Chapter Four #2
“I was trying to not talk to anyone about it,” she mumbled. Her brother preened at the implication that when Sammie finally folded under the pressure, he was the one she turned to first.
“I don’t know if that’s a good idea.” Kai’s voice was quiet, unsure.
Sammie frowned. “What are you talking about?”
“Well, you see,” Atticus began, crossing his arms and affecting a know-it-all air. “Kai thinks Ivy has a thing for you.”
Sammie’s mind went blank.
“What?” She gaped, looking back and forth between the two men. Kai nodded. “No.” There was no way it could be true. “What?”
“She’s quiet about it.” Kai shrugged. “It’s just a hunch. Ivy’s different around you.”
“Because we’re friends,” Sammie said slowly.
“Maybe.” Their kitten, Vash, jumped into Kai’s lap, kneading at the fabric of his hoodie before curling into a ball, her purrs echoing through the small room. “It’s just a hunch.”
A hunch. Sammie’s mind scrambled back to the last time she’d seen Ivy, the night they’d all had drinks together.
Kieran’s an idiot if he can’t see what’s right in front of him.
Ivy’s words hadn’t pinged as anything more when Sammie had heard them, but she remembered the look shared between Kai and her brother. She remembered the way Ivy had been focused on the drink in her hands, her eyes pointedly not looking at Sammie as she’d spoken.
“No.” Sammie shook her head. “There’s no way.”
Kai shrugged again. “I know what it’s like to hide feelings. They seep out, even if you don’t want them to.”
Ivy was her best friend. Atticus didn’t count because he was family. He was stuck with her. But Ivy? Ivy had chosen Sammie, just as much as Sammie had chosen her.
“She knows you’ve always had a thing for someone else,” Atticus added. “Speaking from experience, that makes admitting feelings a whole lot harder.” His gaze met Kai’s, a soft smile tilting his lips.
Could they be right? Could Ivy be hiding feelings that Sammie had somehow never picked up on?
Sammie hadn’t decided if she would tell Ivy about Kieran’s secret. It felt wrong, considering they worked together. Guilt already swelled in her belly over the fact that Atticus and Kai now knew. It wasn’t her secret to tell.
And if they were right, if Ivy really did have feelings for Sammie, telling her about the discovery, about what Sammie wanted to do with that discovery… that could hurt her. And the last thing Sammie wanted to do was hurt her friend.
Losing people was something Sammie was good at. Fear gripped her chest. She couldn’t lose Ivy, not over something like this.
Sammie sat back up, elbows sinking into the mattress as she frowned. Kai was lost in his phone, and Atticus was playing with Vash, his cat, who had jumped down to bat a dirty sock around on the floor.
“Great chat, guys.”
Kai looked up as Atticus offered a cheerful, “You’re welcome!”
“Sorry,” Kai said. “Ori’s having a bad day.”
Sammie hadn’t really thought about Orion Harper since he’d been traded to the Los Angeles Comets right before the start of the season.
She wasn’t close with most of her brother’s teammates, but Ori had been around a bit more than the others.
He was sunny, fun, a good friend to Atticus, and was the person who had introduced him to Kai, so Sammie liked him by default because of how happy her brother was now.
“What’s wrong?” Genuine concern flashed across Atticus’ face, and Sammie fought the urge to shove him off the bed again. He hadn’t seemed this worried over her problems.
“They made the tournament with their win last night,” Kai continued. “But his coach said he won’t be starting for it.”
“Fuck,” Atticus said. “That sucks.”
Kai nodded. “Julian’s taking him out with some friends tonight, trying to cheer him up.”
Because Ori had been around more than the other volleyball nerds, Sammie was aware that his depression had worsened over the last couple of years. She remembered Atticus talking to him on the phone, inviting him over just to get him out of the house.
“At least you’ll get to see him in the tournament,” she offered. Apparently, it was the wrong thing to say.
“Only if we win tonight.” It was Atticus’ turn to flop back on the bed. Vash hopped up onto his stomach, letting out a chirping meow before beginning to purr and knead his shirt.
“That’s not true,” Kai said matter-of-factly. “You can lose tonight, but then you have to win the next two.”
“That doesn’t make it better,” Atticus whined.
“Glad that we’re all miserable together right now,” said Sammie. “Great bonding activity.”
“Attie’s right,” Kai said, his words now pointed at her. “You’ll just have to talk to him.”
Sammie knew they were right, but she wasn’t quite ready to accept that solution.
“The ball’s in his court now,” she said, her voice slipping dangerously close to matching her brother’s whiney tone. “He hasn’t said anything back.”
Kai shrugged. “Sometimes people need time to process stuff. He doesn’t owe you a response right away, if at all. But you’re going to see each other tonight, so it’s either you never speak to him again or you just rip the bandaid off and say hi.”
Sammie’s hands tangled together in her lap. She began to absentmindedly pick at her thumbnail.
Kai was right. Sammie had seen his relationship with her brother first hand, and she knew that they’d had to work to find a communication style that suited both of them.
In the beginning, it had been a struggle for Atticus, figuring out how to give Kai the time he needed to process things. The time to find his voice, his words.
Maybe Kieran was the same. Sammie couldn’t fault him for it, if that was the case. Didn’t make her situation any easier, though.
Sammie flopped back on the bed once again, letting out a pathetic groan.
“Fine,” she said. “I’ll talk to him tonight.”