Page 64 of Better Than Revenge

“Of course I did. I just…Where did you find tape of me? You asked Coach?”

“No way. I found some online. People post football games to YouTube all the time. I just had to dig through the footage to find you.” And I had found him. I’d even found some clips where the poster had zoomed in nice and tight on his kick. His form was beautiful—smooth and strong and almost graceful. “You looked…”

Our legs were stretched out in front of us, my right running alongside his left. He was still in his shorts from our workout, and my eyes studied his scar. It seemed so innocent there, like it wasn’t big enough or dark enough to represent what it had taken fromhim.

“I looked what?” he asked, his hand brushing over his knee.

I captured his hand in mine to stop his mindless habit. Or maybe to let him know that I hadn’t meant to stare. “You looked beautiful.” My throat felt tight with the word.

“Are you mocking me?” he asked, squeezing my hand. His lips twitched into a smirk.

“No, I’m not. I promise. I want to kick like that.” I started to pull my hand away, but he held on, bringing it over to his lap and running a finger along each of my knuckles. A shiver went throughme.

“I want to kick like that again too,” he said, his voice low.

Despite the fact that his finger was gliding over my skin, causing goose bumps to form over every inch of me, I wasn’t sure if hewas feeling anything. He seemed to be lost in his thoughts, absent-mindedly moving his body.

“You don’t think you will?” I asked.

“Do you know what happens when you’re an only child? All your parents’ unfulfilled potential rests on your shoulders, and even when it’s something you want for yourself, you feel triple the pressure to achieve it.”

“That’s hard,” I said.

His shoulder was getting heavier against mine. I looked over at him, and his eyes locked with mine.

I was very aware that my hair was greasy, and my skin sticky from our workout. I gently took my hand from him and shifted sideways, tucking my legs beneath me and looking out at the water. It was choppy and a dark blue with the setting sun. A dinner-cruise boat was slowly moving in the distance.

“Is it an otter?” Theo asked, bringing my gaze sharply back tohim.

“What?” I asked.

“An otter,” he said again, not looking at the water at all, instead, his eyes still on me. Had he listened to the podcast? Was he referencing the words my grandma had said to avoid a kiss? And did that mean he had been about to kiss me and I had stopped it with my sideways shift away from him? My stomach fluttered with that thought.

“I thought it looked more like a sea lion,” I said back.

He gave a breathy laugh. “That was a really good episode. I can see why it has so many views.”

Hehadbeen referencing the podcast, then. But was it just that? A reference? And what did I want it to be? I felt like anything, even a kiss, with Theo was complicated. There was too much baggage surrounding us. Too many people would think we had ulterior motives. Even my best friend didn’t support it, saw the complications, thought he wasn’t right for me. And maybe I still didn’t fully trust him either.

“Yeah, um…thanks. My grandma is pretty cool.” I was facing Theo, my legs crossed in front of me and my elbows resting on my knees. He still sat with his back against the railing and his legs stretched out in front of him.

“Hopefully Alice gets back to you soon,” he said. Again, his finger found my skin. This time gliding over my kneecap. But this time, instead of seeming to be in another world, his eyes didn’t leave mine.

I swallowed. “Yeah, hopefully.” My voice sounded breathy.

“When’s your next interview with your grandma?”

I trapped his finger in my fist, mainly so he’d stop causing jolts of electricity to shoot up my leg, but also because despite everything I’d said about how complicated we were, I wanted to touch him too. “I can’t really plan them. It just depends on if she’s up to it or not. Some days are better than others.”

“I hope you get to it soon,” he said. “I need the kiss.” His smirk was back. The little punk knew exactly what he was doing.

I dropped his finger and playfully shoved his shoulder.

He chuckled. “What?”

“You know what,” I said with a laugh.

“That’syour real laugh,” he said.