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I thought I could find someone else but dragging another person along when I knew where my heart lied was cruel.
“A lot of people have hurt me, Cole, are you going to do the same?”
His face drops and I think he’s going to speak, but then he doesn’t. His fingers lingering in the air when I turn to walk away.
Some of us are built to stand alone. I was beginning to realize that I didn’t think I was one of those people any longer.
I wasn’t sure if the same can be said for Cole.
forty-five
Cole
“YoumustthinkI’mreal stupid.”
“The hell are you talking about?” I spout off, questioning Finn.
Funny that he decided to run his mouth onlyafterpractice was over. Them officially starting back earlier in the week. The added court time was a good distraction from my continuous racing thoughts of Rory.
She’d asked if I would hurt her, she didn’t know I already had. Herself just as, if not more, damaged than myself after I learned my girl had been assaulted.
Rory could never know the truth, or she’d be destroyed. Which is why no one would ever find out how that fire really started.
That guy, on the other hand—the one thattouchedher—was one lucky son of a bitch. He should be grateful I had no clue who he was, or he’d have already been six feet under buried in the ground.
No one touches one of our own.No one hurts what’s mine.
Finn slams the metal door shut in the locker room with the patience of someone who’d finished going through airport security. Narrow and strategic. My smile stays hidden when his simmers over.
He had always been the hotheaded type. Thedo now, deal with the consequences latertype of guy. It got him in trouble a lot, but he always had the hellhounds to hold his back.
“Don’t be a dick,” he spits out. “You know exactly what I’m talking about.”
“If I’m not, then why don’t you get off mine and spit it out already,” I answer, staying levelheaded.
Finn may be faster on the court, but I was smarter.
Physical speed only got you so far. You had to have the mental foresight to win. Something I always did.
“You know what I’m talking about. Or are you too caught up in your own head to pay attention to what’s been going on around you?”
Sharing and patience were two things I’d never been good at, and it would seem Finn was having the same problem today.
So, what if I had been off my game a little. We still scored. Coach laid into me, and everyone moved on. Big deal.
Wetting his lower lip, he runs his tongue along it. His shoulders double in size as he shifts his posture.
“Sorry, forgot we had an artist in the room,” he adds. Hands find his hips before he waves them aimlessly in the air. “ArealMichelangelo at denial.”
My teeth snap against my jaw. “Are you going to say what you want or are you going to keep jacking off on my back and calling it rain?” I bite out.
He opens his locker, grabbing something else only to slam it again seconds later. The fuck was his problem?
His actions were starting to draw the other guy’s attention thanks to his over-the-top theatrics. This wasn’t how we did things in front of others. He knew that.
Never let them see you weak.
It was our understood agreement. We stood sturdy, tight. Larger and prouder, butalwaysdiscreet. Being hesitant, showing weakness, meant imperfections. Something these people could sniff out as easily as one could a joint in a filled room.
