Page 80 of Play It Off

“I think our Uber driver exposed us.”

“What?” I have no idea what she’s talking about.

“Look.” She holds her phone out, and I take it, frowning at the photo of me and her in the back of a car. I’ve got my head tilted backagainst the seat, and she’s watching me, concern all over her pretty face. I realize it’s a social media post, and the caption below the photo says

Santa Mira QB Gavin Maddox confesses his love for teammate’s sister Sienna Cooper.

I lift my head to find Sienna watching me, gnawing on her lower lip. “What the hell is this?”

“It’s that one profile that keeps tabs on the university gossip.Tales of UCSM—you’ve heard of it, right?”

I nod. Everyone knows aboutTales of UCSM. Sometimes it shares serious info, but most of the time it spreads gossip around campus.

Guess the word is out now.

“That photo is from the back of the Uber we took last night. I don’t even remember him taking a pic of us.” She takes the phone out of my hand and sits heavily onto the mattress, her worry coming off her in waves. “I have all sorts of notifications because this guy tagged us, Gavin. I’ve got texts from my brother. Nico. Everleigh. Frank. Even Jonesie.”

I grab my phone and check it to find I also have a ton of notifications. Mostly social media ones, thanks to the photo tag, but there are plenty of texts, too, including some in the group chat I have with my best friends.

Nico: What the actual FUCK dude? You’re in love with Sienna and we’re finding it out on a gossip site?

Dollar: Were you drunk QB? Is that why you said it? Fucked up if that’s the case.

Coop: WTF

Dread coats my gut at Coop’s simple text. That’s all he said.WTF.Shit.

I bet he’s pissed.

There’s a text from Everleigh too. Hers almost makes me laugh. Almost.

Everleigh: It’s about damn time you got your head out of your ass if what that guy said is true! Sienna is the best thing that will ever happen to you. If you two are actually together, I can’t believe you kept this from us.

“I need to call my brother.” Sienna hits a button on her screen and brings the phone to her ear. It rings and rings, eventually going to voicemail, and I hear the rumble of Coop’s familiar voice asking to leave a message. She ends the call before the beep sounds, her wide eyes meeting mine. “We need to talk to our friends.”

“You think they’re mad at us?” I wince, scratching the back of my neck again.

“Mad? Um, yeah. From the tone of their various text messages, most definitely.” A sigh escapes her, and I haul her into my arms, not wanting this moment to end badly. We confessed our love for each other. We planned to tell everyone anyway; we just got scooped by our rat fink Uber driver. We can’t let him ruin everything.

“Some of the comments about us being together, they weren’t very nice,” she admits, her mouth moving against my neck when she speaks. “I knew this would happen.”

“I bet not all of them are awful.” She pulls away so her gaze meets mine. “Right?”

“There were a few positive ones.” Sienna shrugs. “I guess some people are just going to hate.”

I worried about that too—before. Now I don’t care what anyone thinks. “Haters gonna hate, baby. Fuck ’em. They don’t matter.” I touch her cheek. Smile at her, but she doesn’t smile back. “Come on, Sienna. It’s going to be okay.”

“I just don’t want our friends to be angry. Or my brother. They all matter to me. They’re like my family,” she admits, her voice soft.

“They’re like my family too. We’ve got this. They’ll understand.” I kiss her forehead. “I know they will. They’re our best friends. They’ll be happy for us. I’m sure of it.”

She tilts her head back, her gaze imploring. “You really think so?”

Shit, I hope so.

Chapter ThirtySienna

Gavin was wrong. Our friends don’t understand why we chose to hide our relationship from them, and they’re definitely upset with us. Maybe not quite mad—well, for some reason Frank is all fired up over it—but they’re definitely unhappy with our, and I quote,shady behavior.

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