Page 10 of Offside Attraction

I hooked up with a few guys. The results were embarrassing. There was no spark. No fire. Nothing. Just bodies and awkward silence.

The last guy I tried to hook up with didn’t even get that far. I left his apartment before anything could happen and went straight to the gym, transferring all that frustration into a punching bag until my knuckles ached.

I was furious.

Furious at myself for still feeling pulled toward Hayes after four years. Furious for wanting someone I shouldn’t want. Furious that no matter how much time passed, he still lived under my skin.

And one look at Hayes Griffin today—

Every feeling I’d buried came crashing back.

It took me four years to admit that I might be bisexual. But the truth is, I didn’t want men.

I wanted him.

The one boy I should never want.

Being a big name in the underground fighting scene meant attention came easy. Girls—especially older ones—were always around. Some threw themselves at me. Others fought over me.

I hooked up with plenty of them.

It always went the way it was supposed to. Heat. Arousal. Pleasure.

But never a spark.

Never fire.

Something was always missing, and I couldn’t figure out what—until today.

Until I locked eyes with Hayes after all these years.

I am fucked.

Completely. Utterly. Fucked.

I should hate him. I do hate him. I want to punch him. Hurt him. Make him feel even a fraction of what I felt back then.

But something holds me back.

I’ve forgiven him.

I just can’t forget.

Not when he ruined my childhood and laughed about it with his friends like it was some kind of joke.

Fucking prick.

The second our eyes met today, all the anger I thought I’d burned out of myself came roaring back, and every instinct in me screamed to hit him. To swing. To break something.

I stop at my assigned locker, shoving everything I won’t need inside before slamming it shut.

I turn to head to my first class—

And crash straight into someone.

A girl.

She’s wearing the school uniform, but no blazer. Her button-down is missing the top two buttons, exposing the curve of her chest. Honey-blond hair frames her face perfectly. Green eyes. Too much red lipstick. Too much floral perfume.