On The Rebound (Steinbeck U #1) - L.A. Cotton Page 0,77

betrayed me... I’d heard it with my own ears.

As my life had started to crumble down around me, the one girl I’d thought I could trust to always be there, had let me down.

“Zach?” Maverick frowned.

I ran a hand down my face, letting out a weary sigh. “Junior year we made it official. She was my girl. I was so fucking relieved. I can still remember walking into school the first day of the semester. I didn’t care that I was Declan Messiah’s younger brother.”

Because Calli made me feel worth something. She made me feel like I could do anything, be anything.

My chest tightened as I flicked my eyes back up to the dorm building. Was she up there, thinking of me the way I was thinking of her?

No.

She’d walked away.

I’d tried to talk to her, and she’d fucking walked away from me. Again.

My fist clenched against my thigh.

Maverick noticed. “You need to learn to harness that,” he said without judgment. “Anger like you’re carrying around, it isn’t good for the soul.”

I barked a laugh. “Seriously, what are you now, my shrink?”

“A friend,” he replied. “I’m a friend. And I’m going to give you a solid piece of advice. Don’t let her slip through your fingers. So she hurt you back when you were kids, get the fuck over it. You were kids. Kids are supposed to mess up. It’s not your mistakes that define you, Zach, it’s how you deal with the consequences.”

“It’s late, we should probably go.” I stood, done with this conversation, and he followed me up.

“You can avoid me, but you can’t avoid facing all the unresolved crap—”

“Yeah, yeah, Dr Phil, I got it.”

He chuckled, clapping me on the back. “You’re a good kid, Messiah, you’ll figure it out.”

“Hey, less of the kid, I’m twenty.”

Fuck.

Twenty.

And I was still bending to the will of my father because it was easier than stepping out on my own two feet.

“Promise me you’ll call if things get too heavy?” Maverick said.

I managed a nod, but I knew I wouldn’t call him. I wasn’t that guy; one to sit around and talk about my feelings. Besides, I’d lived with my anger for too long to just let it go. In some ways, it had always lived inside me. Every time my dad praised my brother or compared us. All the times he’d yelled that he wished I could be more like Declan. I always came off worse than him. I was too disinterested, too unmotivated, too awkward. He’d never stopped to consider that I had different interests. That maybe I didn’t fit the Messiah mold, and that was that.

We reached the frat house and Maverick slowed to a stop. “I never did like this place,” he said, staring up at the imposing building.

“Yeah, it’s not my thing either.”

“No, but I promised the guys I’d stop by before heading back to the hotel. Do you want to—”

“I’m done,” I said. The only thing I wanted was to retreat to my apartment and forget this night ever happened.

“Okay.” He held out his fist and I bumped it with my own. “It was good to see you, Zach. I’ll see you at the exhibition game.”

“Damn right. I’ll be the one running circles around you.”

Maverick exploded with laughter, chuckling into the night. “I’ll look forward to it,” he said, amusement still twinkling in his eyes. “Now get the hell out of here.”

I didn’t need telling twice.

The next morning, I was down at the court with the guys. I had planned on bailing on them, but when I woke up a tight ball of tension, I decided to go work it off.

“Hey, man. You okay?” Brad jogged over to me. They were already warming up. “That looks nasty.” He motioned to the ugly bruise around my eye.

“I’ll live.”

“You and Callum—”

I let out a frustrated breath. “It’s too early for this, Brad.”

“Yeah, my bad.” He clapped me on the back. “It’s good to see you though. The guys are pumped after last night.”

I dumped my water bottle and cell phone over with the guys stuff and started warming up. Brad hovered though.

“What?” I barked

“Did you see her?”

My brows crinkled as I stretched out my calves and quads.

“Calli, I mean.” He glanced around to make sure we were alone. “Josie said—”

“You’re playing a dangerous game. You saw what happened with me and Callum last night,” I gritted out. “What do you think will happen when Joel finds out? He’s not going to welcome you into the family with