Page 32 of Beneath the Stands (Sugarlake 2)

She stares at me, her lips turning down. “You really don’t see yourself right, do you?”

I shrug. “I see myself as anyone else.”

“What are you worried about then?”

“Who says I’m worried about anything?”

She tsks. “You don’t have to say it, Eli. It’s clear as day on that pretty face of yours.”

A grin tugs my lips. “Pretty?”

She groans. “You just gonna repeat everything I say all night, or can we have an actual conversation for once?”

I lean my back against the foot of the couch, running a hand through my hair. “I don’t know, Becca. I guess I just want to hear it didn’t seem like I was an imposter. Basketball is all I’ve known. It’s all I’ve lived and breathed since Pops found out I could dribble the ball. But… I’m only a few years older than the guys on the team. And when it comes down to it, in the big leagues, I couldn’t hack it.”

Her brows draw in. “You got hurt, Eli. That’s hardly a failure.”

I huff out a laugh. “Yeah? Tell that to the expectations lingering on my back.”

She scoots next to me, placing her hand on mine and squeezing. Tingles race up my arm, my heart slamming against my ribs at her touch.

“Eli, those boys don’t care about your injury or your age. They worship you. If you could have seen the way their eyes lit up with every word you spoke...” She trails off, shaking her head.

A bit of my doubt chips away with her words. “You really think so?”

“I know so. If I could feel your passion, there’s no way they didn’t.”

My eyes flick over her face. From the freckles on her nose to the sharp gaze of her emerald eyes. She’s so close I can feel the heat of her energy zapping along my side, trying to lure me into its embrace. Christ, I want to kiss her.

Friends.

I clear my throat and scoot back. “Well, thanks. I hope I can live up to how you think they see me.”

Her eyes dim as I say it, nodding her head as she jumps up, gathering the trash from our meal. I let her, not knowing what to say. Not daring to act on the things I want. Because what I want is to pull her into my arms. Apologize for not realizing the way she’s always lit me up inside. For not voicing how damn beautiful she’s always been, and not doing something about it when I had the chance. For not being able to do anything about it now.

What I want is to dive deep inside her and stay there, until she admits she feels this just as much as I do.

But I can’t.

So I let her clean up as I open a bottle of wine and take it to the patio, overlooking the coast. I’ll sink into a make-believe world where every fiber of my being doesn’t reach out to fuse with hers.

I’ll settle for her friendship, and pretend that it’s enough.

18

Becca

Time moves differently after a few glasses of wine. I thought we were just grabbing a quick meal. Convinced myself I would leave right after eating, not wanting to torture myself by staying next to Eli for long periods of time. I hate how much I like him. I feel like my loyalty to Lee is slipping away with every second in his presence.

But I can’t help it.

So here I am a few hours later. The sun has long since dipped behind the sea—which you can see from his million-dollar deck. Holy crap, how did I not know Eli was loaded? Talk about a smack in the face when I pulled up to his mansion with a view.

“How many rooms does this place have, anyway?” I sip my glass of wine, relaxing on a lounge chair.

“Six.”

“Six? For what? Who’s gonna be takin’ up the space? Not like your family’s gonna visit anytime soon.” My hand slaps over my mouth immediately, the wine loosening my tongue beyond what I meant to say.

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