Page 20 of These Wicked Games
“Oli—”
“You have fun, okay.” Grey’s eyes wander over the crowd and there’s something in them. I know he wants to stay. Maybe he wants a shot at Monica no matter how unlikely it is with her. “I’ll see you tomorrow.” I look at Monica, happily sipping her drink. “Please take good care of him.”
“Oh, we are going to have a great night!” She starts to dance a bit as she continues sipping.
I just want to go home. Seeing Andre here . . . I can’t. I pull out my phone to request a ride when I feel Grey grab my bicep. “What?”
“Seriously, what the fuck is wrong with you? He’s just a fucking guy. I know your history. I do. I get it, okay? What does it matter if he’s here? So what? Don’t let him ruin any more of your life, Oli.”
“Grey—”
He shakes his head. “Look deeper, Kuli. This isn’t hatred. It’s obsession.”
I wrench my arm out of his grip. “Fuck you.” I turn, ignoring him calling after me as I make my way through the writhing bodies. I didn’t realize how suffocating it felt being in here until now. Everything is pressing down on me. It’s too loud. Too busy.
I breathe a sigh of relief as I step outside. Cool night air carries away the tight feeling in my chest. Tory, the bouncer from earlier, is smoking outside. “Whoa, you alright, big guy?”
“Uh yeah, I just need—” Up ahead I see him, waiting for a ride maybe. Did he leave as soon as he saw me too? Or is he waiting for someone? Maybe that fucking guy. That burn churns my gut again. “Just not feeling well.” Her brows pinch before she nods.
“Have a good night. Get home safe.”
“You too.” I request a ride on my phone. It’s late now and I just pray when I get home sleep will take me. I’m nearly sober, so thankfully I shouldn’t have that much of a hangover tomorrow.
I have nowhere else to wait, so I stand on the sidewalk, awkwardly, away from him. Everything in me is screaming to go up to him and punch him.
His whole body goes rigid.
“Like what you saw, Oli?”
Fuck, why can’t he just shut his mouth?
“If you’re in my line of sight, not likely.”
Andre shakes his head. “It’s pathetic at this point.” I open my mouth but he continues. “Just leave me alone. I don’t know why you even came here?” Because Monica, because Grey.
Because I couldn’t put today out of my mind and wanted to drown in an alcohol-induced haze. We have tomorrow off. I justwanted to forget, but all the drink did is make me relive it even more. Why did he get traded? Why would he leave one of the best teams to come here? To my fucking team? He has to be fucking with me. It’s sick.
None of it makes sense.
I watch him under the streetlights, the ground slick with the rain that fell earlier. I love the fresh earthy smell after it storms. Now it’s just making my stomach clench.
I dare a look at him. From here I can see a faint bruise cradling his eye. I wonder whether I did that, but it’s been about a week since the game. It is fading, though . . . “What’s the matter? Have a problem with me dancing with a guy? Don’t tell me Kuli is a homophobe now.”
I turn to him, pissed. “I’m not a homophobe, you prick! I don’t give a fuck how you spend your personal time. I was here with friends. This ismycity!” Fuck him very much. “Don’t worry, I would never out you, no matter how much I fucking hate you. Unlike you, I don’t try and destroy people’s careers.”
“And there it is,” he mumbles.
I am going to strangle him. Marching toward him, I’m mindful of Monica’s words, and I don’t really want a repeat of last week at Vanessa’s. We’re lucky neither of us got arrested, but this isn’t some dive in the middle of nowhere. We’re in downtown Portland outside a busy nightclub. I’m just . . . exhausted. “You’re just begging for someone to put you in your fucking place.”
Andre spins on me. His hazel eyes shine under the streetlights, and from here his freckles stand out even more. “What’s the matter, Oli?” he purrs, and the sound is like a heavy caress over my stomach. It clenches. “You want to be the one to do that?” He tsks. “Or maybe I’d have you on your knees in a heartbeat. I think that would suit you better.”
What the fuck!“You disgust me.”
“Or does that image intrigue you?”
“You’re right, I always fantasize about people who fucking disgust me all the time. It’s my kink, actually. Makes so much sense.”
“No, what doesn’t make sense, Kuli, is the way you watched me dancing with that guy.Thatis what doesn’t make sense.”
