Page 75 of Gamebreaker

Harper looked up at me, surprised. "Cam.”

"It's cold. You're cold. Take the jacket."

"Very chivalrous. Also sweet."

"Don't tell anyone. I have a reputation."

"As what? Captain Miserable?"

"Exactly. Can't have people thinking I'm capable of basic kindness."

She laughed, pulling the jacket tighter around herself. It was too big on her, swallowing her frame, and I liked how she looked in my clothes more than I should.

"I'll get a SHAU4," she said, pulling out her phone.

"Me too."

We stood on the sidewalk, waiting for our separate rides, the silence between us heavy with everything we'd just acknowledged—the attraction, the impossibility, the choice to stay in each other's lives anyway.

Harper's car arrived first.

"Goodnight, Cam," she said, starting to shrug off my jacket.

"Keep it. Give it back next time."

"Next time?"

"When you come to the next game. If you want to."

"I want to." She smiled, genuine despite everything. "That's what friends do, right? Support each other's careers?"

"Exactly. Very normal friendship behavior."

"We're so good at this already."

I couldn't let her leave like that.

I stepped forward, pulled her into a hug before I could second-guess the impulse. She came willingly, her arms wrapping around my waist, her head fitting perfectly under my chin.

She felt right in my arms. Like a missing puzzle piece clicking into place, like an answer to a question I'd been asking my whole life.

I wanted to kiss her.

The urge was overwhelming, undeniable, intoxicating without any help from the whiskey. But she'd just told me she couldn't do this. That she was choosing friendship because anything else would hurt one or both of us.

So I held her instead. Breathed in her scent. Memorized the feeling of her body against mine.

Then I let her go.

"Goodnight, Harper," I said quietly.

She looked up at me, and I saw everything reflected in her eyes—want and regret and affection and determination, all tangled together.

"Goodnight, friend."

The word hurt more than it should have.

She climbed into her SHAU4, my jacket still wrapped around her shoulders. The car pulled away, taking her with it, leaving me standing alone on the sidewalk.