At this rate, she’d disappear before I could get her attention.
I grabbed the hair tie holding her ponytail together, pulling it down her hair. She squeaked, spinning around to glower at me.
“What the hell is your problem? Do you know how long it took me to do this hair?” She looked red.
“I’m keeping this,” I said, shaking the blue hair tie at her. “See you at the gym later.”
I whistled, walked away. And laughed.
* * *
After practice, I showered quickly, got dressed, and didn’t stay around to chat with the guys. I felt…excited. I hadn’t felt this way in a while, and it felt damn good. It felt like how Christmas should feel.
I walked back to the gym and laughed softly when I saw her there.
She was sleeping.
Without a care. Like a little child who’d gotten tired and needed a nap, she’d stretched out on the lowest bleacher seat, arm covering her face, hair spilling around her like a halo. Her other arm hugged her backpack in front of her. Her water bottle was by her feet.
Carefully so as not to wake her, I sat on the bleacher seat above her. I’d watched her sleep before, but watching her now, it felt like the first time.
I only saw half of her face. A little bit of her small nose and her mouth. Her lips were pale, a little dry. And somehow, seeing that…I felt a pang in my chest.
She always had a water bottle with her, but I bet other than water, it was coffee she sipped most of the time. Always trying to stay awake to keep up with her responsibilities.
She was strong. There was no doubt about that, but even the strong needed rest.
I should’ve told her to go home and get some sleep, but if I didn’t ask her to pick me up today, I bet she’d have picked up another shift.
I removed my jacket and draped it over her.
A lock of her hair touched the floorboard. I held it in my fingers, feeling the texture. It was soft, silky. The color reminded me of burnt caramel—gold and dark brown. I leaned down, close enough to smell it.
Peaches.
Thirty minutes passed, an hour. And then the janitor came in. That woke her up. She pulled her arm away from her face, and her hazel eyes found me.
She looked confused and so damn adorable I wanted to wrap her in my arms.
“It’s time to go,” I said, and remembering yesterday morning, how she needed coffee to wake up, I reached for her water bottle, opened it. I smelled coffee. “Here.”
She sat up slowly and drank dutifully. Without a complaint this time. A few seconds later, the caffeine had hit her system. She looked exhausted but a little more awake.
“Ready?” I asked.
She nodded.
She walked mechanically, hugging her bag to her chest like a shield. Her hair hid her face from me.
The only time I’d walked with her without talking was that night when I’d first kissed her. And still, I had felt impatient energy coming off her in waves.
Tonight, that energy was not present. She felt subdued, as though she was hiding herself from the world.
“You can hold on to me,” I whispered. “If you want.”
She shook her head and kept walking. When at last we were seated in her car, she leaned her head against the headrest and just closed her eyes.
I sucked in a breath when I felt her rest her head on my arm.