Page 19 of Spiral Lies

He scratches his head, hesitating, and then he sighs. "Look, you didn't hear it from me, but the whole team knows that you two have a thing."

"What?" I gape at him. How the fuck do they possibly know that already? Oh my god. Did someone see us yesterday?

My mind goes into panic mode at the thought.

"It's obvious," Axel says. "He looks at you with hearts in his eyes. You look at him the same way. Plus, he gets mad whenever any of us look at you, talk to you, smile at you, or breathe in your direction." He grimaces. "Basically, if we exist near you, it pisses him off."

"That…that…"

"It's not my fuckin' business," Axel says, holding up his hands. "They paid for me to come play ball, not get in the Coach's business. I just wanted him to know that I didn't mean to step on his toes or offend him or whatever."

"Noted," Stone growls from behind me.

I jump slightly in my chair.

"Oh, hey, Coach." Axel shoves his hands into his pockets. "Uh, I… I just came to say sorry for bugging your assistant yesterday. Won't happen again."

"It's fine, Axel," Stone says.

Axel blinks at him like he didn't expect that answer.

"I was…an ass yesterday," Stone says softly. "I apologize."

The office is so quiet, it's unnatural. And then Axel booms laughter, shaking his head. "Holy shit. Coach just apologized. The guys aren't going to believe this."

I expect Stone to snap at him, but he doesn't. He just jerks his head toward the door. "Get to class before I take it back, Stevens."

"Yes, sir." Axel laughs again, waves at me, and then hurries out, still chuckling.

I turn to Stone to find him watching me, his expression stark. "Did you mean it?" he growls.

"What?" I frown up at him, confused. "Mean what?"

"Your text." He wraps a hand around the door frame like he's physically holding himself in place. "Did you mean it?"

"My…" I trail off, snatching my phone up.

No.

No, no, no.

But the truth is right there on my screen in undeniable, embarrassing letters. I didn't text Emelia, Nova, and Ava for advice. I didn't admit to my best friends that I think I'm falling for my boss.

I fucking texted him. I admitted it to him.

"Did you mean it?" he growls.

"I…" Yet again, there's no lying my way out of this one. There's no earthquake coming to save me, either. There's just me, him, and the truth screaming between us like a fucking neon sign. "Yes."

Chapter Eight

Stone

She's falling for me.

Jesus.

Jesus.