Play The Game

by Casey Crisp

  “What are you guys planning on doing after this?” Skyla quickly intervened, picking up on our steadily building tension.

  “I’ll probably go back to the hotel,” Beckett said, studying Nicole with concern.

  Meanwhile, Ryder searched between Nicole and I with blatant curiosity as if we were some sort of complicated problem. But how could I not express my frustrations with Nicole for concocting this whole plan? She tried to set me up with someone behind my back without my consent!

  “I should go,” I said to remedy the sudden silence. “I need to rest my heel before tomorrow.”

  “Is something wrong, Rose?” Ryder asked, but I was too distracted by my disappointment with Nicole to react to his concern.

  “Everything’s fine.”

  Nicole cleared her throat, finding it very difficult to meet my gaze. “Is it the same as before?”

  I was surprised by her gentle question. “I should be fine by tomorrow.”

  “Rose, I-I just want you to be happy.”

  I paused for a moment because it was clear that she was trying to apologize. “You guys should stay and have fun, but I’m better off at the hotel.”

  Nicole didn’t protest, wearing an indecipherable glower, but I wasn’t in the mood to understand her sullen behavior. I started to leave the table, grabbing my jacket in one hand while adjusting the hem of my skirt. However, before I could slide out of the booth, a warm hand enclosed itself over mine. “Why don’t you stay longer, Rose? We can all go back together.”

  The electricity from our contact left me stunned, glancing back at Ryder before studying the position of his hand resting on top of mine. For a moment, I remained perfectly unmoving as I processed the unexpected heat from his touch. “Rose?” Skyla hesitantly inquired, dragging me back to my senses.

  “Uh, maybe for a little while,” I said, falling back into my previous position with my jacket bundled behind me. I waited for Ryder to withdraw his hand, but he made no such move, and I was forced to remind myself that I needed to continue breathing. Nicole grinned at the exchange before returning her attention back to me. There was still an apology evident in her gaze, and I offered a subtle nod in return, knowing that it would never take much to forgive my sister. Especially considering Ryder’s unexpected appeal for me to stay.

  Thereafter, the five of us settled into a polite conversation, and I was surprised by how relaxed I felt next to Ryder despite my initial hesitation. I knew that my unrequited affection for him was still clouding my judgment, but he was very easy to like, and I could tell that his reactions were genuine. Sadly, too many people often made things more serious than necessary...something both of my sisters could learn from.

  “So,” Nicole ventured at one point, casting a mischievous look between Beckett and Skyla. “Do you guys want to come with me to get some drinks?”

  Skyla and Beckett were more than willing, and I tried not to betray my reluctance when I realized that they were leaving me completely alone with Ryder. Instead, I attempted to control the acceleration of my fragile heart and failed in every sense when Ryder unexpectedly leaned in closer to me. “Why are they trying so hard to set us up?”

  Ryder’s breath fanned across the skin of my collarbones, and I resisted the urge to return the gesture. It was only after he turned away that I was abruptly hit with the implications of his question. My face heated miserably and I found my hands to be far more interesting. Ryder knew that this was a setup, but how was I supposed to respond?

  He chuckled. “Don’t be so nervous, Rose. I know that you had nothing to do with this.”

  I found him from my peripheral, but I instantly regretted my decision after I locked onto his playful eyes. “Nicole seems to think that we should be together.”

  Ryder laughed in response and the light-hearted reaction eased some of my tension. “I can see that, but what do you think, Rose?”

  The question caught me off-guard. Instead of answering him, I remembered the circumstances surrounding our initial meeting. “Heidi likes you,” I said, trying to keep my tone light, “and my sister is ridiculous.”

  “But I’m not interested in Heidi.”

  I was startled by his admission, especially when he delivered it with such complete seriousness. “Really? I just assumed.” I shrugged, but I also found it difficult to comprehend his words when Ryder's attention seemed to belong exclusively to me.

  “Why would you?”

  “I’m sorry.”

  “Don’t be sorry, Rose,” Ryder said, and I felt unusually dizzy when his smile returned.

  “Well,” I started, searching for the right words, “everyone thought that you two might get together.”

  “And who is everybody?” he asked, dropping his gaze and allowing me to breathe again. “Have you been paying close attention?”

  I wasn’t sure what to make of the teasing lilt to his question. “I mean, Heidi is one of my teammates. I try to keep everyone safe.”

  “I know you do,” Ryder agreed. “I’ve noticed that about you, Rose, but it’s our responsibility as team captains.”

  “I think so,” I managed, even with the growing awareness that my whole body was warming under his intense focus. The blood rushed even faster, muffling the sound of his voice over the current of my thudding heart echoing loudly in my ears.

  “It’s also the kind of person you are,” Ryder continued. “I admire that about you.”

  My inhale was noticeably sharper, trying to remain cool despite being under the pressure of his compliments. “Y-yes, I guess so.”

  “Why are you always so flustered around me, Rose?” Ryder asked, and I noticed that there was a very bright quality to his voice that enhanced the delicate inflection of his tone. “Is it because-”

  “Hey! You won’t believe the line at the counter!”

  Nicole’s voice was a noticeable distraction as she placed a glass of water in front of me. “Here ya’ go!”

  “Thanks,” I told her through gritted teeth, wrapping my hand around the cool glass as I felt the moisture spread across my palm.

  Skyla slid into the booth first this time, sipping daintily at her glass of lemonade. Beckett groaned dramatically as he was forced to sit on the very edge of the booth. “Am I supposed to feel uncomfortable?”

  “You’re fine,” Nicole scolded him, looking up at me with a friendly smile. “What were we talking about?”

  “Uh-”

  “Winter break,” Ryder smoothly inserted, and Nicole snapped her fingers and immediately started back on her vacation plans with Skyla. Needless to say, it was a much-needed distraction since everyone’s attention returned to Nicole, and I was able to gather my bearings after my conversation with Ryder. In opposition to my hesitant people skills, Nicole could easily direct a room and I often envied her extroverted personality.

  “You always have a plan for everything, Nicole,” Beckett mentioned as my sister paused in the middle of her story. “Isn’t that boring?”

  “What about a laissez-faire approach to life?” Ryder asked.

  “What do you mean?”

  “You could just live in the moment,” Ryder elaborated. “I mean, it’s hard to know when you’ll get another chance.”

  His words hit close to home, and I pondered if they were really meant for me. Because they certainly had no effect on Skyla and Nicole who rapidly started talking over one another while Beckett just chuckled at their enthusiasm. The three of them were distracted, which probably explained why they failed to recognize the proceeding events. I paused when I reached out for my glass of water, feeling Ryder’s ghost-like touch on the bare skin of my knee. I pulled my hand away quickly, meeting his gaze with a gasp. However, Ryder was still seemingly focused on Nicole and Skyla, one elbow propped on top of the table.

  I was confused because I thought that he had wanted my attention, but I was immediately able to discern his intentions when his fingers slipped under the bottom of my skirt. I tried not to draw attention to what was ha
ppening, swallowing nervously while also hoping that I looked perfectly nonchalant. I resisted the urge to clamp my thighs together around his wandering hand because I could feel goosebumps following the path of his rogue fingers. “Are you okay, Rose?” Nicole asked, glancing at me briefly.

  “Yes,” I managed before she started laughing in response to one of Beckett’s stories, but I couldn’t enjoy his humor because my brain had suddenly forgotten how to function. My skin felt flushed, and sweat started to bead on the back of my neck beneath the layers of my hair. I found myself drawn to Ryder, eyes widening at the heated look that he aimed at me.

  “Are you guys coming?”

  The question was enough to distract me from Ryder's intimidating stare, and I noticed that Beckett, Skyla and Nicole were waiting next to the table. “We’re going to play some of the games.”

  “Do you want to play a game, Rose?” Ryder asked, and I felt my eyes widen as he continued to tease the edge of my skirt.

  “I’m good just staying here.”

  “Okay!” Nicole grinned. I watched them leave the dining room before I confronted Ryder, stopping short of my goal when I realized how close he was. At this point, I could make out the individual flecks of green in his brown irises.

  “Rose,” he murmured. “Are you okay with this?”

  I nodded a little too quickly, wincing at how eager I probably appeared. “It’s fine.”

  Ryder hummed in approval. “I still remember our shooting competition. It feels like it was a long time ago.”

  “Oh?” came my thoughtful reply, especially when the smell of his cologne was so prominent.

  Ryder smirked. “You caught my attention, Rose, and you’ve always been different from your teammates. You stand out from them in the best way possible.”

  His compliment was a huge boost to my ego, but I still found myself challenging its sincerity. “What about Heidi?” I asked cautiously.

  “Heidi always bragged about how much she liked me, but I never did anything.”

  “Why?”

  “I think we’re too different,” Ryder replied.

  “And,” I hesitated, “does that mean-”

  “It can mean a lot of things,” he teased, moving away to consider me. “What do you think?”

  I wasn’t sure that I could even breathe in my current condition. “I mean, if you weren’t interested in her, then it was probably the right thing to do.”

  “What should I do now?”

  “What do you mean?” I asked, rubbing my sweaty palms against my skirt, hoping that he wouldn’t notice the evidence.

  “I don’t know.” He shrugged. “What do you suggest?”

  “I think you should make sure that you’re definitely interested this time,” I answered honestly, surprising us both.

  However, Ryder managed to compose himself quickly. “Are you suggesting that I take my time, then?”

  “Take your time?” I parroted.

  “With the girl I like,” Ryder whispered, laughing when I nodded slowly in return. “In that case," he said while he cleared his throat, reaching for my hands and I conceded immediately. “Will you go to the winter formal with me, Rosalind Starr?”

  Hearing my full name falling from his lips was surreal, but not nearly as surreal as his preceding request. “You want to go with me?”

  “I’d like to,” he said with a gorgeous open-mouthed smile. “I can’t wait to win you over.”

  Well, at that moment, I decided that deserved the best chance.

  ***

  I paused outside the door to my hotel room, facing Ryder with more confidence than I felt on the inside. “Thank you for tonight, Ryder.”

  He chuckled, pushing his hands into the pockets of his jacket. “Good luck at the tournament, Rose. Maybe I can find some time to come and watch you play.”

  I ducked my head shyly and watched him as he summoned the elevator, resisting the urge to remind his retreating figure that tomorrow’s game started at noon. Instead, I carefully entered my room, and I tried to be mindful of Hadley Carpathia’s sleeping figure. I also decided to check my messages, mildly disappointed when I saw Nicole’s name on my screen instead of Ryder’s after we had exchanged phone numbers. Mindlessly, I opened the message, not thinking much of its contents, until I saw the attached picture. Because it was quite clear what had happened: Jonathan Reed betrayed my sister.

  Brynn

  People were spiteful, and I thought that I had learned this lesson a long time ago. They liked to hold grudges, and when they refused to release their anger, they often resorted to petty acts of revenge. Because they don’t care that what they’re doing is wrong, choosing instead to act on the immediate emotions that they feel.

  I knew for a fact that this explained why Sydney Black sent me the picture of her and Jonathan. But can you guess how I felt? Well, I was completely crushed, especially considering what had happened before the weekend-long tournament at Coastal High:

  “You know that I would never do anything to hurt you, Brynn,” Jonathan whispered as he continued placing kisses along my collarbones.

  I felt drunk on his affections, and his kisses were ice cold against my overheated skin. Meanwhile, his hands crawled over my body, and his voice was low enough to talk me into doing anything that he wanted while our clothes were scattered on the floor next to his bed. “Jonathan,” I returned, closing my eyes against the pleasure from his gentle caresses.

  I was an inexperienced ignoramus, intoxicated by the novelty of his attention. I should have known better because of my older sister's mistakes. When she thought that she had fallen in love with a boy at our previous high school. She was even more reclusive back then, and he gave her the time of day when she really only had her sisters as companions. Of course, I also remembered when she said that he made her feel special, and that he didn’t mind that she was quiet around other people. Because he told her that he was willing to stay with her forever, but that was always an empty promise when it involved most high school relationships.

  However, Rose still gave him everything, and he took it without an ounce of guilt. When she approached him at school the next morning, thinking that they were even closer because of what they had done, he started to ignore my sister. I remembered how he avoided her in the hallways and even in the classes that they shared together. But when she found him in the arms of another girl, she decided that she would never get close to another man like that again. Maybe she didn’t really mean it, but that act of distancing helped her recover some semblance of her mangled pride. It’s why she continued to practice so much caution around other men, even the ones she wanted to trust. Subequently, Rose became more self-imposed and she kept her interests to herself. Yet, it wasn’t because she didn’t want to act on those impulses, but because she was wary of them.

  Sadly, despite those warnings, I was about to make the same mistake. Oh, sure, I willingly gave him my consent. He made sure that I wanted everything, but I was also high on the moment’s pleasure, and I thought that I had wanted it too. However, I should have known that it was wrong because he already started to act distant before the next morning. We never had a chance to talk about it because he was going on the basketball trip and I was stuck at home with a minor injury.

  I was hurt when I received that picture, but it honestly didn’t surprise me as much as I thought it would. Because Jonathan was the wrong choice, and Sydney Black had already proven that she didn’t care about those who she perceived as enemies. Even if they were her own teammates. Consequently, I deleted the picture and blocked their numbers from my phone.

  However, it was only after I deleted Jonathan’s contact that I started crying, and I felt like a huge dam had opened up deep inside of me, and there was no way to stop my emotions. I cried for a long time because it allowed those dark memories to purge out of my system, and it gave me something that I had needed for a long time: a wake-up call.

  I had forgotten everything about myself while I was with Jonath
an. Because I was not only dishonest to the people around me, but with myself as well. I got swept away in a love affair and the ending was a forgone conclusion. Sadly, I was suffering the consequences, but the tears almost felt cathartic so I just kept crying.

  I cried until I heard a timid knock on my door when I wasn’t expecting a disruption. My sisters were still away, and my mother had left to visit my grandmother for the weekend. It was only me and Jerome, which meant that I would need to face my older brother with some semblance of competence. I took a few deep breaths, wiping away the evidence of my grief, before walking over to the door to crack it open enough for Jerome. “There’s someone at the door for you.”

  I frowned. “Who is it?”

  Jerome shrugged. “I don’t know, but they said they’re in one of your classes and need your help with something.”

  The unexpectedness of the moment distracted me from my previous indulgence in self-pity, and I followed Jerome to the living room. There was nobody who required my help so suddenly this late in the evening. Yet, as soon as I intercepted the door and saw who was waiting on the other side, I couldn’t believe his name wasn’t the first culprit to cross my mind. “Miss Starr,” came Alex’s gentle greeting. His eyes scanned over my face, and a look that I could only describe as sadness softened his brown eyes.

  “You know don’t you?” I asked bitterly. “Why am I not surprised? The four of you know everything.”

  Alex offered me a smile. “I’m still sorry.”

  “I bet you are,” I retorted. “Are you here to tell me that it’s my fault because I ignored your stupid warning? I don’t need that from you right now.”

  Alex shook his head firmly. “That’s not why I’m here.”

  I snorted in disbelief. “Really? Well, I don’t have time for games, so if you don’t mind, I’d like to go back to my pity fest.”

  “I can’t let you do that,” he said quickly, holding out one hand against the door as if afraid that I would attempt to block his entrance.

  “What are you trying to do?” I cried out because I hated that he was here when I was at my lowest point. I hated that he knew what happened with Jonathan because he was probably thinking that I was stupid for ignoring his warning. I especially hated the fact that it was Alex in front of me and not one of my sisters because I could desperately use them at that moment.