Page 65 of Scoring Chance

He broke his eyes from mine and nodded at Amelia. “Fine. Let me know if you need me.”

He and his friend walked away, but he shot me a menacing look over his shoulder. Getting in a fight wasn’t high on my priority list, but he was tempting me.

“Sorry. The guys are a little protective of me.”

Her worried eyes broke the tension building up in me. “That’s good. I’m glad they watch out for you.”

A tiny smile escaped her lips. “They do.”

“I know you’re leaving tomorrow, so I wanted to see if you had time to talk tonight.”

She looked at the ground for a moment before nodding. “Sure, but let’s get in your car before someone else comes out.”

I wasn’t going to argue that, so I led her back to where I parked and opened the passenger door for her.

“Thanks.” I matched her cautious smile before hurrying around and getting in next to her. I started the car so the heater would turn on, then faced her.

“There’s so much I want to tell you.”

She stared back at me with patient eyes. “Me, too.”

“These two weeks have been so hard, Amelia. I’ve hated not talking to you or seeing you.”

Her gaze dropped to her hands in her lap. “I know. I shouldn’t have ignored you, but things have been crazy.”

“I know.” I interrupted her. “We’ve both been busy.”

She nodded. “But that’s not all, Derrek.”

I rubbed the back of my neck. I had a bad feeling about what she was going to say. “What else?”

Her shoulders dropped before she spoke. “I couldn't do it anymore.”

“Do what?” I was confused.

“Be your friend.”

“You don’t want to be friends anymore?” My stomach tightened, preparing for rejection.

A sad smile tugged at her lips. “I can’t.”

I reached forward and took her hand in mine. “I don’t understand. I thought you missed me too.”

Slowly, she lifted her eyes until they met mine. “I did. I do.” She sucked in a rocky breath. “But I can’t just be your friend.”

Her words took a minute to sink in. “Just my friend?”

A blush appeared on her cheeks, and I wanted so run my fingers along them.

“I like you, Derrek, a lot more than I probably should. I thought I would be fine with keeping things the way they were, but it hurt. I know you don’t feel the same way about me so I had to get space. I’m sorry. I realize that’s not fair to you.”

I shook my head trying to convey that not only was she wrong, but she didn’t need to worry. “Amelia.”

It was all I could get out. This conversation was going differently than I planned, and I needed a second to catch up.

“Don’t worry, Derrek. It’s okay.”

“No, it’s not.” The pain in her eyes flared, and I hurried to finish before she ran away. “None of this is okay. I hate that I somehow managed to hurt you. That’s the last thing I ever wanted to do.”