Page 19 of Cold Front
I stayed quiet, tugging off my skates, letting the noise wash over me. Normally, I’d throw in some gruff remark to keep them in line, but my head was somewhere else.
Or, more accurately, on someone else.
Eli.
Yesterday, he got me talking. Actually talking. And worse—I hadn’t hated it.
That pissed me off more than anything.
He had this way of getting under my skin. I hadn’t even realized how much I’d been holding back until I started talking to him. I was straight to the point—cut and dry—always. But yesterday? I actually told him stuff about… shit, aboutmyself.
I never opened up to anyone. Never. But somehow, I did with Eli. It felt... easier, somehow. Like the weight had lifted for a moment.
And that made me want to throw up. Because I shouldn’t have let it happen. I shouldn’t havelikedit.
But it wasn’t even just the conversation. It was the way he listened—like he trulycared. I don’t know what the hell it was, but the whole thing made me feel... good. Too good. And that pissed me off more than I cared to admit.
I grabbed my shower kit and headed toward the showers. The familiar sound of water running was calming, and I let it wash over me. The sharp, clean scent of soap filled the air as I scrubbed at the grime of practice. The heat of the water loosened my muscles, but it did nothing to ease the tightness in my chest. I stood under the spray, wondering how the hell I had gone from keeping everyone at arm’s length totalkingto Eli like I’d known him for years.
I rinsed off quickly, not wanting to waste any more time stewing over something I couldn’t figure out. My head was too messy, too full. I couldn’t think straight.
After drying off, I dressed in my usual black hoodie and sweatpants, the fabric soft and familiar. I barely glanced at my reflection in the locker room mirror as I grabbed my bag, already running through my schedule for the day.
As I walked through the quad, the late afternoon air had a slight chill to it, just enough to make me zip up my hoodie. The warmth of summer was still lingering in the air, but there was something else, too—a hint of autumn creeping in, the kind of change you could feel but not quite see yet. The sun was beginning to dip, casting softer light across the quad, and the grass was still warm from the day’s heat, though the breeze brought a coolness that made it clear fall was just around the corner.
A few students dotted the lawn, some sitting on the benches, others bundled up in hoodies, chatting or studying. A frisbee sailed through the air now and then, the sound of it thwacking into someone’s hands breaking through the otherwise calm hum of the campus.
I wasn’t here to admire the view, though.
I had my head down, moving toward class, when I saw them.
Eli, Asher, and Gigi.
They were sitting on the grass, scattered across a blanket, and from the distance, I could see Eli’s smile. It was wide, easy, the kind of smile that made him look even younger than he was. That smile hit me harder than I expected. Confusion settled in my chest, followed by something else I didn’t want to name. Was that jealousy?
No, that didn’t make sense.
I couldn’t be jealous. Not overhim. But seeing him like that—laughing with them, looking... like he belonged—made my chest tighten in a way I didn’t like. Why the hell did it bother me so much?
The wind ruffled Eli’s hair, sending a few loose strands into his eyes. He didn’t seem to mind. When he looked up, his eyes met mine.
A split second. Just long enough for me to catch the flash of something—recognition, maybe expectation. Something I didn’t have time to dissect before I turned away and kept walking.
The smarter move would’ve been to stop. Say something casual. Keep things normal. Instead, I shoved my hands into my hoodie pockets and acted like I hadn’t just spent an entire damn practice trying not to think about him.
“Niall.”
I heard him. Didn’t break stride.
Footsteps behind me. Quick, determined. Then Eli was right beside me, matching my pace like he had a damn agenda. “Seriously?” His voice was half amused, half pissed. “You’re just gonna pretend I don’t exist now?”
I didn’t slow down. “Not pretending anything.”
Eli’s breath was sharp, like he was trying to figure me out. “Right. Because yesterday, we were actually having a conversation, and now you’re back to grunting and scowling at the ground. Totally normal behavior.”
I clenched my jaw, the muscles in my neck tightening. “I’m just walking.”
“You’re avoiding.”
