Page 81 of Offside Attraction

“Do you miss your friends?”

“Yeah.”

“They must mean a lot to you then,” Hayes says. I can feel his gaze on me even though I’m not looking at him. Slowly, I turn my head, hesitate, then nod, offering him a small smile instead of an answer.

The silence stretches.

“Why did you cut your hair?”

The question catches me off guard. His voice is softer now—curious, almost careful—and it breaks something open in the quiet between us.

I shift, fingers brushing the shorter strands at the back of my neck. “I don’t know,” I mumble with a shrug. “Just needed a change, I guess.”

It’s a half-truth.

I liked my longer hair. I just hated what it reminded me of. Sometimes I’d look in the mirror and feel like I was staring at a ghost—the fourteen-year-old version of myself who couldn’t stand up for himself, who learned that staying quiet felt safer than fighting back.

Hayes studies me, his eyes sharp but unreadable. “I liked it longer,” he says finally, so quietly I almost think I imagined it.

My heart stutters.

I look away, swallowing hard. “Guess it’s not really your business,” I say, forcing my voice to stay steady.

He lets out a short laugh—not mocking, not cruel. Almost… relieved. “I suppose not.”

But he still doesn’t look away. His gaze lingers, heavier than usual, like he’s trying to see past whatever mask I’m wearing.

“Don’t get me wrong,” Hayes adds. “This look suits you.” A pause. Then, with that familiar cocky edge slipping back in, “Makes you look hotter, actually.”

My pulse spikes.

Is he flirting with me?

And why the fuck does my heart feel like it’s trying to escape my chest?

Heat creeps up my neck, my palms damp, my stomach doing something stupid and traitorous. This isn’t supposed to be happening. He’s messing with me—he always does.

And yet… part of me wonders if this time it’s real.

I scoff, hoping it covers how rattled I am. “Didn’t realize you cared so much about my looks, Griffin.”

Hayes smirks and shifts closer, his presence suddenly impossible to ignore. “Just calling it like I see it,” he says, voice low, challenging. “You come back all different and expect no one to notice?”

My heart pounds harder. His words sink under my skin, settling somewhere deep and dangerous. Every nerve in my body reacts to the attention, and I hate how easily I’m falling for it.

Fuck.

It pisses me off how much power he has over me. How easily he makes me feel things I shouldn’t.

“Notice all you want,” I say evenly. “Doesn’t mean I did it for you.”

His eyes flash with something that sends a shiver straight through me. “Maybe not,” he murmurs, gaze lingering just a second too long. “Doesn’t mean I won’t notice anyway.”

Get a grip, Dakota.

You should not be falling for a manipulative asshole who’s already proven he can hurt you.

And yet… here I am.