Page 41 of Scoring the Player
I rinse out the pot and load it into the dishwasher.
“What about you? How was your date with the artist?”
“Next.” He blows out a breath. “Wanna see my date this weekend?”
I step closer as he holds up a picture of a cute guy in an oversized sweater.
“High school teacher.”
“Handsome,” I observe.
“Wait, look at this one.” He scrolls to a picture of the guy sitting on a couch. “Look at his library collection!”
I grin. “Imagine your libraries together.”
“Stahp! You know it’s literally on my vision board to marry a guy with more books than me.”
I do know that.Back when I was injured, Josiah stopped by with a bag of supplies and covered my floor in magazines, glue sticks, and poster boards. Next thing I knew, we were making vision boards. My brother came downstairs and grinned at the big fat “Marry Blue” text block glued to the center of mine.
So corny now that I think about it.
“I got it,” he says when I reach for his bowl to wash it out.
“I’m gonna head up. Need anything?”
He shakes his head as he slides off the stool and bends down to hug Simba goodnight. “I’ll finish reading a few chapters, then sleep.”
Simba whines as he follows me up the steps.
Shoot. I forgot to reorder his dental treats.
“My bad, Sim.” I start the fireplace, then kill the lights before crashing into bed. “I’ll order them now.”
He ignores me, curling up in his bed with his back toward me.
I place the order, then whistle and pat the bed.
He doesn’t move at first, but then he drags himself over.
I turn and scratch behind his ears after he settles away from me on the far end of the bed. “You ever felt kicked in the heart and balls at the same time?”
He nudges me with his wet nose.
“Nah, everyone loves you.”
He turns his head away.
“It’s okay. You can be mad at me. I still love you.”
I lean back and stare into the fire.
“I’m not who you want. I can’t be.”
I can’t place exactly why, of everything Blue said, that’s what’s been on a loop in my mind. It’s the way he said it. Hisvoice sounded…like it was less about whether I believed it, but rather, his disbelief of it.
If someone were to ask me what it is about Blue that has me hooked, I wouldn’t be able to give them a single answer. I crave planning and direction, and everything about him feels off map. There’s this pull toward him. Every time we’re in the same building, I have to get close, and the way he goes primal whenever I’m near only heightens my need to be close to him. I sometimes hold back on the court, doing just enough to protect our house. Blue is pure instinct. If he senses something he doesn’t like, you see it immediately. He goes for blood. But it’s different with us. Yeah, it gets bloody, but it’s not from hate. Whatever I feel when I’m near him makes him afraid. I know there’s a deeper reason we fire each other up. It’s not friction for the sake of friction. That would be like looking at the thrash of waves and missing the ocean.
Still…
