Page 12 of Scoreless Nights

Once I was able to make it back to my own room, I grabbed my phone and sent one of my teammates, Tripp Maddux, a quick text.

We still on for tonight?

Yeah. Meet you at Rosa Sky at ten?

Throwing my clothes on now.

I tossed my phone onto my bed and changed into jeans and a gray t-shirt that had a few buttons below the neckline. It was just enough to pass as “something nice” for a place like Rosa Sky. The thought to tap on Lillian’s door and tell her I was leaving popped into my head, but I shook that idea off. I’d never had to tell anyone when I was leaving, and telling Lillian would just make me pissy again about her being in my space.

Dammit, I needed to get laid again.Apparently soccer practice and my workout with Erin wasn’t enough to get over having a house guest. Turning back into my bedroom, I reached into my side drawer and grabbed a few condoms before heading back out. Three was probably overkill, but if I wanted to, I could have a use for all of them before I came home.

That should cure me.

ChapterSeven

Lily

Lying to everyone that breathed near me was exhausting, but I wasn’t exactly tired.

Talking to Cruz, especially about him having sex with someone–or not–made me uncomfortable. There were too many questions on the tip of my tongue, like“Why do you have your own place, but refuse to use it for intimate moments?”Or,“Have you ever had a threesome?”

Not that I would know anything about any of it since I was still a freaking virgin. The closest I had ever come to having sex was with my college boyfriend. We were getting intimate one night, and asking him to be my first was an automaticoffbutton for him. Admittedly, asking him may have ruined the moment, but I wanted him to know he was my first so he knew he was special.

Instead, he acted like I told him I was a serial killer and he was my next victim. No one in the history of getting dressed had ever gotten dressed so fast and left.

Obviously, I had never heard from him after that, which I chose to look at as a blessing in disguise because if he couldn’t handle that, he wasn’t going to be able to handle anything else about me. Plus, when I returned home for a few months to rest, Mom climbed into bed with me and we had a girl talk. It was a relief when I was able to honestly tell her I was a virgin. She didn’t have to worry about me, and I promised her that night that I would wait forthe one.

As soon as I landed a job and settled down, I figured I would join a dating app and start seeing who was out there for me. Maybe my ‘one’ was in Miami, waiting for me all along.

The slamming of the front door made me realize Cruz had probably left, so I crept out of my room to be sure. Like he had said, it was Saturday night in Miami, and that meant his plans were much different than mine. He was a superstar and I bet he loved going out, getting the attention from all the women that threw themselves at him.

It worked for me, because at least with him gone, I didn’t have to hide and pretend to be asleep. I rummaged for some decaf coffee and sat on the balcony, soaking in the ocean breeze as I sipped from a mug that read, “I’m a keeper,” with a soccer ball heart.How very Cruz-like to have that on a coffee mug,I laughed to myself.

The balcony was big, wrapping around the entire side of the building that faced the water. The other apartment on our floor must have had a balcony as well, but probably faced the bay, which most likely made it a little cheaper.Geez, Lily.Rolling my eyes, I stopped my silly thoughts before they ever got started. There was no way I would ever be able to afford something like Cruz had, and even if I could, living that close to him was not a good idea. The balcony was amazing, though, and I was going to make a point to soak in the view while I could.

With the moon, shining down and reflected over the water, it looked eerie and dangerous, yet serene and calming. It was a lot like Cruz and me, if I wanted to get deep, because despite how dangerous it felt being near him, he still felt calming in a way. We may not have gotten along, or even spoken to each other much, but he had still been around since I was twelve. His presence both scared, and comforted me.

By the time the decaf was gone, I was ready to go to sleep. It was close to one in the morning and I headed inside to clean my mug. When I got closer to the kitchen, I heard commotion in the hallway outside the apartment, and immediately assumed it was someone looking at the empty apartment.

But it was too late to shop for apartments, right? Then the handle on the front door started to shake, and panic settled into my stomach.

“What the–?” I set the mug on the counter and backed away, easing myself into the living room, but still with a view of the door. It had to be Cruz, but I couldn’t imagine him having so much trouble getting into his own place.

Then the banging started, and my heart jumped into my throat. Grabbing my phone from the coffee table, I held it tight, ready to call 911 if I thought I needed to.

After several loud bangs, the door handle started to jiggle again and I pressed the nine on my phone’s keypad. My mind was changing, it couldn’t have been Cruz, and no one else should have been there, at least I didn’t think so. His dad had a key, but our parents weren’t here. They wouldn’t just show up and scare the crap out of me, would they?

Maybe it was his mom?

I pressed a one into the keypad and held my breath, ready to finish dialing, when the door flew open with a loud thud. My phone flew from my hand as I screamed and backed away from a large figure that was walking toward me. The lights were off, but I could tell it wasn’t Cruz. It was, however, a man’s large frame.

The figure stopped near the wall, close to the bar that had all the pizza boxes on it, and started randomly hitting the walls. It gave me a second to look around for my phone, hoping I could find it and finish that call that I should have made when the banging first started.

But I couldn't see it until the figure found what he was looking for and the lights came on. “Ah ha!”

“What do you want?” I yelled, hoping I sounded less afraid and more valiant.

The guy turned around and ran a hand through his hair before holding up both hands toward me. “You must be Cruz’s sister. Fuck, sorry if I scared you.”

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