The Heartbreakers

“Hey Len, do you have a second?” Darrius is standing behind me and I immediately tense up.

I look around and relax just a fraction when I don’t spot Kiara or Anna in the immediate vicinity. I look around the room for support and after spotting Sarah giggling at something Trent is saying, I lock eyes with Peyton again. He’s watching us and that makes me immediately feel more confident. “What’s up?”

He takes hold of my elbow, walking to a quieter corner of the fairly crowded room. “I just wanted to say that I’m sorry for the way Anna talked to you earlier.”

His tone is soft, reminding me of the way he used to talk to me on the phone every night before we fell asleep. Until I left last year.

“You know your sister never liked me.” I sigh. “But thank you for standing up to her for me.” He’s always defended me from Anna’s verbal attacks.

He shrugs. “She’s just jealous because you have a better relationship than she’ll ever have with our dad. I hate how she takes it out on you.”

He’s talking in a soft tone, his mouth close to my ear.

“I’m used to that by now, Darrius. She just hates that Kyle treats me like a daughter. Especially since when Papà—”

Darrius nods. “I know. I’ve been trying to tell her that Dad stepping in for you doesn’t mean that he loves her any less. Patrick was like a brother to him. I’ve told her so many times that we’re family and you could be a sister to her if she gave you a chance.”

A sister. The same way he must’ve been seeing me while I was dreaming of kissing him, of his hands on me. Of him looking at me the way he was looking at Kiara earlier on.

“Right. I can only imagine what she had to say to that.” I snort, taking a step away from him.

The way his fingers are brushing against the sensitive skin of the crook of my elbow, the way he’s standing extremely close, his warm breath tickling my ear are what always confused me.

What always made me hope against all common sense, that Darrius could reciprocate my feelings.

“I know,” he says, tucking a strand of my hair behind my ear, “I really wish you two could bury the hatchet. I know this might be hard to believe, but Anna isn’t always aggressive like she is with you. She’s my other best friend, Len.”

He’s been saying this for years, how he wishes that Anna and I could be friends.

“I’d love to be her friend. I’m not the one you should talk to.”

Darrius sighs. “I know. But you and Anna are more similar than you might like to admit.”

I tilt my head to the side, perplexed by how he could think something so ridiculous. “Anna and I are very different people, Darrius.”

The light in his brown eyes changes, losing the softness I saw in them just a second ago.

“You aren’t that different. Look at the way you’ve been treating Kiara since I started going out with her.”

I take another step back, tugging to loosen his hold on my elbow. “Are you for fucking real?” I hiss.

He looks genuinely affronted. “Are you trying to tell me that you aren’t jealous? That you aren’t mad that I’m dating her and not you?”

I shake my head in disbelief. “Jealousy has nothing to do with why I’m mad at Kiara.” Ok, maybe not entirely true, but that isn’t the main reason why I’m no longer her friend. “You can date whoever the fuck you want, Darrius. And it’s up to me to live with the fact that I’m not the one you want. But she knew how I felt about you. She’s known this entire time! And just the fact that she’d ask you to get her a job with the team and you did after you saw how much I was hurting—”

I know I’m raising my voice above the chatter of the special guests and specialized press that is still hanging around the first room of the museum.

Even though some people are listening to the guided tour, several heads turn in our direction.

“Hey Lenley.” A deep voice interrupts me and my eyes meet a pair of deep blue ones. “I was wondering if you have a minute. I have a couple of questions about—”

“Cox, what the fuck are you doing here?” Darrius snarls, looking at Peyton as if he was chewing gum stuck to the bottom of his shoe. “This is a night dedicated to the Angels and their glorious history. To one of our founders and my mentor. I don’t know who let you in here, but I’ll be more than happy to show you the door!”

Peyton’s response is an eerily calm, amused smirk at Darrius’ outburst. “Oh, your mentor was a great man. He was my myth since I was eight years old. Too bad what’s left of his team is some second rate, talentless divers who know that the only way to win anything is to sabotage the competition.”

Peyton doesn’t raise his voice but his steely tone conveys how furious he is better than if he were using his fists.

I’ve heard the guys talk about Darrius screwing them over by “cheating” but I’m not entirely sure what happened between them; all I know is that the hatred between them runs deep and things only got worse after the Devils moved to Star Cove.

Darrius takes a menacing step toward Peyton and I instinctively step between them.

“Cox, if you don’t leave, so help me God, I—I’m calling security right now. It’s fucking beneath me to take out the trash.”

“I’m not leaving,” Peyton says provocatively. “Just FYI, I was invited by the CEO herself. She invited me and my team. So if you have a problem with it, I suggest you take it up with her.”

Darrius’ eyes flash with fury. “That’s fucking bullshit! Gina would never—”

I spot the journalist from before and I don’t like the way he’s looking in our direction. “Darrius, Peyton is telling the truth. Mom invited them and their manager tonight. She wants a better relationship between the two teams in town. And that journalist is looking at us. If he writes about you two fighting, it’ll totally ruin tonight’s opening.”

My argument has a calming effect on Darrius.

“Right,” he says, grinding his jaw and grabbing my elbow again. “Just stay away from Lenley, asshole.”

He drags me away and into the next room and at I struggle against his hold at first.

Then it hits me that this is exactly what I want, right? I don’t know if Darrius is jealous of me or just pissed off about seeing his rival here, but his reaction tells me that Peyton’s plan has a chance of success.

My hunch is confirmed when he warns me against Peyton again.