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“Is that the girl?” one of them whispered, and I knew that the gossip definitely hadn’t just stayed online .

It also seemed to catch the attention of Allie, who was blushing so hard that her face was red all the way up to her hairline.

“Hey,” Theo greeted me. It was the first time we’d been in the same place since we’d kissed, the moment I’d been mentally preparing myself for days. I was ready for it to be awkward or tense or weird, because that was how it had been immediately following our kiss.

But instead, all I felt was an intense desire to kiss her again right here and tell her that I’d missed her. Because it was true—I did.

“Hey,” I said. She looked so good in her team-affiliated athleisure that I almost couldn’t look at her. Her smell was still the same, so she must’ve brought whatever shampoo or body wash she used back home. I wanted to burrow my face in her neck and live there forever.

“How was your drive over? I’m glad you could make it.”

“McCall, come on,” an older man said, probably one of the assistant coaches, waving her down the hall toward the hotel rooms.

“Sorry, one second,” Theo said, and he gave her a knowing look.

I was sure the coach had navigated all kinds of interpersonal relationships—people sneaking out to see their girlfriends, overbearing families who won’t leave their kid’s side.

I was a tiny bit flattered I fell into the category of people he was wary of.

I would never aspire to be a distraction, but I kind of liked that I seemed like I could be one.

I had to mean enough to Theo for that to be the case .

“It was good,” I said.

“Quiet,” Iris agreed, and I remembered she was there for the first time since making eye contact with Theo.

“Did you need anything for your room?” Allie suddenly asked, and we all turned to look at her. “Towels? More pillows? We want to make sure your stay is comfortable.”

I could tell immediately from her expression what was going on.

She wasn’t trying to edge me out—there was no bad will toward me; if anything, I wasn’t sure she even really saw me anymore, now that Theo was there.

Her approach to flirting was about as indirect as it could be, but I knew what it was.

I was surprised by my urge to grab Theo’s hand.

Whereas before, I’d almost be relieved when I saw someone flirting with the person I was with in public, I felt the need to pull Theo away as quickly as possible.

It turned out the one time I didn’t appreciate a woman taking charge and shooting her shot with someone was when it came to Theo.

“Oh, no. Things are great, thank you,” Theo said, completely oblivious. She turned to her team members who were slowly filtering back to their rooms. I had a feeling based on their pace that they were hanging around to see what was going on between me and Theo. “You guys need anything?”

They all shook their heads, a chorus of all goods ringing out through the otherwise empty hotel lobby.

Theo turned back to me. “Coming to the game tomorrow?”

“Of course,” I said .

“I know I’m technically not supposed to be rooting for you but I am,” Allie said, stepping in again.

“I appreciate that,” Theo said. It was clear just how often she had interactions like this based on how easily she responded.

She sounded genuine and polite but distant.

I respected it, but I would also cry into my pillow if she ever spoke to me in that tone.

She turned to me and Iris again. “All good for going up? What room are you in?”

“213,” Allie offered before Iris or I could answer.

“Thank you,” Theo said and reached out to take my and Iris’s bags from our hands. The three of us walked down the hall toward the elevators. “I’ll be back in my room soon,” she said as we passed the assistant coach from earlier.

“You’re lucky I trust you,” he responded. “I’m keeping my eye on the clock.”

“For sure.”

We walked down the hall to the elevator. Most of the other team members had dispersed by now, so the hotel was quiet and still.

“Intense,” I said as I pressed the button to go up.

“Games are serious business,” Theo said, which somehow felt like a simplification of how good her team was and how much money I was sure the school pumped into them.

The elevator dinged and we went inside, Theo in the middle of me and Iris.

“I think you might’ve been her gay awakening,” I said, hoping she’d get what I meant, as the elevator doors closed.

Theo laughed but didn’t say anything else; it was stupid how relieved I was she didn’t bring her up or want to talk more about her.

She’d clearly just been another passing interaction for Theo, one of a thousand fans she ran into when she was out.

I pressed the button to go to the second floor, brushing against Theo’s firm torso in the process.

When we made it to the second floor, I realized our hotel room door was about ten steps away from the elevator. I tried not to be disappointed I had to say goodbye to Theo already for the night.

Iris looked between me and Theo. “I’m going to check out the room. Make sure there aren’t bedbugs or whatever. Thanks for carrying our stuff,” she said. She took our bags from Theo and unlocked the door, a satisfying click sounding out as it opened.

“Yeah, no problem,” Theo said.

Iris disappeared into our hotel room, and the door shut behind her.

“She’s going to be listening from inside, I hope you know,” I said.

Theo laughed again, and all I could think about was kissing her. I missed her lips, her body against mine. I hadn’t thought about kissing anyone else since kissing her—I hadn’t thought about anyone else, period, since we’d met. I barely remembered I’d kissed anyone else in my life before her.

There was life before Theo and life after Theo, and the life after Theo included zero memories of exes or flings or crushes. I knew with full confidence I’d never felt this way about anyone before.

“What are you worried she’ll overhear?” Theo challenged with a playful smile.

I smiled back at her, wondering if there was any way at all we could sneak in some kind of quickie in the hallway without getting arrested.

“Thank you for coming,” she said, her voice lowered.

“I’m looking forward to seeing you play.”

“I hope I don’t suck.”

I snorted. “I don’t think that’s possible for you.”

We were so close together that I wondered if we were going to kiss again—if it was appropriate to and if that was what we both wanted. I wasn’t going to go for kissing her first on two separate occasions back-to-back, but it was tempting.

I would if she asked.

“I’ll look for you in the stands,” Theo said, and it felt almost as good as being kissed. A warmth spread at my core that didn’t just feel like a carnal desire for her to fuck me—that was there too—but something more.

“Okay,” I said, because I didn’t know what else there was to say.

We lingered by the door of my hotel room for I don’t know how much longer. Time passed so slowly, but also too quickly. I didn’t know if I should bring up the kiss or not, and I didn’t know if I wanted to .

“I’ll see you tomorrow,” Theo finally said, and the weight of crushing disappointment fell on my chest.

“Okay,” I said, even though all I wanted to do was ask her to stay.

Maybe I needed to take it as a sign that she wasn’t actually interested.

But Theo—grounded, practical, kind-natured Theo—didn’t strike me as someone who played games.

Everything she did was with thoughtful consideration.

There was always a chance she just wasn’t as impulsive as I was, that kissing again right now—just before a game and without talking about our first kiss—was a bad idea.

But it didn’t mean I didn’t still want her to do it.

“Okay,” she said and started toward the stairwell. She glanced back once and then twice, and I offered only a small wave each time. It wasn’t until she disappeared down the stairs that I finally went into my hotel room.

When I opened the door, Iris jumped back and leaned against the desk nearby, her phone in her hand but not lit up. She pretended to look down at it.

“I’m not even going to bother giving you the scoop because I know you were listening,” I said.

“I’m nosy!” she said. “I’m guessing no kiss. Unless it was just like, really quiet and you didn’t acknowledge it at all.”

“No, no kiss,” I said with a sigh and then threw myself down on the hotel bed. “We didn’t talk about the last kiss, either. I don’t really know what’s going on.”

“It seems like it’s going okay, though,” Iris said.

“I mean, she invited you here. She acknowledged you were here. She lingered by the doorway. That doesn’t feel like someone who’s running from you or the possibility of whatever you guys might have.

” She walked to the bathroom and turned the water on.

“Plus, she carried our bags,” she said, raising her voice over the sound of running water.

“She’s a nice person,” I said.

Iris stepped out of the bathroom to look at me, shaking out her hair from her claw clip in the process. “Okay? And?”

“Maybe she’s just doing all of this because she’s a nice person. You know? Like letting me down easy.”

“I know I don’t have as much experience with dating as you do, but that would be really weird.

And out of character for her. And also just generally probably not what she’s doing.

I know how I act when someone is pursuing me and I’m not interested, and it’s definitely not hovering by a door, seeming like you want to kiss them. ”

“I don’t know—“