She stared at me in shock for a moment, before I tore my gaze away, unable to look at her any longer. “You really are a heartless bastard, aren’t you? Fuck you, Carter. And your friends.” Her words were spoken with anger, but her voice trembled. Fuck. I didn’t look as she spun on her heel and walked away.
“Harsh, mate,” Xavier commented in a low voice, and I sighed. Yeah, it was really bloody harsh, but I’d been there this morning when she’d found her locker. She hadn’t seen me, probably too in shock to be aware of anything much around her. But I’d seen that look of total devastation on her face, how she’d crumbled and fled. I’d been listening to the whispers about her all morning. I hoped she understood that I’d pushed her away to protect her. Despite my fucking confusion about my feelings towards her, I didn’t want her to be hurt anymore because of me.
It was better this way.
What I needed to do was to get Anastasia to admit what she’d done and make her pay. I knew she was the one behind it, but I also knew her well. And she wouldn’t admit it unless she stopped seeing Raine as a threat.
On that note, I stretched my arm out along her chair, and she leaned back with a smile. I suppressed the urge to remove my arm and instead pretended I was interested in her superficial chat, while my thoughts were miles away, with a hazel-eyed girl who’d rocked me to my fucking core.
28
Kian’s wide grin distracted me from my thoughts at football practice. Today was the first day he’d been allowed to start training with the team again, although he was still suspended from the matches for now.
“Want to come over to mine for the soccer game on Sunday?” Preston asked as we stretched out our hamstrings, warming up for training drills. “My parents are out of town.”
Kian shot him a dirty look. “It’s not fucking soccer, it’s football!”
Preston grinned at him unrepentantly, and after a moment, Kian cracked a smile, too. “What am I going to do with you?” he muttered, shaking his head.
“Enough talking! Three laps around the field, then cone drills. Go!” Mr. Anders, our football coach, shouted before blowing his whistle, and we took off running.
“What’s going on with you and Raine?” Kian was jogging next to me, front of the pack, setting the pace as we rounded the first corner of the field, the grass spongy and damp under our feet.
“Nothing,” I barked out.
“Didn’t look like nothing. You want her?”
I stumbled, then regained my footing. “Fuck, no.”
“It didn’t seem that way at the party. I could tell you were really into her. What was with you icing her out earlier?”
My stomach flipped. My feet kept moving on autopilot, but my whole body was tense. “What? It meant nothing. I’m not interested in her.”
“Chill, mate. It’s no big deal if you are.” He increased his pace, and I matched him. “But if you’re not…you don’t mind if I ask her out, then?”
The memory of him chasing her at Fright Night flashed through my mind, and I saw red. “She’s not yours!” I shouted, my words torn away in the wind, and then I leapt on him, my fist flying at his body. He reacted straight away, punching me in the ribs. We skidded across the wet grass, falling to the floor, pummelling each other. Arms pulled us apart, and I heard the sound of the coach’s whistle.
“Kian! Carter! See me in my office right now! The rest of you, carry on doing drills!”
He stormed off to his office, and we followed him in. We both stood there, letting him rant and rave, his face red with fury. Eventually, he calmed down.
“Kian, you’re already on thin ice as it is. I agreed to let you start training again, and this is what happens your first day back?”
“Sorry, Coach.” He tried his best to sound contrite, but the thing about Kian? He really didn’t care.
“Carter, I expect better from you. You’re the team captain. You’re supposed to be setting an example for the others.”
“Sorry.”
“Both of you, get out of my sight, and sort out whatever shit it is you’re fighting about.”
I headed back outside, dropping onto the bench next to the field, putting my head in my hands. Everything was unravelling. Between all the shit with Raine and my parents constantly on my case, my head was a fucking mess. The pressure was getting to me, and now I’d taken it out on one of my best mates.
“Here.” I looked up to see Kian holding out a bottle of water.
“Thanks.” I took it, and he dropped onto the bench next to me.
“Sorry, mate. I was just trying to wind you up. I didn’t realise you liked her that much.”