Chapter 14 #2
“I moved out of the athlete quad to escape it.”
“Where?”
“Briar Hall.”
Her smile grows.
“I definitely like you now.”
“The old pipes and dripping faucet won me over.”
“You left the athlete quad because the gossip annoyed you?”
“That and the basketball court outside my window.”
Stella studies me for a moment.
“You don’t like basketball?”
The question catches.
“I understand it.”
“That wasn’t what I asked.”
Before I can answer, the arena erupts.
Kane steals the ball near mid-court and drives left.
The defender angles him toward the help.
He keeps the dribble alive.
One extra bounce.
Then he drops the pass behind the second defender to Vale, who rises and hammers it through.
The crowd jumps to its feet.
Stella and I stand with them.
Vale lands and points toward her.
Kane turns toward me.
I tap one finger against the side of my glasses.
He saw the read.
I saw him trust it.
His grin flashes.
Stella looks from him to me.
“Study partners? Yeah, okay.”
“Temporary study partners.”
“Does he know that?”
“He’s struggling with the concept.”
On the next dead ball, Vale and Kane drift near each other beneath the basket.
Vale points toward Stella.
Then toward me.
Kane says something I can’t hear and shoves his shoulder.
Both of them look up.
“We’re distracting them,” Stella says.
“It’s fine. They need it. Kane was playing tight.”
Vale makes a questioning gesture with both hands.
Stella forms a heart with her fingers.
He presses one hand to his chest like she shot him.
Kane looks at me, waiting.
I shrug and eat another Twizzler. Nope. Not making a heart sign with my hand for him.
His mouth falls open.
Stella laughs beside me.
“You’re mean.”
“He likes it.”
The answer slips out before I can stop it.
Stella turns her head slowly.
I keep watching the court.
“We should talk after the game,” she says.
“About what?”
“Haverhill.”
“There’s nothing to discuss.”
“Then it’ll be a short conversation.”
On the floor, Kane takes his position and glances toward me once more.
I expect the smirk.
Instead, he gives me the same unguarded grin he wore when I arrived.
My pulse skips.
Stella catches it.
She settles into her chair.
“This is the most fun I’ve had watching the two of them play al season.”
* * *
The second quarter ends with Stanford ahead by nine.
Kane walks toward the tunnel with his warm-up jacket open and sweat darkening the collar of his jersey. Before he disappears, he looks toward our row.
I hold up the Twizzlers.
His grin returns.
Stella watches the exchange.
“You’re exactly his type.”
I nearly inhale the candy.
“No, I’m not.”
“You are.”
“His type is almost six feet tall, spray-tanned, and capable of running fifty yards faster than he can.”
“That’s who he sleeps with.”
Stella takes another Twizzler.
“It isn’t who he falls for.”
I stare at her.
She says it casually, eyes on the halftime performers gathering near center court, as if she didn’t just reach inside my chest and twist something.
“I’m not sure Kane Haverhill falls for anyone.”
Stella looks at me.
“He does.”
The answer carries more weight than I expect.
I push my glasses higher.
“You almost dated him.”
“I almost chose him.”
“Is there a difference?”
“A big one.”
The pep band starts playing as a youth dance team runs onto the floor. The women farther down our row stand to film, holding their phones high enough to place themselves in the foreground.
Stella leans closer so I can hear her.
“Kane likes beautiful women. He’s twenty. He has working eyes.”
“Groundbreaking.”
“But beauty doesn’t hold his attention.”
I glance toward the tunnel.
“Krista seemed to manage.”
“Physically.”
“That sounded judgmental.”
“It wasn’t. They both knew what they wanted.”
Stella looks toward the scoreboard.
“They were never going to last. Krista wanted pictures, parties, and the fun parts of being connected to someone headed toward the NBA. Kane could barely get her through dinner without checking the game on the television.”
I remember the restaurant.
Krista kissing his neck while Kane watched the point guard reject a screen.
I hate that Stella is right.
“He’s paranoid about women wanting his future contract.”
“He has reasons.”
“That doesn’t excuse treating everyone like a suspect.”
“No. It explains why someone like you gets under his skin.”
“Someone like me?”
“Smart. Difficult. Unimpressed by his face.”
“I’ve noticed the face.”
Stella smiles.
“Brave of you to admit it.”
“I’m not blind. The glasses prevent that.”
She laughs.
“More important, you don’t want anything from him.”
“I want him to stop gathering early on his left-side drives.”
Her eyebrows rise.
“That’s what you’ve been helping him with?”
“Among other things.”
“I wondered why his reads look cleaner tonight.”
My attention returns to the court.
The youth dancers finish their routine. Applause moves through the arena as staff clear the floor.
“He listened,” I say.
The admission comes out quieter than intended.
Stella catches it.
“Kane listens when he respects someone.”
“He argues first.”
“That’s how he listens.”
I bite another Twizzler.
Stella’s gaze sharpens with amusement.
“You like arguing with him.”
“No.”
“You came to his game.”
“He gave me tickets.”
“You could have stayed home.”
“I almost did.”
“But you didn’t.”
I fold the top of the candy bag.
“This conversation feels less like friendship and more like an ambush.”
“I’m making sure my best friend doesn’t ruin the first good thing to happen to him in a while.”
“We are not a thing.”
“Not yet.”
“He kissed me once.”
Stella’s mouth opens.
I close my eyes.
“I need to stop talking around you.”
“You kissed?”
“He kissed me.”
“You kissed him back.” I heard the smirk in her tone.
I turn.
“How do you know?”
“Your face.”
“What’s wrong with my face?”
“It changed.”
I pull one sleeve over my hand.
“It was a mistake.”
“Was it bad?”
“No.”
Her smile grows.
“That’s the problem.”
“It was manipulative.”
“What?”
“He discovered I could help his game, then kissed me.”
Stella considers that.
“Did he want to kiss you before he saw you coach?”
“He claims he did.”
“Did it feel calculated?”
My lips tingle at the memory.
Kane’s fingers behind my neck.
His mouth moving over mine.
The way his control tightened when I kissed him back.
“No,” I admit.
“Then believe the evidence.”
“I study ancient civilizations. Evidence is rarely simple.”
“This isn’t an excavation, Hannah.”
“It might be safer if it were.”
The teams begin returning from the tunnels.
Kane comes out last with Vale beside him. They’re arguing about something. Vale shoves Kane’s shoulder. Kane answers, and both laugh.
The sight does strange things to my stomach.
Stella notices.
“See?”
“See what?”
“You look at him like you’re trying to solve him.”
“He presents several structural problems.”
“And he looks at you like he wants to burn down the library.”
I choke out a laugh.
“That isn’t romantic.”
“It is for Kane.”
The teams begin shooting.
I reach into the Twizzler bag and find only three pieces left.
“I need popcorn.”
Stella looks at the nearly empty bag.
“And more Twizzlers.”
“You ate half of those.”
“You handed them over willingly.”
“I was intimidated by your shoulders.”
“Smart.”
I stand and collect my wallet.
“Diet Coke?”
“Yes. Extra napkins.”
“Anything else, Your Highness?”
“Better company in this section.”
I glance toward the women watching us.
“That may be outside my budget.”
The concourse is packed.
Everyone wants food before the second half, so I spend ten minutes wedged between a family ordering enough nachos to feed a small country and two students arguing about whether Stanford should switch every screen.