Page 114 of Runaway Bride and Prejudice

I flinch.

“Ah,” he says slowly, stepping way back.

But before I get a chance to locate rational thoughts and organize them into words I can say, the door behind Van swings open, and a short man with dark hair and a maintenance uniform steps into the stairwell and stops.

“Oh,” he says, a slight trace of an accent. “I’m sorry.”

Van gives him a tight smile. “It’s fine, Javi. I was just leaving.”

Now, Van is the one fleeing the scene, slipping out the door Javi just came through and giving me a small sampling of what it feels like.

Being the one left behind feels just plain awful.

CHAPTER 22

THE DREAM TEAM

Alec:Van. Dude. I don’t know if Dumbo’s right and your stomach is jacked up, but you have lost your mojo.

Wyatt:Did he ever have mojo?

Logan:Aw, look at one of the newest additions to the text thread—coming in hot with the burns.

Wyatt:It was actually a legit question

Wyatt:I haven’t seen him play like anything other than how he’s been lately

Wyatt:Which is terrible, by the way

Eli:LOL

Nathan:The best burns are the unintentional ones.

Felix:I think those are just called the truth.

Van:My stomach is fine and you all suck

Van:THAT’S the truth

Felix:IBS isn’t anything to be ashamed of.

Van:Will everyone just SHUT UP about my bowels

Alec:We might. If you stopped skating like one giant bowel.

Logan:Maybe he just has IS—Irritable Syndrome.

Logan:Or SASS—Sucks at Skating Syndrome.

Eli:Also, what was up with you and Amelia? Why did she run out of the interview?

Alec:And why did you chase her?

Felix:Uh-oh.

Nathan:Does it have anything to do with why you broke another stick?

Wyatt:He broke a stick?

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