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Like in my damn dreams, there she is, standing in my gym and smiling like the Cheshire Cat.
My eyes trail over her, locking on to the fact that she’s wearing my old high school football shirt, the chest stretched mouthwateringly tight over breasts, now even fuller than before. She shifts on her feet, and I notice the camera bag hanging from her shoulder.
My smirk is slow, and I spin to fully face her. “Are you shittin’ me? Am I being punked? Hallucinating? I gotta be imagining this, right? Ain’t nowayyou’re here right now.”
Coach knocks me on the shoulder, but I don’t break eye contact with the girl. “Beefy fucker, my ass,” he mumbles, then he might as well turn invisible, because I couldn’t tell you if he stays or goes. All I see is her. In. My. Gym.
Well, the athletic department’s gym at Avix, but tomayto fucking tomahto.
She does her best not to smile, squashing her lips to the side and tethering her fist tighter on the strap of her bag with each step I take closer. And I’m moving in on her fast.
I get about two feet from her and raise a brow, and there it is.
She laughs, lowers her bag to the floor, and throws herself in my arms.
Her hands wrap around my neck, mine her waist, and I lift her up, spinning her in circles, her airy laugh echoing around us.
When she pulls back, she smiles, but just as fast, her nose crunches up and she pushes off. “Oh my god, you’re sticky.”
“Yeah, the chick setting up the lights and shit said I had to be shiny.”
“And you, what, used the whole bottle?”
“Bottle and a half.” I frown.
Payton laughs loudly, glancing around the room, her gaze pausing on Jeremy, one of the Sharks star receivers Chase competes against, and Fernando Blanca, a beast of a lineman, the other two from the team Coach asked to be a part of this littleproject. Her brows raise when Fernando tugs his shirt over his head, and I glare, slipping into her view.
“So. I mean, what the hell?”
Payton grins, gesturing to her bag and the badge I didn’t notice hanging around her neck. “Avix asked Embers Elite to be the official photographer for a new project they’re testing. I don’t know much about it other than it’s for your school newspaper’s social media pages. Today is football, tomorrow baseball, and then basketball.”
Tomorrow… Wait.
“You’re staying here? For three days?” My brain catches up to me, and I look behind her. “Where’s Deaton?”
Her features soften at his name, and she tucks a few loose pieces of hair behind her ear, the rest piled high in a ponytail on her head. “I just met up with Cam at the child development center. I almost turned this down because I wasn’t sure about the situation, but Lolli suggested I call Cam first, and thankfully she was eager to take the weekend to get more of her volunteer hours in. She’ll be there with him each day, and the shoots are only for three hours, so it’s not like he’ll be there too long and?—”
“Take a breath,” I tease, my knuckles grazing her jaw before I can stop myself.
Her cheeks grow warm, and she drops her chin to her chest, so I let my hand fall.
“He’s in good hands there. Especially with Cam.”
She nods, sighing and looking past me. “Well, I’d better go meet the crew and get set up.” She pauses when she realizes I’m still staring and narrows her eyes. “What?”
“My mind is blown. I can’t believe you’re standing here right now.” I laugh. “And wearing my shirt, no less.”
“Well, nothing else fits, so…”
“Good. I hope nothing else fits ever again and all you get to wear is my shit.”
She shakes her head in amusement. “Go wipe some of that stuff off. It’s going to dry and be useless by the time I’m ready for you anyway.”
With that, she walks off, and I watch her go, yet another shuffle and shift stirring in my chest, another piece sliding into place.
My puzzle’s got to be nearly complete now, right?
We’re here at Avix. Together. All three of us.
