Page 54 of Tripped Up

Jogging after her, I track Elsy to the opposite end of the training facility where the admin offices are. I call her name and watch as a line of tension creeps into her shoulders.

“Fuck off, Wyatt,” she snaps, not turning to look at me.

“Elsy,” I say again.

She whirls to fight me, an argument on her lips.

“I’m sorry,” I blurt. “I’m an asshole.”

Surprise flashes across her face before she folds her arms over her chest. “Yeah, you are.”

“The last thing I want to do is hurt your feelings.”

“Well, you did.” Her chin lifts in defiance. “Sorry isn’t enough.”

Slowly, I reach for her, and when she doesn’t push me away, I pull her into my arms.

“I’m sorry for hurting your feelings. I didn’t want to imply that you can’t do anything you want,” I tell her. “If you want to go day drinking, that’s entirely your right. I would never want to take that away from you.”

She melts into me, winding her arms around my neck. “Then why’d you say it?”

“Because I didn’t think.” I tuck a strand of her hair behind her ear and she leans into the touch. “I don’t like the idea of you getting drunk and getting hurt. You can take care of yourself, I know,” I’m quick to add. “But I still want to look out for you.”

Her eyes are fixed on my neck. “I like that you do.”

“Good. Because I want to keep doing it.” My stomach twists. “Elsy, can we—can we start over?”

“Is that what you want?” She meets my eyes.

I swallow. “Yeah. That’s what I want.”

She pulls away. “Okay. We can do that.”

Ducking my head, I aim to kiss her, but she evades my lips. And when I try to pull her back into my arms, she won’t let me.

“You’re going to have to work a little harder than that,” Elsy says, a smirk on her lips.

nineteen

Elsy

“I slept with Wyatt,” I blurt in the middle of his game. The Aces are up two scores over Vancouver, and I’m… disoriented. And for once, it has nothing to do with drinking.

Bex laughs. “I know.”

I gape at her. “You—you know?”

“You haven’t been very subtle,” she says. “You look like you want to strip him naked. Which, gross, he’s my brother.”

“But—no.” I shake my head. “We hooked up last week, but that’s not… we slept together thirteen years ago.”

Tossing some popcorn into her mouth, Bex rolls her eyes. “Yeah. I know.”

“How do you know? I’ve never told you!”

“It’s obvious he’s seen you naked.” She shrugs. “He always looks at you like he wants to devour you.”

“No, he doesn’t.”