my cheeks flushed as soon as he stopped speaking, heat traveling through my body like a volcano. Would it cross the mental boundaries of our current situationship to admit I'd been fangirling over a guy five years younger than me?

His round eyes confirmed that he had noticed the sudden blush on my face.

Goddamn it, Arianna.

“Oh my god,” he suddenly burst out laughing. “You really do watch me play a lot.”

My cheeks heated. “Maybe.” I shrugged. “But there’s nothing wrong with that.”

“There isn’t,” Xavier agreed, his steps behind me barely audible until he came to a halt.

I threw a glance over my shoulder, our eyes colliding. He wore a summer shirt with a beautiful green pattern and a pair of shorts. The outfit was so modest and simple that it made me forget I was standing next to a famous football player.

He watched me silently, those brown eyes of his inspecting every inch of me. The way he was looking at me made me want to crawl out of my skin, but not in a bad way. It made me want to scoot closer, get a better look, and find myself next to him.

“Why did you stop?” I asked.

Xavier swallowed, and approached me with small steps. I couldn’t hold his intense gaze. Whatever was about to happen had goosebumps rising all over my skin.

He stopped only when the tip of his shoes touched mine, and snuck a hand under my chin. I didn’t even realize I had been avoiding his eyes.

I frowned, unaware of his intentions. “What is going through your mind?”

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