Page 13 of Tell Me Softly
“Guys, I can’t do little kids’ parties,” I said to piss themoff. My brother rolled his eyes, but Harry ribbed me, trying to persuade me.
“Come on, dude. Everybody wants you to come, Coach. Even if you are an old man.” He grabbed my water bottle and dumped it over his head.
“I’ll see if I can make it,” I said. It wasn’t like I had anything better to do. Besides, my mother was working the night shift, so I wouldn’t have to worry about her being home alone.
My brother walked off to the locker room with his new friend while I put away the balls and picked up the water bottles and trash the players and fans had left behind. That was the worst part of the job, but I wasn’t about to complain. I needed the money, and I needed steady employment as a condition of my probation.
Absorbed in what I was doing, I barely realized the bleachers were empty. A door opened and closed behind me. When I heard dribbling, I turned just as the ball swished through the net, struck the wall, and bounced back in the direction it had come from. Looking over, I saw a pair of girl’s hands. It was her: Kam.
She had changed into a skirt, a white halter top, and combat boots that made her look taller than she was. She was almost too much for my mental health to stand.
She looked up, startled, and said, “Sorry, I didn’t think anyone was still in here.” Her body was tense. I could tell I was having some kind of effect on her, but I didn’t know what it was.
“Can I get the ball?” I said, trying to ignore the feelings that flooded through me each time I saw her.
She looked at me coldly and threw the ball straight into my chest. When I caught it, I turned and shot, making the basket and peering at her from the corner of my eye. She walked over to the benches where the cheerleaders had left their purses and water bottles during the game.
I reached into my pocket and pulled out a cell phone I’d foundunder a bench and was planning to leave with the secretary on Monday morning. It was locked, and I hadn’t been able to figure out whose it was.
“Looking for this?” I asked. There was relief in Kam’s beautiful brown eyes.
“I thought I’d lost it,” she said, walking hesitantly toward me.
Amused, I stuck it back in my pocket. She stopped short as she observed me.
“What are you doing?” she asked.
I grabbed the ball and sank another basket. I knew she was watching me, and I was happy that I’d made a tough shot, a three-pointer from the far end of the court.
“You know, I think I’ll keep it,” I said, collecting the ball and walking over until I was face to face with her.
Her expression was like that of a person hearing a foreign language. I didn’t know if she didn’t understand or didn’t want to.
“Give it back,” she said with that stern tone she seemed so used to using.
“Or what, princess?” I asked, coming even closer. I didn’t know what I was doing; I just had the urge to piss her off. It was like when we were little and I used to pull her braids. I wanted a reaction out of her, but I also wanted to smell her perfume. And when I did, I could feel every one of my five senses go on alert.
She stepped back to try to keep some distance between us. She did that a lot—not just with me, with everyone. At least in public. And that pose of hers, distant, untouchable, made me want to disrupt it. I noticed the little dark freckles around her nose––those were new, she didn’t have them when she was a kid. And her lips, thicker than they used to be. Her long, curled eyelashes casting shadows on her reddening cheeks…
“I don’t know what your deal is, but give me back my phone, Thiago.” It turned me on, hearing my name come from her mouth.I was about to do something crazy––one of the craziest things I’d ever done––when the gym door opened again.
“Kami, you coming or what?” said the curly-haired girl who was always glued to her. I didn’t know her name. She stared at us for a second, not expecting to see me there, let alone so close to her friend. Kam turned with a smile so fake, I couldn’t believe the other girl didn’t notice.
“I’ll be right out, give me a sec. I’ll catch up with you,” she said. She turned back to me as the latch clicked. “Give it,” she ordered me, reaching toward my pocket.
I grabbed her hand and trapped it, pulling her in and whispering in her ear, my lips almost touching her skin.
“I’ll give it to you when I feel like it, Kamila.”
Then I walked past her and out of the gym. I’d crossed a line I swore I wouldn’t cross, but I didn’t care. Because I was going to have to give her back her phone, and to do that, I’d have to see her again…and I was looking forward to it.
Chapter Five
Kami
I couldn’t think about anything but the heat of his lips on my ears and the way it spread all the way through my body. It had only lasted a few seconds, but it had turned my world upside down. Never had such a soft touch meant so much. But he hated me, and he was probably doing it to provoke me. Since Thiago’s return, the part of me I kept hidden—that part I worked so hard to keep under control—was struggling to come out and destroy everything in its reach.
Damn him for having so much power over me! But why was I surprised? He always had. When we were kids, I had to be careful when he was around. I felt like a small, defenseless animal being hunted by a beast. Thiago eclipsed everything; his simple presence made that perfect pose I’d tried so hard to perfect turn to dust.
