The Hardest Fall

by Ella Maise

His eyes narrowed at me. “You’re not looking away.”

“You shouldn’t, but that hasn’t stopped you in the past.”

“That’s not much of an answer to my question. How about this question then? Maybe you’ll have a better answer for this one, what do you think?”

“Are you still dating him?”

“You like pushing me, don’t you?”

“Was that Coach I saw going into your room earlier?”

“You heard me. I was coming to your room to see if you wanted to hang out, but Coach made it there before me so I didn’t bother.”

“I didn’t know you were close enough to invite him into your room.”

“I didn’t see either of you around for an hour.”

“He was only in my room for five minutes, Dylan, six tops. My dad is driving in from Phoenix to see me, and Mark wanted to know if he was going to make it to the game tomorrow.”

Dylan: Are you in bed?

Dylan: That’s good.

“Just like that?” I asked. “One injury and he’s out? Done?” “Yeah. That’s how it goes with sports. You never know when you’ll be forced to tap out.”

if Dylan had been a beast before, he’d turned into the Hulk in no time.

I jumped up and down as I watched my buddy score his third touchdown of the night. He was amazing.

“Who is he?” were the first words out of his mouth. My smile faltered. “What?” “Number four.”

“Trevor Paxton—you were in his arms.”

“My friend from Phoenix. We grew up in the same neighborhood, same high school and everything. Strictly friends.”

“You’re not looking away. Why are you not looking away?”

“You were amazing, Dylan, really freaking amazing.”

“Now I understand all the hype,” I continued before he could say anything else. “I feel a little light headed, like I’m a drunk on the game. You guys were amazing.”

“You said that already, Flash,” he murmured, his deep voice sending a thrill through my body.

“I like having your eyes on me, Zoe.”

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

“You know why I like watching you?”

“Because I can’t take my eyes away from you. Everything else…it all disappears, and…”

“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.”

“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.”

“The bet,” he explained calmly. “You’re going to kiss me and lose the bet. You won’t be able to help yourself.”

“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—”

“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.”

“It’s driving me crazy,” he continued.

“It’s going to happen.”

“I’m telling you, any time now,” he yelled one last time before disappearing from my sight.

My buddy. My very own buddy…who I wanted to fuck senseless.

She had something going on with Coach, and it was fucking with my head like nothing else ever had in my entire life. I didn’t believe their families were friends. I didn’t know what to believe, but I didn’t believe that. I couldn’t imagine Zoe being with him; she wasn’t that kind of girl, yet…

she was in a really fucked-up, weird situation with my coach. If that was the case, I was ready to fix it.

“Are you playing with me, Zoe? Because I can’t believe you can be this clueless. You can’t be.”

“You can’t be this clueless,” I repeated

“It’s dark, and no one can see us back here,” I muttered in a bitter voice.

“Don’t ask me to let go, please. I can’t.”

I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t stay away anymore.

“I love pizza,” she repeated,

“I know you do—you only say it every day.”

“I called Chris and got the phone number of the guy who dated Kayla’s friend back when I met her. Then a couple more calls and I got Kayla’s number. She didn’t tell you?”

“Ten minutes,” I said. “Just ten more minutes to feel like this.”

“Choose me, Zoe.” The words rushed out of me before I could stop myself.

“Leave him,” I continued. “I’m right here and I want you, so damn much. I’m not sure how much more I can take.

You’re driving me crazy, and I’ve never been so jealous of anyone in my life.” I paused. “I need you to let him go, Zoe. Whatever it is that’s going on between you two, I don’t want to know. Just…I need you to choose me now. I’m the one that’s supposed to be with you, not anyone else.”

“I should apologize for that…it was more than just a friendly kiss…but I can’t.” “I don’t have a boyfriend,”