Authors: Marian Tee
“Umm, on second thought, I think you’ve learned your lesson so we’re done for now.” Lace jumped off Ivan’s back and she pretended not to notice the way the team captain collapsed on the floor mat. Ha-ha.
Overacting asshole.
He should have gone for drama club instead.
Her fingers tightened around her phone as she walked away from the boys. It was the first time he had asked if he could call her. Of course she was going to say no…next time. This time, she would just…take pity on Silver. He was probably lonely, being all alone in Europe with no one to talk to.
Lace: Sure.
Her phone started to ring almost immediately, making Lace jump.
Across the gym, heads turned towards her.
“What?” she asked defensively.
Alexio smirked. “Weren’t you the one who said not to bring phones with us when we’re working out?”
She was, so she snarled instead, “Mind your own business.” Hurrying further away since everyone in the team seemed to have supersonic hearing, she camped by one of the window nooks, leaning against the edge and tucking her legs under her. Lace cleared her throat several times before answering the phone. “Hello?”
Shit.
Her voice still sounded breathless.
Lace could hear the grin in Silver’s voice as he said, “I miss you.”
“Ah.” No way in fucking hell would she say something as mushy as “I miss you” right now. She might as well hand in her resignation letter if she did. The boys would never let her hear the end of it.
“You can say ‘yes’ if you miss me back.”
She hesitated then mumbled, “Yeah.”
Lace heard Silver expel his breath over the phone as if he had been holding it the whole time. “You just don’t know, Wyndham.” It was unusual for Silver to mutter, but he was doing it right now. Normally, he talked like Prince Charming, eloquent and arrogant even when he was whispering dirty nothings in her ear.
The change in his voice had her heart taking the embarrassing ba-ba-ba-thuuuuuuump route again, and she couldn’t stop her voice from turning husky as she asked, “What don’t I know?”
He said simply, “How much you own me.”
Ah, damn. That was like an arrow that hit her straight in the heart. She could feel her cheeks flushing, her body softening, her damn stupid toes curling inside her signed pair of Black Mambas. She closed her eyes, willing herself to think about a new play. Any play. But it was no use. Instead of her boys, she just saw Silver, and it was terrifying. Basketball was all she planned to do in her life, and relationships had never figured in the equation until Silver. It was like being trained for parachute jumping and then suddenly finding herself thrown in the deep end of the ocean, and only Silver could teach her how to swim.
She said feelingly, “I hate you, March. I fucking hate you.”
A silvery laugh. “I love you, too, Wyndham.”
Lace almost dropped the phone. “That wasn’t what I said!”
“It was, you just said it in a different way.” A mix of exasperation and amusement tinged his tone as he said, “I never thought I’d have to teach my girlfriend about the basic things in life, but here you go, Wyndham. Lesson one: hate is
not
the opposite of love. It’s indifference.”
Her shoulders slumped. Of course she knew that. She wasn’t stupid. It was just easier to pretend it wasn’t so. But now that he spelled it out so clearly, the fact was inescapable, and she felt herself drowning more and more. “Your love’s like a fucking tsunami,” Lace muttered.
Silver let out a choking laugh. “Wyndham, Wyndham…only you would think of putting ‘tsunami’ and ‘love’ in one sentence.”
“Because that’s what it really feels like.” Outside the window, the plantation-turned-resort’s picturesque backdrop shone like a majestic jewel set against the sun. A charming wood bridge had been built over the natural springs, its waters sparkling like crystals floated on its surface. Beyond it was a winding path leading to the gardens, with a mix of oak and Banyan trees on each side, their lush foliage and long twisting branches forming a canopy that was rather Gothic in its elegance.
It was a stunning sight, so why couldn’t she experience any pleasure from it? Why did it feel like everything in the world was only superficial if Silver March wasn’t with her?
“What’s wrong?” Silver’s voice was sharp with worry.
Lace struggled to breathe. Apparently, Silver wasn’t just able to read the future. He had great mind-reading powers, too. That could be the only reason he always seemed to know what she was feeling without her saying a word.
“I hate you. I really hate you.”
“Tell me what’s wrong.”
“You can’t tell me what to do!”
“
Wyndham.
” A no-bullshit tone that somehow set the butterflies flying inside her stomach again.
Goddamn you, butterflies, you should just fly, fly away and never come back again.
“What’s wrong?”
“
You’re
what’s wrong,” she burst out. “I’ve never had trouble concentrating on my job, and now all I can think of is you and I’m just worried that it’s going to make more people think I’m not suitable—” Lace forced herself to stop. She was rambling, and she had
never
been the type to ramble. That was her friend KC’s forte, never hers.
“Wyndham—”
The quiet regret in his voice made Lace feel ashamed of herself. It wasn’t his fault she wasn’t acting normally, and she had been the asshole, the way she had taken it out on him, knowing Silver would never retaliate.
She cut him off, saying clearly, “I’m sorry.” She might be a girl, but it didn’t mean she didn’t have the balls to apologize when she was wrong. It was one of the lessons she liked to drill in her boys, and it was a lesson she tried to uphold with herself as well.
“You’re starting to worry me.” The way he spoke, Lace could picture him clenching his jaw.
“I’m sorry,” she repeated glumly. “I’m beginning to worry myself, too.”
A moment of silence before—
“Tell me the truth, little lamb. I’ve done my best to be patient, to not push you too much – but is this all because I was too fast? You weren’t ready for me to say those words?”
The fact that he was even asking – that she had made someone like Silver March feel so damn insecure when it should be her – engulfed her in shame. “You really don’t know me, March.”
“What I know about you is what matters,” Silver shot back with a fierce undertone. “The rest, I have a lifetime with you to learn.”
God, he was so…
Too. Irritatingly. Perfect.
“I have a past.” She knew she was throwing that out of nowhere, but she needed to say it, was hoping it would make Silver take a damn step back and really consider what they had together.
But Silver did none of that. His answer was swift and concise. “I’m sure you have. With too many damn boys to count.” He almost sounded bored, like she was wasting his time, making a mountain out of a molehill. “How many times do I have to spell it out for you, Wyndham? I don’t give a fuck about anything but you. That’s the only truth you should care about. That’s why I can say
I love you.
”
Lace wanted to cry and laugh at the same time. “You can’t be real. Your entire personality must have been Photoshopped or something.”
“Well, yours must have been developed by some amateur from Fiverr.”
Laughter won, and she couldn’t stop laughing.
“You sound hysterical.”
And Silver sounded the slightest bit alarmed.
He had a good reason to.
“You’re Silver Beaufort March. How can you even—” She had to stop, had to take a deep breath before she broke completely. “Can’t you see I’m not the girl for you?” It hurt, God, it hurt so much more to say those words, but she had to say it. She was
not
for him, and it wasn’t because of any of those reasons he had enumerated before. It wasn’t the age gap, wasn’t the fact that they had nothing in common or they wanted different things in life. They could have eventually gotten past all of those things. What couldn’t be overcome? The fact that someone like her would never deserve someone like him.
“Selena Gomez.”
Lace was startled, wasn’t even sure she had heard him right. “
Selena…Gomez?
”
“Do I have to quote her for you?” When she didn’t answer, his tone was grim and amused at the same time as he said, “Google this.” After Silver rapped out instructions, she did as asked, and this time her laughter mingled with her tears.
Damn you, Silver March. You just had to make me cry at sports camp.
Damn you, Silver March. You just had to be… Too. Irritatingly. Perfect. How could someone like him be so good at the corporate world but at the same time know about Selena Gomez?
The Heart Wants What It Wants.
“How do you even know something like that?” Lace gasped.
“My brother-in-law is a damn rockstar, how else?”
She choked, sniffed, and laughed all at once. “You just
can’t
be real—”
Silver cut her off, his voice rough and hard as he said, “I’m far from perfect, Wyndham. But for you…I want to be perfect for you.”
She was
this
close to throwing her phone out of the window. “See? That…that…you just
can’t
be real.” His words were…God, she so badly wanted to see him right now, wanted to
feel
his skin against her fingertips so she could be sure she hadn’t just dreamt him up.
“You just can’t be—”
The edge of hysteria in her voice must have finally gotten to him. “Lace—”
It was the first time Silver had called her by her first name, and somehow that felt like the final straw, pushing her over the edge and she was drowning, drowning, drowning—
“Come back, March.” The words were out before Lace could really think about what she was asking, and the moment they were past her lips, she wanted to kill herself. Why the hell had she said that? She had gone insane. That could be the only reason.
Silver seemed to be as floored as she was. “What…did you just ask?”
“If you’re here, I think…I think I might finally...” Oh my God, she was
still
insane.
“Finally…
what
?” Silver’s tone was now edgy with unease.
“
Those words
.”
Lace ended the call.
It was official. She
was
certifiably insane.
The sound of applause had her jerking and when she turned around, all her boys were smirking and clapping their hands.
Lace shot to her feet. “You
heard
?”
Drew gave her a thumbs-up. “
Every word,
Coach.”
Noooooooooooooooo.
Why did every chapter of her life seem to end the same way?
First Fight
“I’ll be out in a sec,” Lace shouted irritably the next day when one of her boys banged his fist on her door again. “It’s not as easy to wear a skintight dress as you think, assholes.” Especially for someone like her. She couldn’t remember the last time she had to wear something that didn’t have leg holes. Maybe…high school graduation?
“I dunno…” It was Vasyl speaking. “They always seem easy to take off for me.”
The words had Lace rolling her eyes while outside her door, the guys were laughing. She stepped in front of the mirror when she finally managed to zip herself up. The dress was the girliest she had ever worn, a spaghetti-strapped flowery thing with a heart-shaped neckline and a loose skirt. It was brand new, and so were the frilly ballet flats they had her wear. How they were able to get their hands on the stuff, Lace didn’t even want to think about. She just hoped they hadn’t committed a crime over it.
Her fingers drifted over her skin, and she was grateful there were only the faintest marks on the places that Silver had claimed.
Damn you, Silver March
. But the thought had her more depressed than furious.
He hadn’t called her back, hadn’t sent her a single message since she had asked him to come. Did that mean—