Page 14 of Set Play

Clearly, this player doesn’t know him at all. Otherwise, he would’ve picked a more believable lie.

My brother’s harsh reply snaps me back to reality. “Don’t insult me by playing dumb. We’ve been rivals for six years, asshole! Do you really expect me to believe that out of all the women in Memphis, you just happened to put your dirt-stained hands on my sister? Ma sœur?5”

Fuck. After our weekly call passed without him saying anything about the pictures, I assumed that everything was good to go. I assumed it was a sign that Mateo’s agent managed to scrub the images and stories from the internet before Henri stumbled upon them.

But you know what they say about assuming…

“What the hell are you talking about now? I didn’t even know you had a sister, you lunatic. Did you hit your head on one of those last save attempts?” Despite the frustration lacing his words, Reyes keeps his voice low.

My brow furrows at the question. Did he just say that he didn’t know Henri had a sister? That can’t be right.

Three years ago, Henri very specifically told me that Mateo dragged me into their rivalry. He wouldn’t give me specifics but desperately begged me to stay away from it all.

“I’m going to kill him, frère. I’m going to drive to his school and give him a piece of my mind! I can’t stand by and let you go through this. It’s not fair. He deserves to have his ass handed to him, and I’m the girl for the job.”

“Lise, please.” His desperate plea cools my anger, but only slightly. “Just leave it. People will forget about Reyes and me soon. Looking it up will only upset you further. Trust me, you don’t need to see the things he’s saying about me…or you.”

“What do you mean the things he’s saying about me? What the fuck do I have to do with anything?”

Henri exhales, clearly exasperated, “I shouldn’t even have mentioned it. You don’t need that stress in your life. You are so close to finishing your nursing program. That’s where your attention needs to stay. Please, I don’t want to see you fall back into the pit you were in a few years ago. You’ve worked so hard to climb out of that dark place and distance yourself from the things that made it worse. Don’t let him be the thing that drags you back down. Please, promise me, you won’t search for information on him, me, or anything to do with our rivalry.”

“Frère…” I try to protest.

“Promise me, Lise. I would never forgive myself if you saw the things he’s saying. I’ve already made Maman and Papa promise the same thing. Don’t make me have Papa talk to you about this.”

“Damnit, Henri! You don’t always have to shoulder the burden,” I snap in frustration, before continuing in a whisper. “I just want to be there for you the way you’ve always been there for me. But, if this is what you need...fine, I promise.”

“Yeah, right. Like I believe that. Why else would you have been all over her like that? She sure as hell knows better than to go near you.”

Finally, my feet remember how to move, and I round the corner in time to see Henri step into Mateo’s face, fists clenched. My eyes scan the area around them, vaguely registering a random person watching them. I speed up, desperate to reach them before fists start flying.

I’m not quiet, so it’s a testament to how focused they are on each other that neither realize I am there until I shove myself between them, using my momentum to push Henri back a few inches.

With my back to Mateo, I meet my brother’s widened eyes and address him first. “À quoi pensais-tu, Henri?6” I chastise him, not caring that it’s rude to speak French in front of someone who doesn’t. “Tu ne te bats jamais pour rien. Et pourquoi ne m'as-tu pas parlé des photos avant?7”

My idiot brother just stares blankly back at me, stoking my anger even hotter. Before I say something hurtful, I whip around to face problem number two, Mateo. His eyes, much like my brother’s, widen when he recognizes me, but beneath the surprise is an emotion I refuse to name.

It looks too close to desire for comfort.

His mouth opens, but I don’t wait to hear what he has to say. “I’ll ask you the same thing I asked him. What were you thinking?”

“Well, Chispita,” Mateo starts, voice as velvety as I remember, tempting me to lean into him, “I was thinking that Henri has done nothing but run his mouth for the last six years. And now, he’s accusing me of doing something to a sister I didn’t even know existed until today. A woman I’ve never even met.”

His eyes trail down to the jersey I’m wearing, hardening at the sight. With a clenched jaw, he meets my eyes again. “Your turn. What are you doing here, and why are you in his jersey?”

Despite knowing everything he’s done to Henri, I feel myself soften at the realization that he hasn’t put the pieces together. Sucking my bottom lip between my teeth, I gnaw on it, trying to find the words to explain everything, until the taste of copper hits my tongue.

Henri’s caustic laugh pops the bubble before the words come to me. “You really don’t have a ton of smarts, do you, seventeen? You stand there and lie directly to my face, saying you didn’t know I had a sister.”

He slings an arm over my shoulder, making me cringe, while Reyes takes a step back. “Yet here you are, making googly eyes at her and giving her a nickname that I’m sure is not even slightly flattering.”

I wince at the pain that crosses those stormy blue eyes, as well as Henri’s lack of tact. “Seriously, Henri? Must you be such an ass?” I shove my brother’s arm off, refusing to take my eyes off Mateo.

The light within those stormy eyes fades behind new walls being built. The look of betrayal cuts like a knife, and even though I manage to keep it hidden, my anxiety blazes in my chest.

I try to convince myself that this is for the best, that I hate him anyway so it shouldn’t matter if he hates me too, but when he looks at me like that, it’s like a punch to the solar plexus.

I want to explain, to smooth it over before he walks away. “Big Shot, I—”