thirtynine
Leo's POV
Practice ends.
I'm dripping sweat, chest heaving, shirt clinging to me like a second skin.
Caleb claps me on the shoulder, talking about drills, but I'm barely listening.
Because she's here.
Sitting on the bleachers.
Legs crossed.
Hair down.
Wearing my shirt tied in a knot at the waist.
And she's smiling at me like I hung the damn moon.
My stomach does an embarrassing flip.
I grab my water bottle and wipe my face with the bottom of my shirt-
mostly to dry off.
But also because I know she's watching.
Her eyes widen slightly.
Yeah.
I noticed.
Caleb bumps me. "Stop thirst-trapping my sis."
"I'm not," I mutter.
He stares.
I sigh.
"...Okay, maybe a little."
He snorts and jogs off to talk to Coach.
I run a hand through my hair and start walking toward her.
Slow.
Casual.
Or... trying to be casual.
Inside, I'm one wrong look away from sprinting.
She stands when I approach.
"Good practice," she says softly.
"Did you watch the whole thing?"
"Most."
My lips twitch.
"You staring at me the whole time, or just the parts where I looked really impressive?"
She rolls her eyes, but her smile gives her away.
"Relax, athlete. You were fine."
Fine.
Fine.
I lean closer so only she can hear:
"I can show you more than fine if you come home with me."
Her breath catches.
Score.
But before she can respond-
He shows up.
Some freshman kid.
Wristbands, backwards cap, full "I think I'm him" energy.
"Hey," he says to her-not me-smiling too wide.
"You're in my sociology lecture, right? I didn't know you were into basketball."
My jaw flexes.
Liya blinks politely. "Uh-"
"Cool shirt," he adds, eyes very much dropping to her chest.
I take one step closer.
He doesn't notice.
Liya does.
Her fingers brush my arm-lightly, instinctively-like she's grounding me.
Freshman Boy keeps going.
"You wanna get dinner after this? I go to that burger place off campus-"
My voice comes out low.
Flat.
Final.
He turns, finally noticing I exist.
Then immediately decides I'm a problem.
"Oh. Hey, man. I was just talking to-"
"You're done talking," I say calmly.
Not rude.
Not loud.
Just true.
He raises his eyebrows, scoffing. "She can answer for herself, dude."
Liya opens her mouth-but I shake my head slightly.
She watches me.
Not upset.
Not annoyed.
Just... curious.
I look the freshman dead in the eyes.
"If you ever talk to her like that again-while staring at her chest-I'll personally make sure you don't step foot in this gym again."
He stiffens.
"I wasn't-"
For a second, he thinks about saying something else.
Then Caleb appears behind me like the angel of violence.
"You got a problem here?" Caleb asks, voice full big-brother mode.
Freshman shakes his head fast.
"Nope. All good."
He backs away so fast he almost trips.
Liya watches the whole thing silently.
When I turn back to her, she's biting her lip.
Not scared.
Not annoyed.
Something else.
Something warm.
Something hungry.
"You didn't have to do that," she says softly.
I shrug.
"He was staring at you like he had a chance."
Her cheeks flush.
I lean in-close enough that her breath catches.
"You look good in my shirt," I murmur.
"Really good. It's gonna be hard not to fight anyone who looks too long."
She shivers.
Victory.
"Leo..." she whispers like she's warning me.
"Yeah?" I murmur, brushing a curl behind her ear.
She looks down, heart thudding.
When she looks back up, she's smiling soft and small.
"You still want me to come home with you?"
I step closer until my forehead almost touches hers.
"I want you everywhere," I whisper.
"But starting with home works."
Her breath stutters.
"Okay," she whispers.
I take her hand gently-interlacing our fingers slow, careful, like I'm still afraid she'll pull away.
She squeezes back.
And my entire chest warms.
We walk out of the gym together.
Caleb calls after us, "HAVE FUN BUT NOT TOO MUCH FUN," like the overprotective father he is.
Zaria yells, "USE PROTECTION-AND COMMUNICATION!" like the chaotic big sister she is.
Liya hides her face in her hands.
I wrap an arm around her waist, grinning.
"Ready?" I murmur.
She nods against my shoulder.
"Take me home, Leo."
And god help me-
I've never walked faster in my life.