Page 140 of The Forever Play

It takes every ounce of willpower to open my eyes and check his expression. His jaw is clenched and he’s shaking his head, looking beyond me like it’s taking everything to hold himself together.

“I’m sorry,” I whisper. “I don’t want to hurt you, but I should have made this clearer a long time ago. You can’t just kiss me goodbye like I’m your wife or something, and you can’t keep making Zoey call you Dada. You’re her Uncle Rusty, and she loves you so much. But we need to make sure those roles are clearly defined.”

His nostrils flare as he stands there saying nothing.

“Russell, please, just?—”

He turns his back to me, stalking off, his shoulders hunched as he walks away.

Now is probably not the best time to ask if he could please come back and swipe me into Athletes Hall. Dammit.

Crossing my arms, I pinch my biceps, feeling completely awful. I hate that I’ve just hurt Russell after everything he’s done for us. But I had to tell him the truth, right? He obviously wasn’t getting it, and… I’ve done the right thing.

I just wish it didn’t hurt so much to do it.

Shuffling a little closer to Athletes Hall, I try to look through the glass doors to see if I can spot Zander, but they’re tinted and it’s impossible to?—

I gasp as the doors slide open and a broad, musclyman steps out of the building. He jolts back, moving to the side before crashing into me.

“Sorry,” I murmur, biting my lip and looking to the ground.

“That’s okay.” His smile is kind, his brown gaze looking me over like he’s trying to figure out why I’m here. “Can I help you?”

I suck in a breath, then quickly blurt, “I’m looking for Zander Donohue. And I swear I’m not some stalker-ish fangirl, and I know I could just call or text him, but I have toseehim, you know? It’s really important. This conversation can’t happen over the phone. I need to be able to look into his eyes.” Okay, so now I’m rambling. “And it’s been the worst weekend, and we have to make things right, and I just need to find him and see him.”

He takes all that in with a slow nod, then tips his head and asks, “You couldn’t just call and get him to meet you somewhere?” The man’s low voice is soft and easy, and now I feel like a total idiot. “Or are you worried he won’t answer? I take it you guys had a fight or something?”

I nod, figuring I’ll just go with his assumptions rather than having to explain that I’ve actually been ghosting Zander and not the other way around.

Shit.

Rubbing my forehead, I look up with a desperate frown. “Do you know if he’s in there?”

The door pops open again, and a man with messy blond hair and tattoos rising up his neck saunters out. He gives me a friendly smile before looking at the kind man I’m talking to. “’Sup, bro?”

“Do you know if Zander Donohue’s in there?” he asks for me.

“Yeah, he’s at the football table by the window.” Mr. Tats gives me a curious look before darting a glance at his buddy.

“Think we should let her in?”

He smirks, checking me over one more time. “Oh, why not. Athletes Hall could use a little drama every now and then.” He raises his chin at the swipe pad. “Go on, Padre. Let her in.”

“Oh, really?” I perk up as the shorter man pulls out his card and swipes it. The doors pop open, and I dance through them, spinning back to smile and wave. “Thank you!” I put my hands together. “Thank you, thank you, thank you.”

Mr. Tats laughs while the Padre guy gives me a kind smile. “Good luck.”

They turn and walk off while I nod and mumble to myself, “I’m gonna need it.”

CHAPTER 53

ZANDER

My phone clatters onto the table as I drop it next to my lunch tray. Still no reply from Sienna. I left my final message last night, and all I can do now is wait. I won’t hound her. She needs time to process, right?

But then Fuckwit Russell dropped my car off this morning. Found me just before I was about to walk into class and dumped the keys in my hand with a punchable smirk. “It’s in the lot behind Athletes Hall. Have a nice life.”

He didn’t mean that last part, and all I could do was stand there, gripping my keys and hating myself some more. Part of me wanted to chase him down and ask how Sienna was doing, but he wouldn’t have told me anything anyway.

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