Her lips pressed together like she was fighting whether to roll her eyes or laugh. “More like bruising your ego.”
“Guess you’ll never know now,” I said easily, enjoying the way her gaze flicked from mine to the floor and back again. She wasn’t used to being in this kind of spotlight, that much was obvious. But she hadn’t bolted yet. That counted for something.
“Well,” she said finally, adjusting the strap on her bag, “you swam great. Congratulations.”
“Thanks,” I said, still holding her eyes. “Close, but not close enough. I’ll get there.”
Something subtly changed in her expression—just aflicker—but it affected me harder than all the cheers in the pool. Like she actually believed I would.
Before I could say more, someone shouted my name again from across the deck. She took that as her cue, giving me a quick nod. “See you around, Talon.”
And just like that, she slipped away into the crowd.
I didn’t chase her. I just stood there, dripping water onto the floor, grinning like an idiot. Because she’d come.
Ledger’s laugh carried over the noise of the crowd as I made my way back to the team. “Man, I don’t know. From where I was standing, she didn’t exactly look dazzled.”
Ridge smirked. “Yeah, if anything she looked like she’d rather be anywhere else. That’s gotta sting, huh? You’re not used to women resisting the Everhart charm.”
I shot them both a flat look, my jaw ticking. “You two need new hobbies.”
Ledger held his hands up. “Hey, I’m just calling it like I see it. Usually, women are lined up to throw themselves at you. Livvi? She looked like she might bolt before you even got out of the water.”
They weren’t wrong. I’d seen her glance at the exit more than once, like she couldn’t wait to escape. But instead of bruising my ego, it did the opposite. Lit something in me I hadn’t felt in a long time. A spark that wouldn’t let me ignore her.
I let a slow grin spread across my face. “Good thing I like a chase, then.”
Ledger and Ridge shared a look like they didn’t know what had gotten into me. Well, I didn’t know either. All I knew for sure was that Livvi had a way of not only pulling me in, but getting me to want to stay.
With the swim meet now over, I did a quick cool down before heading back to my apartment.
By the time I got back to my place, the buzz of the race was long gone, replaced with a restless itch under my skin. Livvi had slipped away before I could gain any real ground, and her polite smile replayed in my head like a highlight reel of rejection.
Shower. Food. None of it helped.
Finally, sprawled out on my bed with sore muscles and my phone glowing in my hand, I opened BookPad, the one place that never left me second-guessing.
ReadToLiv.
She was online.
I didn’t even think before typing.
TheWriteGuy
Long day. Tell me you’ve got something to distract me.
The typing bubbles appeared almost instantly, and my body relaxed, that tight coil inside me easing like it always did when she popped up.
ReadToLiv
Depends. Do you deserve a distraction?
I smirked, sinking deeper into the pillows. She had no idea how much I needed this. Or maybe she did.
TheWriteGuy
Probably not. But I’ll take one anyway.