Page 226 of For the Fans

Avi’s gaze falls to the floor between us, a shifty air about him as he mumbles, “She’s up in my hotel room resting. She… wasn’t feeling well. But she’ll probably come down in a bit.”

My brow furrows. “Oh… Okay. Do you think I should go check on her?”

“No, no.” He shakes his head. “This is your party, baby. You need to be here celebrating being an NCAA muthafuckin’ champion.” His grin widens, and I chuckle.

“Do you want a drink? Or something to eat?” I ask, straightening his tie.

His eyes shift left then right, as if he’s uneasy about people seeing us standing together this way; close, with me fussing over him.

“Avi…” I whisper, and he blinks sparkly blue-gray at me. “I… I want—”

“Yo! Look who’s here!” Guty’s voice booms, and I glance up to see him barreling over. “Baldwin made an appearance for the win!”

“Guty…” I huff, grinning, though I’m about to tell him not to call Avi that anymore.

But he grabs Avi by the arm and starts dragging him away. “I want you to meet my fam-bam.”

Avi shoots me a helpless look, and I chuckle, following after them. Guty brings Avi over to his mom and brother, who are chatting with Theo and his dad.

“Congrats on an amazing win,” Avi says to Guty, peeking at Theo. “All of you… You guys really killed it. I’m not surprised one bit, but just… congratulations. You deserve it.”

“Hey, they couldn’t have done it without your support at all the home games!” Guty’s mother, Liz, says, patting Avi on the shoulder.

Our faces all scrunch in confusion as Guty asks, “Wait, how’d you know he’s the mascot??”

“We met at the game,” Liz says with a smile. “He was sitting in front of us.” Her face tilts to me. “With your sister.”

“Ah…” I nod, while Guty does the same, and Theo introduces Avi to his dad.

“I love your moves,” Guty’s brother, Marco, says to Avi, and Avi chuckles, rubbing the back of his neck.

He definitely seems a little tense, but it makes sense in this situation. This isn’t normally the kind of thing Avi likes to do. But he’s doing it for me, which has warm tingles flooding my chest.

Liz nudges me, whispering, “Is this your boyfriend?” Her eyes flick to Avi, lips curled in an eager grin.

Avi’s eyes widen and he gapes at me like he’s not sure what would make her ask that.

My jaw drops, but before I can respond, Guty scoffs, “Mama! No esta su novio. Avi is Kyran’sstepbrother.”

Her face goes still, the smile falling away as her forehead lines in confusion. I can feel heat rising into my cheeks, and normally this would be the time for me to retreat into myself, coughingup some bullshit excuse; some lie that doesn’t feel good, but will help preserve the Kyran Harbor image everyone else sees.

But… I don’t want to do that anymore.

I don’t want tolieanymore.

No more hiding.

“Actually…” I croak, then clear my throat, reaching for Avi’s hand. It’s clammy, and I can feel his fingers shaking as I thread mine through them, yanking him closer to me. “She’s right.”

“Kyran…” Avi whispers frantically, shaking his head. “You don’t have to do this. Not now…”

“I do, though.” My lips quirk into a small smile, to let him know I’m fine. It’s okay.I can do this.“I have to. I mean, Iwantto…”

“Ky, what’s going on?” Theo tilts his head, his eyes falling to Avi’s and my joined hands.

Peering at him, then Guty, I take in a small breath while they all gawk at me in silence. I won’t say my heart isn’t racing, because it is. But it feelsgood.

It’s the way my heart races on the field. With millions of eyes and lights shining down on me… I exhale and I’m calm.Focused.