Page 61 of Set Play

Lukas takes a long pull from his beer, amber eyes roaming the room, before sighing. “Mano, we both know that’s bullshit. She is interested in you. Why else would she be staring at you right now?”

One glance in the bar's mirror confirms his remark, but still I give a noncommittal shrug. “Ay dios mio,” Lukas huffs, “if things are this frustrating…maybe it's best to say goodbye and walk away.”

Coming from him of all people, the words hit me like a freight train. “You think I should walk away? You’ve been the biggest supporter of pursuing her this whole time.”

“Yeah, well, that was before I saw what it's doing to you. I don’t know what Henri told her, but it’s clear she’s drinking the Clément Kool-Aid.”

I snort into my glass, thankful I hadn’t been mid-sip, before looking up again. This time when my gaze meets hers in the mirror, I don't look away. Not until Lukas pats my shoulder and walks away. Giving Élise a sad smile, I break eye contact, toss back my drink, and walk away.

Goodbye…Yeah, that feels appropriate.

1. ¿Qué estoy haciendo mal? Haga lo que haga, ella se niega a hablar conmigo. Mierda, quizás solo quería una noche y ya no le interesa. = What am I doing wrong? No matter what I do, she refuses to talk to me. Shit, maybe she just wanted a one-night stand and isn't interested anymore.

Chapter 33

Élise

What the hell?

My eyes trail after Mateo as he walks towards…the exit?

I jump up, offering a quick excuse to the rest of the table, who had just started to include me in their conversation again. My eyes find the exit just in time to see that gorgeous emerald jacket duck out into the hallway. Dodging people, I struggle to move quickly.

Please let me catch up to him before he leaves.

Finally, I make it past the horde and slam into the solid oak door, shoving it open. Mateo turns at the noise, eyes widening slightly when he sees me standing there, the door easing shut behind me. I expect him to say something, but he just dips his chin and turns away again.

Okay, seriously?

“Reyes!” I call, moving to follow him.

He keeps his pace, ignoring me. “Mateo!”

Still nothing.

“Big Shot!”

I’ve almost caught up to him, but the nickname finally gets a reaction. Mateo whirls around, causing me to stumble backward to avoid crashing into him.

“What?” Despite his hand catching me from our near collision, his voice lacks its usual warmth, shocking me.

Everything I wanted to say to him leaves my mind, and I just stare at him. After several seconds of silence, he rolls his eyes at me. “Still nothing to say to me? Why chase me then? Worried that your ride is leaving or something?”

Shit, this isn’t what I wanted when I started distancing myself from him. I needed to figure my own shit out, but—fuck, Niamh was right, I should’ve talked to him.

My eyes burn and I blink rapidly, determined to not cry just because he’s being cold. “I was worried about you. You looked so—”

His scoff cuts me off, causing my hurt to transform into anger. “Excuse you, you don’t get to scoff at me when I’m trying to answer the question you asked.”

“I do when you’ve spent the last two weeks avoiding me and dodging me at every fucking turn. I’ve tried so fucking hard to get you to talk to me, and you’ve done nothing but go out of your way to do anything but that.”

“That’s not true!” I instinctively object, but at the quirk of his eyebrow, I actually think about the last two weeks and wince.

Yeah, I guess I have been doing that. I didn’t think he’d be this upset about it though.

Weakly, I admit, “Okay, maybe that part’s true. But I have my reasons.”

“Oh, and what, pray tell, might those reasons be, Clément?”