Page 15 of Beneath the Stands (Sugarlake 2)

I swallow and nod, my eyes closing briefly against the sting. “Well, I figure at this point you expect it. I’m just tryin’ to live up to your expectations.”

Eli’s lips turn down, his eyes boring a hole in the side of my head. I fidget, feeling too vulnerable under his gaze.

“Anyway, Momma. Thanks for callin’. School’s goin’ great, by the way, thanks for askin’. I’m actually at work, so I’ve gotta go.”

I hang up before she responds, sucking in air through my teeth. I don’t know why I let her words affect me the way they do. I should be used to them, I’ve been hearing them since I was thirteen. Time lessens the burn, but at the heart of it all, I’m just a girl who wants my folks to accept me for me. Not for who they want me to be.

I glance at Eli. His arms are crossed, sinewy muscles on full display, his eyes honing in on my face.

“What?” I snap.

“You okay?”

“I’m fine.” I take the wild hair Momma gave me out of its ponytail and retie it up.

Eli’s still standing there, hovering like a damn gnat.

I throw my arms in the air. “We just gonna stand here, or are we gonna do this?”

Those blue irises trail up and down, assessing me. The ache from Momma’s shame drains away, replaced with the heat from his pensive gaze. I thought being around him would desensitize me, but instead it’s gotten worse.

I gotta get myself under control.

I can’t entertain thoughts of him for so many reasons. One, he’s technically my boss. Pretty sure we’d both get in heaps of trouble if I let him dive into my honey pot. Two, and most importantly, I can’t stand his stupid ass. Which leads me to believe my body is only reacting because I’ve never had a hate fuck before. Plus, it’s going on three weeks since my last orgasm, which is a goddamn tragedy, so I’m a ball of pent-up hormones.

“You hungry?” Eli’s voice snaps me out of my lustful thoughts.

“What?”

“Food. Do you wanna get something to eat?”

I look around. “Uhh… aren’t we supposed to be ‘trainin’?’”

He shrugs. “Seems like you could use a day off.”

His words shock me into silence. I’m not sure anyone has ever given a damn about what I could use, and even though I hate him, my chest warms at his thoughtfulness. “Okay. But you’re buyin’.”

9

Eli

We’ve been sitting at my favorite diner for thirty minutes and Becca’s barely said three words. The quiet is different than what I’ve come to expect, and I don’t like it.

The spark in her eyes dimmed every second she spent on her phone, a heaviness sinking in my gut as I watched. Which is funny because I thought I hated that fire. It’s annoying as hell. She’s annoying as hell, but I still find myself wanting to smooth away her frown and pluck the sadness from her eyes.

I lean back in the booth, taking her in. She’s sipping on her Coke, looking at her surroundings, those damn curls threading through her fingers. She does that a lot, I’ve noticed—play with her hair.

/> I break the silence. “So, was that your ma on the phone?”

“Yep. The one and only.” She nods.

“Things okay at home?” I don’t know why I’m bothering to ask, it’s not like she’ll tell me.

“What is this, an after-school special? The coach takin’ out the player to bond and learn life lessons?”

I point at her. “You should learn how to shoot the ball before calling yourself a player.”

“I can shoot the damn ball.” She crosses her arms. “I’ve been doin’ it for days now.”

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