Page 5 of The Assist
Dylan: Can’t sleep after games. Brain won’t shut off.
Mia: Try reading a book.
Dylan: You offering to come read it to me?
I roll my eyes sohard it hurts.
Mia: You’re unbelievable.
Dylan: You like it.
I don’t reply. I throw my phone in the passenger seat, grip the steering wheel a little tighter, and finally pull away.
But the worst part is, Idolike it.
Not the cocky texts or the endless flirting. Not really.
It’s the honesty underneath all that, the quiet moment he didn’t mean to show me. The stillness in the car, the weight he never admits to carrying. That’s the part that sticks.
And I hate that I notice.
Because the second I let myself feel something, I lose control of the situation. And I can’t afford that. Not here. Not now.
Not with him.
The next morning,I’m back at the stadium by 8am. Early rehab schedule, mostly voluntary. Dylan is, predictably, not here yet. I expected as much.
The rest of the team filter in; some hungover, some half-asleep. I run through stretches, check on lingering injuries, assign exercises.
Then, at 8:47, he appears.
Hood up, sunglasses on, ankle brace visible under his trackies.
“Look who’s finally decided to turn up,” I say, crossing my arms.
“Morning, sunshine,” he replies, voice gravelly and low. He walks like he didn’t play forty-five minutes on a dodgy leg last night. Stupid, stubborn idiot.
“You’re late.”
“You’re bossy.”
“I’m the one keeping your shoulder in its socket, Winters.”
He smiles, slow and dangerous. “Clarke, if I’d known you liked tying me up, I’d have injured myself weeks ago.”
I don’t rise to it because he feeds off reactions. I just hand him a resistance band and gesture to the mat.
“Ten reps, then we move to wall walks.”
“Slave driver.”
“Whiner.”
He lowers himself with a quiet groan, muttering something about this being “more painful than losing playoffs.” But he does the reps and he doesn’t cheat. But he watches me from the corner of his eye like he’s waiting for me to flinch. I don’t.
Halfway through the routine, he winces and pauses.
“Sharp pain?”
