Page 33 of Out of Bounds

“He’s a boy, who’s a friend, if that's what you mean,” she answered, confused by her sister’s sudden curiosity. What about Link had given her that impression? She’d known him for years, but he was a fellow Sour Patch Kid. Kissing Link would be like…well, it’d be like kissing Tripp.

Unlike kissing Gunnar, which rocked your fucking world…

“Do you have a boyfriend?”

“Do you have a boyfriend?” she slung back, not really sure she wanted the answer.

“No,” the teen answered, hanging her head. “There’s this boy in my math class I really like, but…I dunno. He’s really nice sometimes and other times, he’s kinda mean.”

Felicity’s heart tugged slightly, remembering the awkwardness of that age, so unsure how anyone else felt. Not that being thirty-one made that any easier. She would have bet good money that Gunnar couldn’t stand her—and that the feeling was mutual. But now she wasn’t so sure.

“Mean how?”

“I dunno. Just like, ignores me if I talk to him or says mean things if he’s around his friends.”

“You know, sometimes when people are like that, it means that they do like you, they just don’t know how to handle their own feelings,” Felicity said. She would know better than anyone, since she’d been putting up those walls and acting just like that for almost twenty years at this point.

“My health teacher says that’s really unhealthy behavior though, and that we shouldn’t keep people like that in our lives.”

Well then. Thanks Mister or Missus Health Teacher. Just how was she supposed to respond to that?

“And your health teacher is right, it probably is not the best behavior, but it’s how it is sometimes.”

Shifting slightly in her chair, Felicity’s eyes wandered over to the bar and then over to the little hallway that led to Heather’s office. Memories flooded her again from the night before. The way he’d picked her up like she was a ragdoll made her heart race just thinking about it. Was Gunnar always that possessive, that in-charge? Damn, she hoped so, because she really wanted a repeat performance.

Stop it, stop it. You don’t need to be thinking about Gunnar. Not now, not ever. Focus on the matter at hand. This is about Lulu!

“I just want to hold his hand,” Lulu said sheepishly.

The innocence in Lulu’s comment caught her off guard. What did she say to that? She’d just pictured Gunnar throwing her up against the wall and having his way with her. Not that she was going to share that with her sweet little sister.

“I’m going to teach you a lesson now, Lulu, so take note. Boys are dumb.”

“Well then,” Link said, walking up to the table right as Felicity delivered her key line. Placing the sodas on the table, he looked between the two of them and gave them both a knowing smile. “I can’t argue with that. We are pretty dumb.”

When Lulu’s giggles finally subsided, they ordered their food and turned their attention to the screen, where the Atlanta Rising was taking the field for the first time. A pang hit Felicity, wishing that she was there with them for this moment, to experience it with them. At the end of the line of players walking onto the field was Gunnar, looking sharp in a pair of khakis and a team polo shirt. His facial expressions were intense, leaving her to wonder what was on his mind.

* * *

Felicity felt her phone buzz in her purse as she held the Lyft car door open for Lulu to climb in. The final whistle declaring the Rising’s first win had blown a while ago, but Lulu had been having too much fun watching all the goings-on at Bunz to want to leave. But it was finally to the point where she knew that if she didn’t have her sister home soon, that her stepmother would be calling, and she was the last person Felicity wanted to talk to. Reaching into her purse, she tapped the screen, finding a text from Gunnar.

Gunnar: You’re on a date?

A date? What the hell made him think she was on a date?

Felicity: Come again?

Gunnar: Was I unclear?

Felicity: I can read, thank you. What I don’t understand is why you think wherever I am, or whomever I’m with is any of your business…

Gunnar: The fact that your tongue was down my throat last night makes it my business

Felicity: No, it doesn’t

Gunnar: Didn’t take you for that kind of girl. Guess I was wrong

Felicity: Excuse you?