Page 48 of Game Changer
“Afraid not. It’s a secret.”
“Oh, come on!” She sits up on her knees and does her best impression of begging. I hate to admit it, but her expression almost makes me cave.Almost.
“It wouldn’t be a secret if I told you, now, would it?”
“Fine.” Shehuffs in defeat. “Can we grab some food at the dining hall when I’m done stretching at least?”
“We can, but first, I want you to show me how to do the sira thing. How did you do it again? Like this?” I roll onto my back while attempting to get my feet behind my head, which results in an epic fail. My legs barely swing past my torso, but her endless laughter doesn’t make me feel like a loser at all.
It makes me feel like the luckiest guy there is.
Twenty-four
Ethan
Five years earlier
“I can’t believe you forced me to do this.” Tugging at the sleeves of my sweatshirt, I curse under my breath because the fabric feels too hot. Cameron continues trying to set me up with random girls because the one he’s trying to hook up with always has a friend she wants to bring.
“I didn’t force you to do anything,” Cameron replies. “I asked, and you said yes.”
Because if I didn’t, he would have asked someone else. He’s still coping with the loss of his mom, and the thought of him choosing a new best friend doesn’t sit right with me. Even though I don’t want to be here, I’m doing it for him.
We’re standing outside the local movie theater, and I feel Cameron grow tense beside me. I do what I do best, filtering through the different facades in my brain before choosing the correct one to prepare to face the girl I’ll have to charm tonight, but my sister is the one who greets us instead. Maya is with her, and behind them is a guy twice her size. I don’t recognize him from school, so he must be from another one nearby.
“What are you guys doing here?” Maddie asks.
“I could ask you the same question,” I reply. “Who dropped you guys off? Mom?”
Maddie points to the guy behind Maya. “Emmanuel drove us.”
I don’t bother looking in his direction. It hurts enough to see his hand on Maya’s ass out of the corner of my eye. I know Maya is off-limits, but her choice of men is awful. She deserves someone who’ll treat her right, and the douchebag currently glued to his phone rather than her isn’t it.
“We’re just waiting for Ryan to get here,” Maya admits, her eyes sliding to mine. I’d think there was a hint of regret there if I didn’t know any better. “He’s one of Emmanuel’s friends. They play soccer together.”
“And what movie are you guys seeing?” Cameron’s voice is different now, but I can’t understand why.
Maya swoons when she says, “The new romance. You know, the one about the baker and the chef.” The interest she has in clichéd rom-coms is comical. If I ever had a shot with her, I’d have to up my game and surpass all her high standards. Emmanuel seems to be doing a fantastic job feeding her need for romance by texting, utterly disinterested in the conversation.
Sarcasm intended.
“I’m assuming it was your choice,” Cameron muses.
“What makes you think that?”
“Because Maddie hates clichéd movies. She’s more of a fantasy or horror-flick fanatic.” His eyes flit to her, but Maddie fixes her gaze on the parking lot instead. The two had a falling out after Cameron’s mom passed and haven’t been friends since, and whenever I ask about it, neither of them feels like sharing what happened. I gave up trying after a year, and now it is what it is. So much has changed in such a short amount of time that if I think about it too much, it gives me a fucking headache.
“He’s here.” Emmanuel finally speaks and scans the crowd. “Let’s go get our tickets. He’ll meet us in line.” Without acknowledging us, he stuffs his hand in the back pocket of Maya’s jeans and leads her to the booth at the front of the theater. My jaw ticks as I watch his hand explore. I’m silent when Maya goes to enter the theater, pausing by the door because she’s expecting him to open it for her, but Emmanuel stands there and waits for her to open it instead, like a fucking idiot. I clench my hands into fists at my sides when our dates for the night finally arrive.
I barely pay attention to the lame greeting I give, not when fury burns in my veins and threatens to destroy me from the inside out.
What is Maya doing with a guy like that? Sure, he’s tall, dark, and handsome, but looks don’t mean everything, do they? Emmanuel acted like a total tool. He—
“So, what movie are we watching?” Cameron’s date asks.
Cameron grins. “I thought we’d see the new romance that just came out. Apparently, it’s about a chef and a baker.”
I whip my head to look at him. “I thought we were seeing the action movie?”
