Page 23 of Matched By My Rival
While Cooper doled out jobs, with Trace interjecting the occasional safety warning, I hung back. I didn’t even notice Linc next to me until he spoke. “You really don’t like that guy, huh?”
I startled, whipping my head toward him. “Who?”
He tilted his head to the right. I didn’t need to look to know that’s where Parker stood. I couldn’t keep my gaze from wandering back to him. “I don’t,” I confirmed, even though a voice in my mind whispered that maybe it wasn’t Parker who was the problem.
“We need to kick his ass or something?” Linc asked.
I winced. “Kicking his ass isn’t the problem. Or really it is.” When Linc looked puzzled, I said, “I did that already. It’s why I lost my scholarship.”
“Ohhh shit. I heard about that, but…” He coughed, sounding awkward. “Wow, okay. Well, I’ve got nothing then.”
“That’s all right, man. Thanks for trying.”
I found that the usual surplus of anger wasn’t simmering within me. Seeing Parker get down and dirty last weekend had been cathartic. A metaphorical evening of the playing field, tarnishing that perfect “golden boy” persona he had. But it also made it tougher to carry a grudge. He wasn’t really to blame for my life going to shit, even if I was still pissed he’d moved in on Kristin while I was down. Despite his disregard for the bro code, he’d more than earned a reprieve. He just made a convenient target for my frustrations, one that was hard to resist when we were in close proximity.
“Simon?” Cooper called as Parker nodded and strode off. “What do you want to do today?”
I jogged over. “I get to choose? I feel like teacher’s pet.”
Cooper laughed. “You’ve earned a little seniority.”
“What’s Parker doing?”
Cooper scanned the list. “Scraping the north side of the house. You want to work with him?”
“Nope. I’ll take the south side,” I said, not trusting myself to behave rationally around Parker. If I couldn’t manage my temper, I could at least keep my distance. “Do me a favor and make sure our paths don’t cross, okay?”
Unlike Linc, Cooper didn’t ask for explanations, just nodded. “You got it. Thanks again for last week.”
“Anytime.” I glanced at Trace, feeling a niggle of guilt for being so damn glad they were both here and I didn’t have to step up. “Whenever you guys need some extra time to yourselves, I’m happy to help.”
“We’ll take you up on that,” Trace said. “Won’t we, brat?”
Cooper rolled his eyes. “Trace thinks I work too hard.”
“You do,” I said with a nod.
“Ha! You work just as much as me,” Cooper accused.
I grinned. “Guilty. But right now, I have more work to do.” I jerked a thumb toward the house. “I’m gonna go get started.”
8
PARKER
How was your day?
Like clockwork, BiCurious messaged me around ten Sunday evening. We’d fallen into a pattern of regular texting. I pinged him in the morning, usually before he was awake since I had early workout regimens for the team, and he messaged me at night. He worked late hours on the weekend, so sometimes it was just a quick note while he was on break, but he always checked in.
I lit up like an idiot at those notifications. He had become my touchstone, my point of connection when I felt invisible. I might be one of the most visible players on the Hayworth campus, regularly recognized and greeted by fans, but I had to hide part of who I was with everyone else. Only BiCurious really saw me.
Maybe that’s why I didn’t sugarcoat my response, the way I might have with a random hookup. I had moved beyond trying to impress him. I washonestwith him. I liked him. Every day, the yearning for more than friendship grew inside me, but even if this was all I ever had, a confidante on the other side of the screen, BiCurious would remain important to me.
My day was shitty, I wrote.Yours?
Also shitty
We’re twinsies,I joked.
