Page 62 of Our Offseason

I rolled my eyes and waited for her to rip into me.

But instead of using words, she slapped me across my face.

I looked down at her in shock and touched my stinging cheek.

She pointed her finger at me and fumed, “You, Duke Callahan, just broke her heart on her birthday!”

The disappointment on her face bit into me, but I argued back anyway. “No! She broke my heart! She was off with stupid Tyler-”

Paige threw her hands up in the air. “Because I asked him to distract her so we could surprise her with this cake! She’s been stealing glances at you all day long hoping you come talk to her! How are you this stupid?”

“No-” I was about to challenge her claims, but Max nodded at me, telling me that she was correct, and I paused…

Fuck.

“Yeah,” Paige said. “Go fix it,” she demanded. “You’re ruining my party, Duke Michael Callahan.”

“Jeez, okay, Mom,” I said sarcastically. “I’m going,” I told her with wide eyes.

But my body trembled with confusion as I moved forward. Part of me hoped Paige was right, but the other half of me couldn’t be that easily convinced…

Maybe it was just because it was a hard thing for me to admit that I was wrong…

24.Claire

In their house, I slammed the bathroom door shut behind me.

I hugged myself tightly and broke down crying. The tears were fueled by alcohol and crushed hope.

Stupid Daniella. No, it wasn’t her fault. Stupid Duke. He was the one who put potential love out there between us just to steal it back so quickly that it gave me whiplash.

Someone was now knocking urgently on the door.

I quickly sniffled up my tears and wiped my face. “Occupied,” I called out.

But the knocking continued.

I rolled my teary eyes and moved to open the door, feeling annoyed that they couldn’t just take the hint and find a different bathroom.

When I flung it open, the first thing I saw were his crutches.

He forcefully pushed past me to join me in the little bathroom.

“Duke, stop,” I complained. “I’m leaving.”

But he grabbed my hand and pulled me back lightly. “Wait, please.”

I looked up to his round brown eyes and my heart paused. I guess we were doing this now.

“Fine. I can’t take this anymore, Duke!” I flung my hands down by my sides. “Is that what you wanted to hear? Every time I think we’re in a good place, every time I try to give you my heart, you act like I’m holding a gun to your head,” I complained. “And I’m sick of it. I’m sick of you messing with my head.”

His nose flared. He placed his crutches against the wall and leaned his body against the bathroom sink. “You’re the one messing with my head, Kessel,” he practically growled. “How am I supposed to feel when you’re running around all day with Tyler?”

“Tyler is my friend!” I shouted, feeling exasperated. “And he was trying to help me figure out what to say to you all day!”

God, I felt so stupid about the whole thing. I covered my eyes and ordered myself not to cry. I hated crying in front of people. The stupid alcohol in my system was making it harder than usual to keep the tears at bay.

When I looked back at him, his face was blank, unreadable, like he was trying to keep his guard up. And that was our problem—both of us always had a barrier up when around each other. But I couldn’t do it anymore. I was done pretending like what he did didn’t affect me.

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