On The Rebound (Steinbeck U #1) - L.A. Cotton Page 0,103
for a little while longer or are you going to grow some balls and show her you’re worth it?”
“If we’re talking about balls, I think you need to look in the mirror,” I teased.
Maverick glowered at me. “What the fuck is that supposed to mean?”
“Dude, you’re getting married. If Lo doesn’t own your balls now, the second you say, ‘I do’, she will.”
“Fuck,” he breathed. “You’re right.”
For as much as I was joking though, I couldn’t deny the slight pinch around my heart. Maverick was a lucky bastard. He had a girl by his side who shouldered his burdens as if they were her own.
I’d had that once... but I’d lost it.
And although Calli had sounded ready to give me another chance earlier…
Part of me would always wonder if I deserved it.
Calli
When I left for classes, I was still a little dumbfounded by the events of the morning. But I wanted to give Zach his space. I could sense his anger spiraling out of control and I knew he had a lot to process. Besides, there were still two days until the exhibition game, and I didn’t want us to do anything hasty.
Zach needed to focus on the game, and I needed to focus on classes and my session with Jasmine at the center later. Hopefully, it would go a whole lot better than it had on Tuesday.
“There you are,” Josie caught up with me. “How are you feeling?” Her eyes glittered with insinuation.
“Is there something you want to ask me?” I could practically smell her desperation.
“Who, me?” She flashed me a salacious grin, leaning in closer. “You had sex this morning.”
“What?” My cheeks burned. “No, I didn’t.”
“Girl, it’s written all over your face. But that means he must have stayed over... which means...”
I clapped a hand over her mouth. “You can stop talking now.”
She rolled her eyes, muttering something inaudible.
“I mean it, Josie. It’s complicated and there are still a lot of things to figure out. Promise me you won’t make a big deal out of this.”
“I promise.” It was muffled against my palm.
Releasing her, I pinned her with a serious look. “I mean it.”
“But—”
“No, Josie.”
“But—”
“Seriously?”
“Gah, do you have any idea how hard this is? I have questions... lots of questions.”
“I know,” I frowned, “which is exactly why we are not talking about this.”
“Did something happen? Because you don’t seem very relaxed for a girl who just got fu—”
“He left.” I let out a heavy sigh.
“Huh?” Josie ground to a halt, snagging my wrist. “What do you mean he left?”
“We had... sex. We talked... things got heavy... then he left.”
“Like he said ‘goodbye, I’ll see you later’ left, or he hightailed it out of there quicker than you could say ‘harder, Zach, harder’?” She smothered a chuckle.
“Oh my god,” I spluttered. “What is wrong with you?”
“You’d be lost without me now.” Josie smirked.
“Yeah, I would. But it doesn’t change the fact you’re a freak sometimes.”
She waved me off. “Back to Zach, which ‘he left’ was it?”
“Somewhere in the middle?” My lips thinned, and it was her turn to frown.
“Well, have you heard from him since?”
“Nope.” The knot in my stomach tightened. “I’m giving him space.”
“Noooo, babe,” she groaned. “That’s the last thing you want to do. He might be having a crisis of confidence. You need to tell him how you feel and lock that shit down.”
“Tell who how you feel?” Victoria and Kira appeared out of nowhere.
“Uh, private conversation.” Josie wagged her finger between us.
“Well maybe if it’s private you should try not having it on the sidewalk.” She flashed me a saccharine sweet smile.
“We’ll remember that next time,” Josie sneered, “thanks for the advice.”
“You’ll be at the game Saturday, right?” Victoria said, completely unaffected by Josie’s prickly attitude. “There’s a thing afterwards, at The Pivot. You should come. I’m hosting an auction to raise extra funds for the facility. Everyone will be there.”
“We’ll be there.”
We will?
I’d agreed to the game, not the celebrations after.
“Gosh, is that the time already.” Victoria checked her diamond encrusted wristwatch. “We’d better shoot. But if you see Zach, could you tell him we need to finish the conversation we started this morning over breakfast?” She walked straight between us, her hair whipping around my face like a red wave.
“Did she just say what I think she said?” Josie said around a sad smile.
“Yep.” I tried to contain my hurt.
“Nah, she’s lying. She has to be. No way Zach left you to go eat breakfast with her. Unless... no,” she shook her head,