Kyle zipped his bag and slung it over his shoulder. “That’s crazy, because you look like you’re thinking about bending somebody over a kitchen counter.”
The room exploded.
I laughed despite myself, shoving him in the shoulder as he passed. “Eat shit.”
“Aw,” he said, clutching his chest. “He didn’t deny it.”
“It’s none of your business.”
“That,” Gino said, pointing at my chest, “is a confirmation.”
I shook my head, but I couldn’t stop smiling now.
I couldn’t stop feeling it either — that charge under my skin, that low hum that had been there for weeks now. Anticipation. Restlessness. Hunger.
For the game tomorrow.
Forher.
“Whatever’s got you playing like this,” Lavonte said, standing and grabbing his slides, “Keep it going. I don’t care if it’s a girl, a witch, or a Halloween curse.”
I laughed, but when the noise around me picked back up and the guys moved on to talking shit about somebody’s costume party plans, I sat there for a second longer, staring into my locker.
A witch, huh.
Didn’t feel that far off.
Because ever since Emily, it was like my life had split open, like I was under a spell.
And I had no idea yet if that was going to save me — or ruin me.
My phone buzzed just as I slung my duffle bag into the back of my Bronco.
Trouble:Meet me here.
She dropped a pin, and when I clicked on it, I couldn’t figure out where the hell she was asking me to go. It looked like a parking lot, and it was about a two-minute drive away.
Me:When?
Trouble:Now.
Maybe I should have been embarrassed by how fast I turned the ignition and sped off at her request, but that hum was taking over my senses, my body vibrating with the need to be near her.
My guess wasn’t far off. It wasn’t a parking lot, but a garage. I entered and took a ticket before calling Emily.
“I’m here.”
“Fifth floor,” she said, and then hung up.
I shook my head, wondering what the hell she was up to.
When I rounded the corner that led from the fourth floor to the fifth, I hit the brakes, heart lurching into my throat.
“Oh, shit,” I cursed in surprise. My body was already in fight or flight. I was ready to kick the car into reverse and steamroll my way right out of that garage.
But in the next breath, I realized the source of my instinctual fear was also the source of my every desire lately.
Emily stood in the middle of the garage between two lines of parked cars.
