Page 144 of Can't Always Get What You Want

Done sneaking around, pretending like what I have with Nova is some shameful thing I should be keeping quiet about because she’s embarrassed or afraid or whatever of disappointing her twin brother. Every second of every day I spend pretending she’s not the best thing that’s ever happened to me feels like a betrayal of both of us.

Newsflash: this is my relationship, too.

I also get to decide.

So now is the time.

Today is the day.No backing out.

Gio is sitting in front of his locker, unstrapping his pads like it’s any other day, any other practice. He’s got his earbuds in and is bopping his head to whatever he’s listening to, gloves hitting the floor with a thud.

My heart follows.

This guy’s my teammate. We’ve split hotel rooms on roadtrips, shared pregame superstitions, and gotten drunk on postgame beers. He’s the backbone of this team. And I’m about to break his trust.

And now I’m about to tell him I’ve been hooking up with his little sister. No—nothooking up. Not fooling around. Not some one-night regret.

Nova is more to me than that.

I inhale once. Twice. Then walk.

“Hey.”

He doesn’t look up right away, gesturing for me to wait while he yanks out an earbud and adjusts his tape roll.

“What’s up?”

My voice doesn’t come right away. It’s stuck somewhere behind my ribs.

I force it out. “I need to talk to you.”

His eyebrows arch as he finally looks at me full on. “Okay…?”

Get to the point.

Got it.

“In private.”

Gio glances around now, resting his hands on his knees. “What could you possibly have to say to me that it has to be in private?” He sits up straighter, his eyes narrowing now in that way that makes you feel like a microscope just turned in your direction. “What’s going on?”

“It’s about Nova.”

The second her name leaves my lips, the locker room air changes. Tension crackles. A nearby player whacks the edge of a stick against the bench without realizing it, and I swear the sound slices through my nerve endings and causes me to startle

His jaw tics. “What about her?”

Every muscle in my body goes still. I’m hyper aware of the echoing water from the showers, the clank of a stick being dropped somewhere across the room, the buzz of blood behind my ears.

I draw a slow breath, bracing.

“I’m seeing her.” I swallow; feel like a giant pussy. “Dating, I mean.” Pause. “We’re dating.”

He holds his hand up. “I fucking heard you.” Gio runs a hand down his face.

He’s silent, which is way worse than yelling. Worse than a punch. At least if he hit me, I’d know where we stood.

This? This is unbearable.

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