Page 160 of Vying Girls

With her eyes closed, she smiles. ‘I love you too, babe.’ She wraps me up in her arms, legs around me too. ‘You’re staying here for the rest of the night, by the way.’

‘Oh, am I?’

‘Mm-hm. My bed, my rules.’

We fall still, both of our bottom halves still bare. I’m too cosy to even think about putting my pyjama bottoms back on.

Elly strokes my hair. Even with my head on her chest, I sense her eyes are still open.

‘I heard you upstairs,’ she says eventually.

It’s not an accusation, only a statement, but I still stiffen with something akin to guilt.

‘Nic not giving you what you need?’ she asks gently, voice warm with understanding.

I think about Nic above us, alone, probably still awake or sleeping fitfully. It’s only safe in Elly’s arms that I consider the possibility that we’ll never overcome this, that the chasm is just too wide.

Are all hurts healable? Or is this wound just too infected and I have to let the hope die?

‘Not yet,’ I whisper.

CHAPTER 27

Tilda

I squint my eyes against the fierce wind, debating the wisdom of hosting hockey practice on the outdoor pitches tonight. Pin-like rain lashes me as I turn into the sports centre, taking a brief retrieve indoors before I’m spat back out into the squall.

I jog to the farthest pitch, the gathering of girls and sticks showing me I’m most likely the last to arrive. Not my fault Elly decided to accost me whilst I was changing into my sports gear, cheekily pressing me up against my door with my hockey stick, refusing to let go until I’d practically snogged the lips off her.

I spot Nic’s tall head above the crowd, standing before Coach. It’s only when I reach the edge of the pitch that I see it’s the two of them the team are circling.

I frown, chucking my stuff on the bench. It’s rare for Nic to shout, even rarer for her to do so at Coach. Budging my teammates out the way, I come to stop near her, my ears primed.

‘I’m fucking fine!’ Nic bellows, tossing her arms up.

‘You’ve got five seconds,’ Coach replies, her voice deathly quiet yet somehow carrying over the wind, ‘to pick up your things and get out of here before I blacklist you for the rest of your time at university.’

For a moment, I think Nic’s going to continue arguing her point, whatever that is, when she suddenly slumps in defeat, stepping away from Coach.

My heart clenches when her eyes meet mine, the whites red and glittering with tears.

‘Hey.’ I reach out a hand. ‘What’s going on?’

Nic’s eyes flare, her jaw jumping with tension. ‘Get…thefuck…away from me.’

My hand freezes. It drops back to my side. ‘What? What’s happened?’

She shakes her head, one savage toss, before flying to the bench and swiping her water bottle and hockey stick bag. She doesn’t even sheath it before stalking back to the sports centre.

I take one look at my team before running after her, ignoring the sound of Coach calling me back.

‘Nic!’

She gets caught at the entrance waiting for some other students to enter. I grab her arm, not letting go this time.

‘What was that about?’

She gives a wet laugh, yanking her arm away. ‘Don’t play dumb, Tilda. Jesus.’