Page 39 of Play It Off

Steeling my spine, I glare at him, forcing myself to keep my gaze on his face and not his dick. “What do you think I’ve been doing for the lasttwo years? Patiently waiting for you to notice me, Gavin. Patiently waiting for you to realize that we have potential. That we could be great together. And lo and behold, I was right. Last night was freaking amazing.”

His smile is faint. “You’re right. It was.”

“And then you had to go and ruin everything this morning by opening your mouth and saying dumb things.” I reach for the front door and undo the lock before opening it. “Have a great day,Gav.”

I slam the door in his face, cutting off his response.

Chapter FifteenSienna

I wake up to the sound of my phone ringing, the tone indicating it’s a FaceTime call. It’s Sunday afternoon, and I know exactly who it is.

My mother.

Groaning, I roll over and blindly reach for my phone, knocking it off my nightstand. The ringing stops. Blissful silence reigns. I close my eyes, eager to drift back off to sleep and do my best to forget the last twenty-four hours ever happened, when the ringing starts up again. She won’t stop until I pick up, and if I don’t, she’ll probably call Coop and ask him to come check on me. Make sure I’m alive.

No way do I want that to happen. How would I explain myself to my brother?

Oh hey, yeah. I’m devastated because I just had the best sex of my life with your best friend, and now he’s telling me I need to wait for him and ... no. Fuck that guy.

I don’t think Coop would understand.

“Shit.” I hang over the edge of my bed and pluck my phone off the floor; then I sit up and brush the hair out of my face before I answer. “Hey, Mom.”

“Sienna!” Her normal enthusiastic greeting shifts into motherly concern when she sees me. “Sweetheart. Are you all right?”

I can’t tell her what happened. I refuse to bring Gavin into the conversation with my mother for fear she’ll tell Coop and then shit will hit the fan and Coop will go after him. Give him a talking to or, worse, warn him away from me. Then Gavin will hate me forever, but I sort of hate him at the moment, so we’d at least be on equal terms.

Okay, I’m being completely dramatic, but Coop knowing about what happened between me and his bestie would definitely cause problems, and while I’m frustrated and angry with Gavin, I’m not about to ruin friendships. I’d rather remain quiet and keep the peace.

“I’m just tired.” I offer her a smile, but it feels forced and fake. I let it fall and yawn, covering my mouth with my hand. “Maybe I’m coming down with something.”

“You look like you’ve been crying.” She’s frowning at me, and I study her face, seeing much of my own reflected back at me. While Coop took after Dad, I definitely look like our mother, though she’s much shorter. But we’ve got red hair—hers is a little brighter—and matching brown eyes. If that’s what I’m going to look like in my late forties, I’m not too worried. Mom has still got it going on.

“I haven’t been crying,” I reassure her, lying through my teeth. I was crying in bed earlier, before I finally fell into an exhausted, dreamless sleep. This is what happens when you stay up all night getting thoroughly fucked by the love of your life. Also known as the biggest idiot in the world.

Who does he think he is, telling me to wait for him? To be patient? Haven’t I done that enough already? Doesn’t he get that I know how to handle myself around football players and that I understand the pressure they’re under? I feel like everything he said to me was some sort of secret code forI don’t want anyone to know about us.

And while I find that hurtful—is he embarrassed of me?—I also do get it. To an extent. Announcing a relationship with a man of his status is monumental and extremely public. Lots of questions will pop up, and I don’t think either of us is ready to answer them.

He should’ve approached it better, is what I’m saying.

“Are you sure?” My mama knows me too well, and so I smile again, trying to make it look as real as possible.

“I’m positive. What did you think of the game yesterday?”

“They played amazing. Oh, I wish we had been there to watch.” Mom shakes her head, her disappointment clear. They try their best to never miss a game and do pretty well, but this weekend they had plans. A couple they’ve known for years was celebrating their twenty-fifth wedding anniversary, and the party was last night. There was no way they couldn’t go, and while both my mom and dad stressed about it, Coop assured them it was fine. And he meant it too.

“It was a good game,” I agree.

“You went?”

“Of course,” I retort. “When do I ever not go?”

“You’re such a good sister, Sienna. Barb was asking about you last night.” Barb is the woman who had the party. “She wanted to know what your plans were once you graduated from college.”

Hmm. Something my parents haven’t asked me, yet good ol’ Aunt Barb—she asked us to call her that a long time ago—just did.

“I couldn’t answer her because I don’t know.” Her gaze is filled with sadness. “That made me feel like a bad mother.”

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