Page 71 of A Game of Ruck
I don’t particularlylike being called out for running—but it’s exactly what I did.
I ran.
From the guy who held my hand like it meant something.
From the guy who kissed me like he’d been waiting his whole life to.
From the guy I might—God help me—be falling for.
“Hello?Anyone home in there, Anna-banana?”Daniela waves a hand in front of my face, the sun glinting off her oversized sunglasses.She’s sprawled in one of the loungers outside the Rovers’ complex like this is just another chill Tuesday.
She looks good.Glowy.Genuinely happy in a way I haven’t seen in a while.
Maybe it’s the Carolina sunshine.
Or the job she’s absolutely crushing.
Or maybe it’s the literal buffet of hot athletes she’s constantly surrounded by.
I mean, I knew Luca was hot, but no one warned me that rugby players come in actual teams filled with hotties.
“Sorry,” I mumble, dragging my fingers down my face.“I’m spiraling.”
“Obviously.I mean, I just did the Running Man, and you didn’t even blink.Rude.”She sits up and sips from her iced coffee like she’s got all the time in the world.
“Ugh.I feel like garbage.I’m sorry.”
“Well, of course you feel bad.You did run away without talking to him.”
“I panicked!”I shoot back.“Okay?I thought—I don’t know.I thought maybe it was all some elaborate setup.Like, what if he only got close to me to help his dad get in good with mine?”
Daniela arches a perfectly sculpted brow.
“Annabeth.That man has ‘mob daddy trauma’ written all over him.You think he’s out here scheming?Please.He’s obsessed with you.”
My cheeks flush.“He’s not obsessed.”
“Girl.”She leans forward, all intensity and no chill.“The man paid for every single thing in Mexico.Behind your back.He threatened Lisa with a smile on his face and called you his girlfriend like he meant it.Then he stared at you all dinner, like you were the main course.”
“How do you know any of that?”
“Your cousin, Jasmine.She messaged me.What?You know she is the only nice one.”
I bite my lip.
“True.Okay, it’s just, I don’t want to be someone’s weakness.Or their obligation.I want to be chosen.”
She softens.“Babe, you already were.You just didn’t believe it.”
The weight of her words settle in my chest, heavy and real.
“I’m a coward,” I whisper.“And now it’s too late.”
“Nope,” Daniela says, popping the P like she’s slapping me upside the head with logic.
“You’re not a coward.You’re scared.Big difference.But guess what?You still have time to fix it.”
I sigh.“I don’t even want to go to his game.”
