Page 11 of The Striker
He tilts his head toward the doors. “You were heading to the parking lot …” he trails off.
“My last class is canceled.” I shrug. “Guess I’m all done for the day.”
He dips his chin once before tilting his face up to the ceiling, almost like he’s searching for the right words to say. Seconds tick past before he huffs out a sigh and god, I didn’t know there could be so many words unsaid in a sound.
“I don’t know where we go from here.” There’s defeat in his voice.
Neither do I, I want to tell him. But I don’t know if that’s the right thing to say or if I should say anything at all, so I stay quiet and wait for him to decide what to do. How we should move forward. I took Gabriel’s choices away when I broke things off. This—allowing him to decide how we move forward—it’s the least I can do.
“Do you want to come watch our practice?” Before I can respond, he adds, “I know the guys would like to see you. Julio asked about you this morning.”
Oh.I find that hard to believe, and I don’t really need the pity invite. He shouldn’t have to see me at practice if he doesn’t want to.
“No. That’s okay. I … uh …” Julio is great. All the guys are. But they’re not my friends, no matter how welcoming they’ve been to me. They’re Gabriel’s friends. His best friends.
And I’m the girl who broke their friend’s heart.
I doubt any of them really want to be around me, though I appreciate that Felix was kind just now and said hello.
“You have other plans?” He knows I don’t. I never do. I go to school. I go home. I hit the campus pool if I need a swim.
Rinse and repeat.
“Yeah.” The lie rolls off my tongue. “I’ll uh, see you around.”
4GABRIEL
“I’m going to murder him.” I recount the moment I found Austin looming over Cecilia in the halls. How he was pressed up against her. How her eyes were wide and filled with tears. He’s fucking terrorizing her.
That look of stark fear on her face. I don’t ever want to see that look in her eyes again.
My blood boils, and my fingers curl into a fist. “Austin is a problem. One that needs to be dealt with.”
Immediately.I’m sick of waiting around. I pulled back a little after Cecilia broke things off. I know she wants to fight her own battles, and with me out of the picture, it looked like Austin was laying off her, but fuck this. It’s like the guy has a death wish.
“You can’t retaliate,” Julio says with a grimace. “We’ve gone over this before. He’s provoking you for a reason. At his core, Austin is a bully. But he doesn’t put himself in the line of fire. He starts shit and lets his lackeys finish it. There’s a reason he was goading you today.”
“I know that,” I snap. I’ve been trying for weeks now to find a way to get Holt kicked off the team and I’ve come up with nothing, but his stunt in the halls today reminded me of Coach’s number one rule. No fighting off the field.
Best case scenario—if it’s a minor infraction, a small tussle or some shoving—you’re suspended from that week’s game.
But players have gotten into more serious fights before and it’s not uncommon in those situations for it to result in a player losing their spot on the team. Repeat offenders have even been expelled.
With my luck, my fate would be the latter.
Holt’s rich-ass parents would storm the pitch and demand I be removed. With how much money they throw at the University, Coach would have no choice but to do what they wanted, and it’d be my future up in smoke. Not Holt’s.
“I can’t stand by and do nothing, either, J.” From the moment Cecilia and I got together I’ve been trying to work out a solution, but short of her coming forward again and demanding some sort of justice—which there’s no way in hell of her doing—there isn’t anything we’ve been able to come up with.
Pursing his lips, he nods. “I know.”
Felix shifts closer, his eyes straying to Deacon’s who’s casually leaning against our lockers, pretending not to hear our conversation. “Are we pulling him in?”
The man in question quirks a brow but remains silent, waiting for our decision. I like that about him.
Silent communication passes between Julio, Felix, and I. We’ve shielded Atticus from most of this. He’s a freshman and hisposition on the field is goalie, so there’s not a lot of opportunity for anyone on the team to target him. Thus far, Austin and his cronies have left him alone.
I’d like to keep it that way.
