Page 130 of From Drummer to Gamer

Rage seeped out of Matty, and he was about to snap when I gripped his hand, squeezing.

I got this.

Shadow’s misogynistic remarks were so old-school that they didn’t even hit. Unfortunately, as a woman, you’re put through so much worse than this, so this hardly rattled my skin.

“Thanks, Shadow, I’ll think about the invite, but right now, it’s a no,” I replied, smiling. “Because I can’t be seen playing with a boy who is this small.” I held my thumb and my pointer finger with barely an inch of a gap.

Shadow gritted his teeth and took a menacing step forward.

And before I could ask him to go fuck himself, Matty beat me to it. “You’ll turn right back around if you know what’s good for you,” he warned, lifting his hoodie away as he pinned Shadow with a glare.

And for the first time since he graced us with his presence, Shadow’s cool boy expression fell to the ground, and his entire team gaped at the sight of Matty.

“You’re…you’re,” Shadow stammered, pointing at him.

But I didn’t want to linger, so I spun around to my team. “We’re leaving, guys. I’ll see you all at the finals,” I said, grabbing Matty’s hand as I scurried us away, not even waiting for their response.

“You didn’t have to do that, you know,” I said with a little more bite to my tone than necessary when we reached an empty area on the lot as we headed to our car. “I could’ve handled it.”

“I know, firecracker, and you were so fucking sexyhandlingit.” He kissed my forehead, pulling me closer. “But I just had this insistent urge to knock all the teeth out of his mouth.”

I shook my head, but I couldn’t help but smile like a fool at that. At times, your man defending your honor could get all your lady bits squirming.

My smile didn’t leave my face till we stepped inside the apartment later that night.

Confusion flooded my blood at the weird silence weighing the air.

We’d usually come to Raphy watching TV or blasting his guitar, but this seemed a bit unusual.

And it wasn’t just me who felt it because Matty’s brow furrowed too as we crossed the hallway, hand in hand.

I stopped dead short when we realized the cause of the silence.

“Mom, Dad, what are you doing here?” I asked, feigning a steady tone and failing miserably. They knew I was with Matty, so I shouldn’t really be scared about walking in with him.

But it was the expression on their faces that made my heart get heavier by the second.

Mom’s face was pinched in a frown her eyes narrowed to slits, while Dad’s usual soft eyes held so much sadness, and he looked like he aged a few decades since I last saw him.

I immediately thought something was wrong with Abuela, but Raphy, looking outright terrified, said it was something else.

“Mrs. Chenin’s daughter is also going to Columbia this year,” Mom announced, her voice cutting the air with such sharpness that I felt it graze my skin and draw blood.

“They were kind enough to inform me that there were no summer classes this year when I told them my daughter was going there this fall.”

And right then, at that moment, I just knew nothing was ever going to be the same again.

CHAPTER 28

SIERRA

I swallowed as I dropped Matty’s hand and approached them. “I can explain.”

“Pray tell there’s no way you can explain this, Sierra,” Mom steeled, her jaw set. “I can’t believe my daughter would lie to me like this. What was the real reason you came here? To parade around with your friends and get into a relationship with Mr. Evans?” she asked with such disdain that it burned my eyes.

“No. I came here for the tournament,” I said quietly.

“Tournament?” Mom questioned with a frown.