Wild Tendy (IceCats 2)

When the camera pans off Nico, Callie turns, her eyes full of tears as she crosses her arms over her chest. Her face is red, and I think she’s upset. I mean, I could be wrong, but she doesn’t look pleased.

“You broke Nico.”

I’m taken aback. “What? Who?”

“You!” she yells, pointing at me. “I know you think you don’t deserve happiness, but you do. And so does he! He chose you, he likes you, so stop being an idiot and be nice to him!”

“Callie, be real.”

She stomps away. “We all know you like him. You broke our goalie! I hope you know, I’m telling everyone so they can come and tell you you’re an idiot.”

The door slams, and I look at Jaylin. The asshole is laughing. “Freaking hormonal teenagers.”

She shakes her head. “No, she’s keeping it 100 too.”

“Really? I didn’t break him. Be real.”

Just then, the camera focuses on Nico, and he looks so defeated. Even through his mask, I can see his dark eyes, and they are stewing with disappointment. He looks incredibly handsome but also murderous. It’s hot.

“Shit. Did I break him?”

Jaylin nods. “You are the reason we lost.”

I glare. “Whatever. But wait, am I about to have a whole fan base come for me?”

She shrugs. “I hope so. Maybe they’ll be able to talk some sense into you.”

I watch the screen for a second. I want to call him. I want to see him, but I can’t. I won’t allow some man to speak to me like that and then I just chase after him. If we need to see each other again, the universe will intervene. It has before, and it will again. Or we’ll go our separate ways.

With a grin, I say, “I wonder if they’ll want subs.”

“You’re such an asshole. You aren’t gonna call him, are you?”

I bring my glass to my lips. “Nope.”

No matter how much I want to.

Chapter Fifteen

Nico

“How are you feeling?”

I don’t even want to answer the woman who has been sent to fix me. There is no fixing me. I look down at my knees, watching them bounce. I can feel Dr. Jenkins’s eyes on me. Even though I have no desire to answer or even participate in this session, I know I have to. “Like shit.”

“Can you elaborate?”

I let out an annoyed sigh. I’m five seconds away from being a child and mocking her. “Can you elaborate?” No. Leave me alone.

“Well, I haven’t been pulled from a game in almost a year, and then I got pulled Monday. I let in three goals Wednesday, and that fucking pisses me off.”

I still won’t look at her. I feel her staring at me. I know she wants more, but I just don’t have it in me. While I’ve been playing like complete shit the last couple days, that’s not what has me on edge. I’m pissed that I haven’t heard from Aviva. She hasn’t called, texted, or anything. I haven’t been to the shop because I’ve had games and practice, but still, she hasn’t made any attempt to see me. She ran out on me. She rejected me. And while I had been chasing her like crazy, I won’t now.

Well, at least, I won’t right now. I gotta calm down. I gotta figure out how I want to approach this. We went at it, and while I was pissed, I just wanted to kiss that angry little look on her face. I wanted to taste those lips, and damn it, I wanted to hold her. I wanted her to feel how much I enjoy spending time with her. Enjoy her. I really don’t understand. How could she think I wouldn’t want her? Fuck, if she doesn’t make me crazy.

“Do you feel off?”

I shrug. “Yeah, I’m not focused.”

“Why’s that?”

I shake my head and thank God for player confidentiality. “I’m caught up on a girl.”

“I didn’t know you were dating someone,” she says, her voice hinting at surprise.

Dating. Are we even dating? “I don’t know if we are. I want to date her.”

“Is she not returning the feelings?”

“She’s wishy-washy. One second, I think she does want to. But the next, this fucking brick wall comes up.” I shake my head, annoyed as I bring up her imaginary wall. “Like, fuck, I get that she’s been through some shit and all, but I’m not a bad guy. She’s making it seem like I fuck around a lot and don’t commit. I tried to commit. It blew up in my fucking face.”

Dr. Jenkins moves her pen against her notepad. “Did it really blow up in your face, or did you ignore the fact that Shelli didn’t want to commit to you?”

I hate therapy. I mean, come on, I don’t need this chick telling me the truth. Just lie to me. Smack a Band-Aid on me and tell me I’m good. I grind my teeth as I shrug. “Yeah, I ignored it.”