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He studies me. “Are you okay?”
Maybe I should start a tally, of how many times people ask me that. “I will be,” I reply.
Then I finish my drink and dive back into the pool. The cool water doesn’t do much to wash away my irritation, but swimming and socializing offer some distraction.
By the time I climb out, my fingertips are pruned, and the air temperature feels noticeably cooler. I towel off, half-listening to Madeline and Caroline talk. Josh comes over and grabs Caroline from behind, pulling her to his chest in a possessive move.
I’ve always viewed public displays of affection as overdone and unnecessary. But watching Caroline lean back against Josh and giggle at something he whispers to her, I reassess. I imagine Liam doing that to me, whisperingPut some fucking clothes onin my ear, and I feel hot all over.
I drop the towel and pull my dress back on. Like a magnet, my gaze meets a green one across the pool. Liam’s eyes hold mine for a beat before they drop and realize I listened to him. Surprise and satisfaction flash across his face. I was expecting hatred after Wes’s revelation. But I suppose all along we’ve been proof you can hate someone and want someone at the same time.
Liam looks away without any further acknowledgment—and we go back to acting like strangers.
CHAPTERSEVENTEEN
LIAM
The two people who were supposed to be getting along tonight—Maeve and Wes—aren’t speaking.
It cast a pall over the rest of the party, to say the least.
Maeve is silent as I drive the sedan back toward our house. A million questions swirl in my head, all without answers.
Weston wanting to transfer to Arlington isn’t a shock. I spent a while senior year convinced that’s where he would end up in the first place.
I’m mostly stuck on the realization Natalie knew.
She knew.
Weston transferring to Arlington would affect my life just as drastically as it would alter Maeve’s—maybe more. He’d be a direct threat to our current starting quarterback. He’d likely become the starting quarterback. Practices, weightlifting, meetings, meals, travel, games, strategy sessions, film nights—he’d be at all of them.
“Did you know?”
I glance at Maeve, who’s looking out the window, head resting against the glass and face tilted away. “Of course not.”
Butsheknew, and she didn’t tell me.
Maeve voices my thoughts. “He toldher. Natalie.”
My fingers tighten around the steering wheel as I turn left. “They’re friends.”
Maeve scoffs.
“Is she hooking up with his friend?” I ask. “Fields?”
She glances over and gives me a confused look. “No idea. Wes’s friends don’t talk about that stuff in front of me. Why?”
I shrug. “Just trying to figure out if that’s what set Fields off earlier. By the drinks.”
“Pretty sure it was Matt being an ass that did it.”
“He was trying to stand up for you, in his own way,” I say. That’s all I say to defend him. I’m pissed at him myself, but for other reasons than Maeve is.
Neither Natalie nor Weston denied they’ve hooked up.
And knowing they probably had was different than watching them smile and laugh together. It stung in a way I wasn’t expecting. Knowing he’s seen her so intimately fueled the possessiveness that made me kiss her in the women’s room.
I’ve gotten protective over girls before. But possessive? Never.
