The Hardest Fall(75)

“Because I can’t take my eyes away from you. Everything else…it all disappears, and…”

And… And…

“And?”

I tried my best not to look eager for his answer—or let’s say not too eager, because there was no way he couldn’t tell I was very interested and invested in hearing what he was about to say.

He let out a heavy breath and decided not to finish that particular sentence. I’d seen it in his eyes, a slight change, there and gone.

Goddammit!

“I don’t know what I’m going to do with you, Zoe. You’re driving me absolutely fucking crazy. First Jared, and now this Trevor guy.”

Come again?

His chest still rising and falling rapidly, he looked like he wanted to say more but just stared into my eyes instead.

When it started to become too much for me—I mean, I’m a puny human, after all—I tried to clear my throat as a prelude to getting the hell away, but something—most probably air—got stuck in my throat and triggered a small coughing fit, forcing his hand to drop away.

“Sorry,” I wheezed out when I could breathe again.

More and more players were heading toward the locker rooms. Some of them hit Dylan in the back with comments like, “Good catch, man,” and “You did good, bro.” Some only offered snickers.

He put a little distance between us, backing away, but his eyes lingered on my lips. “It’ll happen soon you know. I wonder if you’re ready for it, because we’re almost there. I can see it in your eyes, and you’re going to lose, Zoe, just like I knew you would.”

“What? Almost where? Lose what?”

“The bet,” he explained calmly. “You’re going to kiss me and lose the bet. You won’t be able to help yourself.”

Lips tipping up, he grinned at me playfully.

“Oh, I won’t, huh? So humble, too.”

“Yeah.” He shrugged. “So you should give up, uncomplicate the things you needed to uncomplicate. If there is…more I don’t know about and you can’t do it for some fucked-up reason, tell me. I’ll uncomplicate it for you. I like the anticipation of you, Flash, not gonna lie about that, but—”

“Hey, Dylan! You coming or what?” My head moved toward the sound and I saw Chris and JP waiting for my oh-so-humble roommate.

“You go ahead, I’ll be right there,” he shouted back.

I watched his friends shake their heads and walk away. When I looked back up at Dylan, he was studying me closely. For a brief moment, I wondered if Mark had seen us standing like this, but I didn’t give a shit about that, not at that moment, at least. If there were repercussions—such as him yelling at me for no good reason—well, fuck him.

“We need to talk, Zoe. Soon, we need to talk and figure things out.”

“Uh, figure what out?” I asked, distracted by his moving lips.

“The thing you need to uncomplicate.”

I looked up and into his eyes again; there was a storm brewing there.

“It’s driving me crazy,” he continued.

Like the idiot I am, I just stared at him. What the hell could I have said?

Someone bumped him in the back, causing him to lose his balance and brace his palm on the wall behind me. He mumbled something under his breath and looked over his shoulder before looking down at me.

“It’s going to happen.”

He was jogging away before I even had a chance to nod or open my mouth.

“I’m telling you, any time now,” he yelled one last time before disappearing from my sight.

Seconds later, Mark and his entourage walked past me without even noticing I was standing there. If it had happened when we were back in L.A.—actually, it had happened on campus more than a handful of times, and on each and every one of those occasions, I felt like I was nothing but a nuisance when he looked right through me, but this time I couldn’t have cared less. He was the least of my worries.





Chapter Seventeen





Dylan





As the weeks passed in a blur, it was getting harder and harder to keep my hands and eyes off of Zoe. With everything going on with JP and his recovery, other than Chris, she was the only person I was interested in spending time with. As much as being friends with her had been a joke to me from that first day she’d jumped on me, very much naked after her towel failed her, she’d actually somehow ended up being exactly that.

My buddy.

My very own buddy…who I wanted to fuck senseless.

Every time her arm accidentally brushed mine as we passed each other in the hallway or in the kitchen, every time she looked up at me and smiled, all those nights we’d sat on opposite ends of the couch and watched a movie on her laptop…every time she came out of her room with sleepy eyes, smooth legs, and that fucking perfect ass I always got an eyeful of when she reached up to grab a bowl from one of the cupboards and pretended not to watch me while I did my morning workout routine right in front of her as she had her breakfast…every time we bumped into each other while heading to the bathroom to brush our teeth, eyes sleepy, voices husky…every time she opened the cupboard that held her precious M&Ms and spent a few seconds staring at them for God knows what reason…every time I caught her tiptoeing into the apartment so Ms. Hilda wouldn’t catch her…every time she held my gaze for more than a few seconds…you get where I’m going with this?