Page 31 of Play It Off

Her face falls a little, the sympathy flaring in her eyes. “I hate to see you suffering.”

“I’ll get over it. I always do.”

She drops her hands from my face, and I immediately miss her touch. Until she slides her fingers into my hair, her fingernails lightly scratching my scalp. “Has he always been this hard on you?”

“My entire life.” I close my eyes and exhale softly, enjoying the head massage she gives me. I could get used to treatment like this. Couldn’t I?

“He’s a dick.” She goes still, and I crack open my eyes to see her peering up at me, her expression full of guilt. “I’m sorry. I probably shouldn’t have said that about your dad.”

“Why not? You’re only speaking the truth.”

She removes her hand from my hair and rolls over so she’s lying on her back, staring up at the ceiling. “This entire moment is surreal.”

“What do you mean?”

Her head swivels to the right, her gaze meeting mine once more. “I’m in Gavin Maddox’s bed on a Saturday night trying to give him a pep talk. Like, what is this life?”

“I’m not that big of a deal.”

“Oh, but you are. You’re just downplaying it.” She sighs, her focus returning to the ceiling. “Why did you ask me to come back here again?”

“I needed someone to talk to. Someone I can trust.” I keep my attention fixed on her, admiring her profile. The gentle slope of her nose. Her full lips. Her smooth, soft skin dotted with freckles, and I’m tempted to reach out and touch her, but I keep my hands to myself.

“You have plenty of friends you can trust. Why me?”

“I can’t tell them my doubts and insecurities.”

“Not even to my brother?”

I hate that she brought up Coop. He’s the last person I want to think about while I have his little sister in my bed. “I don’t want to ruin his good time. They’re all on a high from the win, and they don’t need to deal with my shit. My dad isn’t their problem. He’s mine.”

She turns her head, her dark eyes locked with mine once again. “They would be there for you and listen no matter what. You’re one of Coop’s best friends.”

“I know. You’re right.” I blow out a harsh breath. “I’m being a pussy.”

“No, you’re not. You’re allowed to have feelings, Gavin. And we all want our parents’ approval. It’s okay to feel this way. You don’t have to be emotionless all the time.”

“You think I’m emotionless?”

“I think you try to hold back your emotions, yes.”

“I trained myself to not show any after a while so I wouldn’t trigger my dad. It’s like he looks for signs that I’m weak and attacks me.”

“That’s awful,” she murmurs, sounding horrified.

“It is. But I just learned how to deal, you know? My parents aren’t anything like yours. They support you guys no matter what you want.”

“I don’t know about that.”

Her tone—and her words—startle me. “What do you mean by that?”

She returns her focus to the ceiling yet again. “My parents have focused all of their attention on Coop my entire life. I love my brother and I’m proud of him, but sometimes I feel like I’m an afterthought to my family.”

Her confession is shocking. From the outside, the Coopers look like a supportive, loving family. I’ve never seen Sienna act like she doesn’t want to be around her parents. They’ve always seemed really close.

But I suppose I get what she’s saying. I don’t have siblings to fight for attention from my parents. It might’ve been nice, to have a brother or sister. They could’ve taken the heat off me for a moment.

“That’s tough,” I murmur. “I didn’t know you felt that way.”

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