Page 57 of Matched By My Rival
I realized by the way Cooper and Trace looked at me that I must have interrupted their conversation. I fumbled, suddenly embarrassed that I cared. “I mean, I just realized I didn’t know him, is all.”
Cooper and Trace exchanged a look.
“The project is open to volunteers outside the frat now,” Cooper said.
I flushed, feeling stupider by the second. “Yeah, I know, but there’s still not that many.”
He nodded. “Yeah, Ethan knows Linc.” He shrugged. “Not sure exactly how. But he showed up one day.” He paused. “Just like Parker.”
My eyes had drifted back to Parker and Ethan, the pair of them sitting with their heads close together as they continued to talk. I jerked my gaze away at Cooper’s words.
“Parker only volunteered because Coach required it.”
I realized I’d spoken as if I was still on the team. As if Coach Jackson was stillmycoach. I cleared my throat. “His coach. Coach Jackson.”
“You two have a complicated history,” Cooper said, eyes searching my face for answers I’d rather he not find.
I laughed awkwardly. “That happens when you punch a guy.”
Cooper would be supportive if he realized I was into a guy, I knew. But I couldn’t risk outing Parker. He had a lot at stake if word got out about his sexuality. It could destroy his future. I knew all too well what that was like, and as it turned out, I wouldn’t wish it on my worst enemy.
Not that Parker was my worst enemy. No, that would be me.
“Parker seems like the forgiving type.”
I shrugged, trying to look unaffected. Then excused myself to the bathroom, in need of a minute to myself.
I wasn’t sure what had me so flustered: Cooper’s curiosity or the weird twist in my gut when I watched Parker smile at Ethan.
* * *
PARKER
From the corner of my eye, I saw Simon get up from the table. I’d been keeping half my attention on him even while talking to Ethan, who was entertaining a bunch of us with the disastrous story of how his last relationship ended.
“Dude, she didnotcut up all your shirts,” Linc said, eyes wide.
“She did!” Ethan laughed, but I got the sense it was a “laugh, otherwise you’ll cry” situation. “She hated my ‘geeky’ shirts”—he raised his fingers to make air quotes—“so she cut all the graphics out of them.”
There was a chorus of voices as the guys reacted to that one. Laughter, sympathetic groans, a couple of sexist remarks about crazy girlfriends. It all flowed over and around me, my focus squarely on the guy who’d left the table.
I tried to wait him out. I really did. But our last text exchange was sizzling in my mind, stoking the fire for what was in store for tonight. I couldn’t sit there, patiently waiting like a good boy, a minute longer.
I pushed back from the table and headed for the bathroom. Simon stood in front of the sink, staring into the mirror. He didn’t look happy. He definitely didn’t look like a guy fantasizing about a hot night with me.
“Uh-oh,” I said as I came through the door. “Existential crisis?”
His gaze flicked past me to the door. “Did anyone see you follow me?”
“Nah. You’ve been in here ten minutes. If anyone noticed, they’d think it was a coincidence.” I gave a tentative smile, unsure of where his head was. “Glad to see you haven’t fallen in. I was getting worried you might have changed your mind about tonight.”
He gave me a hot look. “Hell no. Truthfully, I’m about to lose my shit and pounce on you. That is, if Ethan doesn’t pounce first.”
“Ethan?” I laughed. “Are you joking?”
His lips twisted sardonically. “Yeah, of course. I’m losing my grip on sanity with all this waiting.”
“Then let’s take the edge off.”
