Page 27 of Fair Catch

He heads to the fridge before producing two glass bottles of beer, twisting the tops off before bringing them back to the couch with him.

Frowning, I take the bottle he offers me, looking at it questioningly. “When did we get beer?”

“Ibought it this afternoon.” He motions toward me with his own beer, “It’s not poisoned, so you’re safe to drink it.”

I immediately take a nice, long swig of the cold beverage, the flavor flooding my tastebuds. He was right—this conversation will be a lot easier with some liquid courage.

“I didn’t take you for the beer type.”

“Well, there’s a lot you don’t know about me,” Hayes mutters, taking a drink from his own bottle. “I’m full of surprises.”

Hayes and I are definitely not in a good enough place for me to be eyeing the way his Adam’s apple bobs when he swallows, or how nice his lips look wrapped around that bottle, but I can’t stop myself from watching anyway. Just like I can’t prevent what the sight does to my stomach, knotting and coiling it so tightly, I might damn near explode.

I’ve been trying my best to tamp down whatever attraction I’ve been feeling for him, but unfortunately, ever since I’ve been seeing the nicer side of him, it’s only managed to grow. Unbearably.

Clearing my throat and reminding myself that Hayes is most likelystraight,I try to find a place to start with this whole Phoenix thing.

“It’s a big campus, but it’s not that big, so it wasn’t like I thought I’d go the rest of college without seeing him. Especially when we share some areas of the training facility with the baseball team. I just wasn’t expecting him to be there picking up Holden after the game.”

“And Holden is?” he asks, trying to fill in some of the pieces.

“Our quarterback, and his boyfriend.”

I do my best to gauge his reaction to this information, get a read on how he feels aboutnon-traditional lifestyles,as some would say. But his expression remains entirely impassive as he prompts me to continue.

“So you saw him when he was picking up his boyfriend, and now you feel some type of way about it because…” He pauses, allowing me to fill in the gaps.

“He waved at me from across the parking lot, and it felt like I was waving back at a stranger instead of my best friend.”

It sounds stupid when I say it aloud, and I know that. If anything, I’m making this sound more and more like a break-up—and God knows the ache in my chest makes it feel like one.

But maybe that’s because it basically is.

The ending of any relationship is a break-up, and I’m starting to realize that just because there were no romantic feelings between us doesn’t make it any less painful or heartbreaking to lose him.

And the worst part of it all isheis always the person I’d talk to about this kinda stuff.

Now, I can’t.

Something in my expression must give off that thought, or Hayes must have some kind of second sense, because he prompts me yet again to continue.

“Now’s the part where you tell me what happened between the two of you. If you want to.”

I scoff and take another drink, because if I’m in for a penny with all the drama I’m dumping on him, I might as well be in for a pound. “Do you want the long or the short version?”

“Whichever you’re willing to tell me,” he says, falling back into a more comfortable position against the cushions. “I’m here for the long haul now.”

My tongue rolls along the inside of my cheek as I lift my gaze to meet his, only to find him already studying me intently. Eyes roving my face as he waits, I do my best to piece together the best place to start this saga.

After a moment, I start with my version of the story.

“The short is that he lied to me. A lot, and about things that it should have been easy for him to tell me if we’re truly as close as I thought we were.”

Hayes nods. “And the long?”

“Makes it so much more complicated.” Rolling my tongue along my cheek, I mentally recount the fights with Phoenix at the end of last semester. “Our friendship spans over a decade, and in my mind, we could tell each other whatever, whenever. Which is why finding out about this lie was so fucking devastating, and I was pissed on top of it. But it wasn’t until I took a step back to realize it wasn’twhathe was lying about, but the fact that he felt he needed to in the first place that upset me the most.”

He hums briefly, his cobalt stare meeting mine. “It’s one ofthosesituations.”

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