Page 163 of Can't Always Get What You Want

“No way.”

I nod. “Way.”

“Why was it a secret?”

Ugh, this is the embarrassing part. “Because my sibling is overprotective and thinks he’s the boss of me and has forbidden me from dating his teammates.”

Everyone mutters their disapproval.

“That’s messed up.” Mascot fighter crosses his arms, indignant.

“Seriously,” Hailey agrees, nodding. “You deserve love and a man you can climb like a tree.”

Rawr.

“Thank you,” I say, putting my hands on my heart. “That’s exactly the energy we’re going for.”

The guard lingers by the bars, brows furrowed. “What happened during the game? Why did you storm the penalty box?”

“My brother caught Luca and me on a date last week,” I say, letting the words hang for dramatic effect. “And my reaction… was not the greatest. There was yelling. Some dodging. A spectacular refusal to take accountability on my part.”

Everyone leans in.

“Then,” I continue. “Luca told me he loved me.”

Hailey gasps.

I pause, placing a hand to my chest. “I straight up panicked. Nay—I froze. Absolutely didnotsay it back.”

A collective groan echoes off the cement walls.

“Girl—” the drunk mutters, facepalming. “You didn’t say it back?!”

I nod solemnly. “I did not.”

Hailey clutches her heart like I personally wounded her. “You monster.”

“I know!” I say, throwing up my hands. “I panicked! He said the thing, and my brain short-circuited and all I could thinkabout was Gio murdering him and me being forced to give a eulogy at a closed-casket funeral.”

“Still,” Mascot fighter mutters. “Cold-blooded.”

“Itwas!” I groan. “Imeantto say it. I knew I loved him! I just didn’t know how to say it in the moment and then it was too late and?—”

“You were scared,” the drunk guy interrupts, now miraculously upright and sipping a water like he’s been alert the entire time. “Happens to the best of us.”

I blink at him. “Thank you?”

He nods. “Love is terrifying. Makes you do dumb shit.”

Hailey dabs at her eyes again. “He’s so right.”

Crackle.

Hissing technology.

The walkie on the guard’s hip crackles again. Static.

Then: “Jenny, be advised. Babineaux is two minutes out. He’s… um. Running at a full sprint.”

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