Page 63 of Offside Attraction

Hate that the same boy who hurt me is the one my thoughts keep circling back to, uninvited and relentless.

Hayes is supposed to be off-limits. I shouldn’t even be thinking about him—about all the dirty things I want to do to him. About imagining my lips everywhere on his perfect body, kissing him, touching him, pushing him until he loses control because of me.

Every time we lock eyes, a part of my brain just shuts down, and I forget how awful, malicious, arrogant, and manipulative he can be. Hayes is the enemy—yet every nerve in my body refuses to agree. Whenever he’s close to me, or whenever he smirks or smiles, even when I know his intent is purely malicious, there’s always this tightness in my chest, in my stomach. And it makes it almost impossible to hate him.

“Now I understand why the two of you can’t stand each other,” Tripp says. “Still, I think you need to confront him. Tell him how you feel. Let him see how angry you are about what he put youthrough. Maybe that’ll help with all this hate and anger you’ve buried so deep.”

I scoff, stalling as I glance around the cafeteria, desperately searching for a way out of this conversation.

“Shay,” I say suddenly. “How serious is she with Hayes?”

Tripp smiles, clearly aware I’m dodging the topic, but he doesn’t push. I appreciate that more than he knows.

“They’ve been on and off for about a year,” he says. “I don’t think Hayes takes her seriously. Honestly, he’s never taken any of his girlfriends seriously. She knows that, but she doesn’t seem to care. Both their parents are rich, and I think the relationship is more of a transaction. She’s pretty, he’s popular. They both get something out of it.”

“Huh. And when he’s not dating Shay?” I ask.

I don’t even know why I care. Maybe because a small, stupid part of me wants Hayes to beanythingbut straight. I know how ridiculous that sounds. It’s not like me. But I can’t help it—I just want to know.

That night four years ago is burned into my memory, no matter how hard I try to erase it. Everything else might’ve been a lie, but Hayes’s lips pressed against mine—slow, deliberate, devastating—felt real. Or maybe I just don’t want to admit that he played me, and I was too far gone to see it. I was young. But it hurt all the same.

“It might surprise you,” Tripp says, “but Hayes doesn’t really fool around. For a guy like him—popular, rich, star athlete—you’d expect him to sleep with anyone who bats their lashes at him. But he doesn’t. At least not that I know of. I think he’s dated maybe three or four girls before Shay. His last girlfriend was Jenna—his friend turned girlfriend.”

“Jenna?”

“You know her?”

“Yeah. She, Ezra, and Hayes were close back in middle school. What happened?”

“No one really knows. Hayes is private—about everything. But the rumor was that she caught him with Shay. There was a public blowup between her and Hayes during junior year. They only dated for a few months before that. Jenna and her parents left town not long after the breakup.”

Fuck.

That’s… a lot to take in.

My first day at Crestview Prep, I honestly thought I’d run into Jenna. Considering Ezra and Hayes both go here, it felt inevitable. They were a trio back then—a squad. And since Jenna was the only girl between two boys, Ezra and Hayes treated her like a sister. They were protective of her.

Now I’m finding out she dated Hayes.

We were fourteen, and even though no one ever knew what went on in and out of Hayes Griffin’s life, I never thoughtheand Jenna would be a thing. He never looked at her like that. Not once.

But then again… what do I know?

“What’s up with you and Brooklyn?” I ask, changing gears. “You hitting on her?”

Tripp scoffs, but he blushes, biting his bottom lip in embarrassment.

“Are you blushing?” I ask, chuckling.

“Fuck off, Miller,” he mutters. “She and Ezra aren’t together anymore. She caught him cheating on her with some girl from the drama club.”

“So you’re shooting your shot?”

“More like observing. I don’t wanna come on too strong. She just got out of a messy breakup.”

I nod. “Yeah. Fair.”

“And the dare?” he asks. “You still on?”