Page 79 of My Secret Bandit

“What about you? Do you hate me, Jamie?” Kyle asked. Reaching out his fingers curled around mine. The gesture meant to connect only increased the stabbing pain in my chest. His touch provided no comfort, no sense of security or familiarity.

Instead, it was a glaring reminder of just how far apart we drifted.

Unable to handle that feeling of loss, I pulled my hand from his. I’d never understand how someone who helped so much during my absolute worst days could end up hurting me more. “No, I don’t. I should. But—“

“You need to leave.” Mateo’s low voice vibrated the surrounding air, the heat of his body radiating against my back as he settled a protective hand on my hip.

“You’re right, we’ll talk later.”

“You won’t. Not unless she wants to.”

Kyle muttered his agreement, looking between me and the man who towered over us before turning.

Tears stung my eyes as I watched him leave.

Mateo turned me around and held me against him. His warm hand ran down my hair, providing me with a small dose of comfort.

“Jameson, are you okay?” he asked, pulling back to wipe my cheeks.

“I’m fine, I just need a minute. Go. Practice is starting.”

“Fuck,”he growled under his breath as he watched his teammates spread into groups across the field. “I’m sorry.” Giving my head a lingering kiss, he ran to join his group.

Refusing to be any more of a distraction, I walked off the field, battling tears as I went. By the time I was alone, heavy sobs shook my body. The walls of the corridor absorbed my cries and quietly replayed them back to me.

After a few minutes, a warm, hard body cradled mine.

“I told you, I’m fine,” I said before realizing the arms holding me weren’t Mateo’s.

“No, you’re not.” My face popped up at the sound of Xander’s voice. “Go ahead. Get it out. Then tell me what happened.”

I hugged him close as I cried. I didn’t know how many more minutes passed as we stood alone in the corridor, his cheek resting on top of my head and the muffled sound of whistles and shuffling cleats behind us. He seemed to be fine holding me until I felt ready enough to remove myself from him.

“Okay, I’m good,” I said with a half-hearted laugh.

“Ha! Yeah, right. You told me the same thing a couple days ago. Now look at ya, you’ve turned me into a human tissue,” he joked, both of us glancing down at his tear-soaked shirt.

“Sorry.”

“No worries. You ready?” he asked, nudging his head back toward the field.

I nodded, and he swung his arm around my shoulders, shielding me from whatever awaited us at the other end of the tunnel.

Back on the sidelines, the worried stare of Mateo met us. Even under his helmet, his eyes shot through me. Xander gave him a subtle gesture to let him know I was okay, and his helmet tipped up in response.

We stood in silence, watching the team run through the usual position drills. A mild tension growing between us. I knew he wanted to know what Kyle said that set me off, but in reality, he said nothing. Instead, it was the realization that he didactuallyhurt me. I thought I was fine. I let myself believe I was more worried about the negative impact the article had on Mateo. While that was part of it, seeing Kyle again clarified that the article—rather his part in it—hurt me more than I wanted to admit.

He was my only true friend for the first few months I lived in Florida, and yet it seemed like he forgot about our friendship; or worse, he remembered but still threw it away.

Did all the time we spent together really mean that little to him?

Is that why it was so easy for him to share information about me?

Did he know it would upset me?

He had to, right?

“I can hear your wheels turning,” Xander said, removing me from my thoughts.

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