Chapter 17
Rhys
Dom rested his elbows against the concrete shower stall, looking over at me. “So, you and your girlfriend coming to the party tonight?” His eyebrows wiggled suggestively, making me laugh.
I twisted off the faucet, took a dry towel, and secured it around my waist. “Yeah, we talked about it this morning.” I shook my head, running my fingers through soaking wet hair.
“I don’t—I don’t think I can be around her tonight.
” I lowered my voice, trying to make sure our conversation wasn’t overheard.
The moment we shared before the game was just as much of a mood booster as it was confusing. Shit, the whole week in Denver fit into that same category.
I knew from the start I would do anything and everything to soak up every single moment with Sloane. I only had six months of her pretending to love me after all. Everything that has happened and will happen is fake. I knew that.
But whatever happened before the game really didn’t feel fake. Neither did our time away, and I wasn’t sure what to do with that.
She wanted to hold me. She wanted to kiss me. And as much as I wanted her to want that, I wasn’t sure what to trust.
Dom laughed, interrupting my train of thought. “Why?”
I shot my best friend an exasperated look, my eyes widening.
“Did you not see that kiss? I mean, fuck. She asked me for it, Dom. I offered the cheek, and she wanted me to kiss her. And she—” I cut myself off.
I could go into great detail about the difference between this kiss and the previous ones we’d shared, but Dom would never understand.
Only I could notice the subtle differences.
Like the way her eyes flickered to my lips or the way her pupils dilated when I said ‘now or never.’ I noticed these things.
I felt the way her body pressed up against mine and the way her fingernails gently scraped against my scalp.
I especially noticed the way her mouth moved against mine with a gentle curiosity. She wasn’t scared or holding back. She wanted the kiss.
Dom raised a brow at me, a small smirk forming on his lips. He twisted the faucet off, wrapping a towel around his waist. “Trust me, I saw the kiss. Everyone saw the kiss. You’re both stupid.”
I followed Dom towards the lockers, grabbing a pair of sweats and stepping into them before yanking my towel off. “Oh, fuck off.” I fluffed my hair with the towel, trying to wring out the excess water.
I grabbed my phone, bringing up the unopened text from her.
Sloane: Are you coming home first, or should we meet at the party? Tell Dom I have Cam with me.
I ignored the stupid way my heart swelled when I read ‘home,’ but couldn’t stop the smile spreading across my lips.
Dom cleared his throat, lifting his brow with a playful smirk.
“Sloane just texted; Cam’s with her. I guess they’re already back at the apartment.” I groaned, pulling a plain white t-shirt over my head. “Dom, I’m serious. I can’t—You can’t let me drink tonight. I’ll get too handsy.”
My friend laughed at the ceiling, droplets of water flinging from his dark brown hair. “You’re dating her, remember? You’re supposed to be handsy. It’s what couples do.”
“Not us. Not—” I lowered my voice again, “—fake couples.”
“Definitely the two of you. I meant it. Everyone saw that kiss.”
I blew out a slow breath, my cheeks puffing out as I exhaled. “I’m serious. I can’t drink.”
Dom offered a lazy salute, turning to get himself ready to go. “We’ll see about that.”
***
I walked into our apartment, Dominic trailing closely behind me and promptly slamming into my back when I skidded to a stop.
“God, what the fu—”
Fuck.
I froze.
Sloane stood in the living room of our shared apartment, laughing at something Cami said while Rookie rested peacefully at her feet. The damn dog was so obsessed with her that he didn’t even spare me a glance when I pushed through the door.
Her head was tilted toward the ceiling, brown hair tumbling over her shoulders and down her back. The makeup on her cheekbones glistened in the soft light emanating from a lamp in the corner, and my ribs cinched around my lungs.
She wore a silky black top with a plunging neckline; the fabric was thin and showed off entirely too much of her smooth skin. I watched as she laughed, her breasts swaying slightly as her body shook. She wasn’t wearing a bra.
Fuck.
I closed my eyes, a hand scrubbing down my face as I staggered forward, Dom’s hand shoving against my back.
“Just friends, my ass,” Dom snickered, pushing past me and making his way over to his wife, pulling her into him and planting a kiss that was entirely too intimate for me to still be watching.
I shifted my eyes away from the two of them and back to Sloane, drinking in everything about her. She smiled sweetly at Cami and Dom, her eyes averting their public display of affection when his hand reached down to cup her ass. Not that either of us was surprised.
I didn’t miss the way her eyes lit up when they landed on me. I could tell she was happy to see me. Maybe a little nervous, too.
After the kiss we shared at the field today, I was a little nervous, too.
Nervous about what it meant and how to act around her. I wasn’t sure if that was her way of hinting that she was open to exploring something more with me or if she really was just falling into the role.
I kept telling myself not to worry about it, knowing that even if I tried to infer the meaning behind her actions, I would follow her lead regardless. I wouldn’t do anything without knowing it was something she one hundred percent wanted, too.
Sloane made her way over to me, and I kept my eyes glued to her face, knowing that if my gaze dipped just below her neck, I would seriously regret my choice of no underwear under my sweats.
“Hey, you.”
I cleared my throat as she got closer, the intoxicating smell of lemon and jasmine invading my nostrils. She always smelled like summer. “Hey, Pip,” I replied.
Her eyes trailed down my body, and I prayed to whoever I could that she didn’t notice the semi I was sporting from just looking at her. “Are you wearing that?”
I laughed, looking down at my T-shirt and sweats. “No, definitely not.”
She grinned, her hands clasping together. “Good. I put something on your bed.”
I raised a brow at her, laughing at her scrunched-up face like she wasn’t sure I would approve of whatever outfit she laid out.
Honestly, she could’ve put a banana costume on my bed, and I would proudly wear it knowing she was smiling because of it.
“I’ll get changed.”
Her smile widened before I turned away, making my way across the apartment and to my room across from hers.
I threw my duffel bag on the floor next to the closet, laughing when I saw the outfit on the bed. I should’ve seen it coming. How many times in the past year had she shown me a picture of this white knitted button-up shirt and told me to add it to my wardrobe?
She’d laid it out on my bed with a little note scribbled in her perfect handwriting.
I smiled down at the card and set it on the nightstand next to my bed, making a mental note to add it to the small box of things I’d kept from her over the years.
I wasn’t even sure she knew about it. Not that it was a secret per se… But I’d always been worried that she would see it and come to the conclusion that I was in love with her, freak out, and never talk to me again.
So… Maybe it was a secret.
It started small: little notes we’d passed to each other in elementary school because, of course, we had basically all of the same teachers growing up.
Then, there were receipts and ticket stubs from all the restaurants we’d eaten at and all the movies and baseball games we’d gone to.
I saved our prom tickets, her corsage (granted, all the flowers were crisp and slowly chipping away), and the program from high school graduation where she’d drawn innocent little hearts and stars around each of our names. The program and ticket stub from her college graduation.
I saved anything and everything that reminded me of just how much I loved her and cherished the friendship we had.
For now, I stuck the note on my nightstand and quickly changed into the clothes she had laid out for me.