The Hardest Fall

The deep blue in his eyes sparkled with an emotion I couldn’t name. “You said that already, Flash,” he murmured, his deep voice sending a thrill through my body.

I swallowed and moved my head up and down, because I was having trouble coming up with more words, and yeah, I had said that already—a few times actually. My brain was telling me it was time to leave before I started rambling.

When Dylan looked over his shoulder toward the field, I looked that way too. A few of his teammates had already started to head for the locker rooms.

“I should let you—”

I stopped speaking when Dylan’s gloved hand—his huge gloved hand—cupped my cheek and gently tilted my face up. The world around me slowed down, and I stood still. I swear to you, I watched his eyes roam my face in slow motion.

“I like having your eyes on me, Zoe.”

I managed to force a nervous smile. His thumb moved on my cheek, rendering me…basically completely helpless.

Forgetting myself, forgetting where we were, I whispered, “I like watching you.”

His tongue peeked out and touched his lower lip. “I know.”

Oh, Dylan, why did you do that?

“I meant I like watching you—liked watching you play tonight. I didn’t mean it to sound like I like watching you when you’re not playing. I definitely wouldn’t watch you if you were just standing there, or I don’t know…I wouldn’t watch you when you’re working out, and I would never watch you if you were—”

“You know why I like watching you?”

The question shut me up pretty quickly, which was probably for the best; who knew what else I would spew out.

“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.