Page 2 of Most Valuable Player
“Okay. What about me, exactly, has bewitched you, body and soul?” Mason’s maintaining his eerily pleasant, robotic expression.
It’s possible I’m starting to squirm. Some of the benchwarmers gearing up nearby are snickering as they listen. The fluorescent stadium lights come alive, and though they illuminate the entire grassy field and gunmetal-gray bleachers, I feel like they’ve activated specifically to pin me under a spotlight. “Your face,” I squawk.
Mason blinks at me.
“I fuck with it,” I clarify. “Please go out with me.”
I’m not used to tacking on a “please” for anything, but fine, I’ll throw him a bone.
Mason Gray’s narrow shoulders deflate, like he’s just released a sigh, and then he returns his harrowing gaze to his clipboard. His face hasn’t flinched once, despite how high his flames of flustered passion must be writhing. He opens his mouth, and I massage my vanilla-flavored lips together, preparing.
“That’s an awful idea, but thank you.”
…Oh.
Okay, it’s okay, he’s just playing coy. Which means I need to lock into full-force seduction mode. “How can I sweeten the offer?” I ask, leaning over him with a knowing smirk, my eyebrows waggling. He’s at the perfect height that I could rest my chin atop his head. “What do you desire from me, water boy?”
“Distance,” Mason says flatly. “Stop breathing on me and jog another lap.”
I think I choke on my next inhale. The heightened laughter of the huddled juniors is like acid in my ears. Coach Barnett, who’s been yelling at people nearby but also eavesdropping, kneads his fuzzy eyebrows. Clearly they don’t understand we’re locked in a game of cat and mouse, which Mason is dragging out to make the end result more satisfying.
“Is this environment not romantic enough?” I ask with charmed laughter. “I know a perfect restaurant down the street. Low candlelight, soft music, waiters with accents. Shall I give you a ride after the game?”
I notice a muscle work in Mason’s jawline, and he closes his eyes, folding his clipboard into his chest. “Cameron Morelli,” he says, assoft as he looks, “I would sooner star as the lone twink in a porno featuring the entire football team before ever accepting an invitation to dinner with you. Does that clarify the situation?”
…I don’t. Understand. “You don’t want to date me?” I ask, just to be certain.
“I do not,” he confirms.
“Are you, like, sure?”
The words are pathetic, and they’re also mine. To which Mason Gray continues smiling his polite smile, the kind that doesn’t show his teeth or crinkle his face, and says, “Yes, but thank you for the opportunity.”
What…do I do.
I decide to run another lap to sweat this off, my brain scrambling to extinguish the short circuit fire roaring into its fleshy folds. Why? Why? Why—
“Told you,” Darius says beside me, sweat shining on his temples, matching my pace as I sprint around the track’s inner ring to flee my demons. “He’s out of your league, anyway.”
I wheeze in protest. The sentence has never been uttered, yet there it is, another verbal backhand to my opposite cheek. Who’s the one with the eyes often described as “sea blue” and “cerulean” and “sapphire” depending on the lighting? Who’s the one with the golden-brown hair streaked with glittery highlights? Who’s the one with the perfectly cut midsection that could be mistaken as a bed of skin-colored rock?
Oh ho. So Mason thinks he’s out of my league?
“No,” Darius says. “I’m telling you that as a fact.”
Well, he’s going to regret it.
“Sometimes I think you don’t know when you’re talking out loud, Morelli.”
I finish my lap, skin shimmering beneath the humble luster of sweat, and beeline for Mason, who’s peeling back the film over a case of water bottles. “Hey, water boy,” I say sharply.
His chest swells with a fatigued inhale, and he cranes his neck back. His black hair is swept over his brow like it’s been molded by a gentle, flattering breeze. “Yes?” he asks with infuriating calmness, as if he didn’t just knee me in the sack moments ago.
“You…” The words tangle in my throat.
“Me?”
“You.”I hack through the blockage and spit. “Am I not sexy enough?”
