**Xavier**
Shit.
Why’d I call her that?
Her eyes narrowed. “What did you say?” she asked, glaring at me like I’d just insulted her ancestors.
I tried to wave it off. “Are you hurt?”
She flinched. “I’m fine.”
No, she wasn’t. She hadn’t been fine all morning.
Distant. Quiet. Avoiding eye contact. But last night? She was everywhere. Teasing, smiling, brushing my arm like it meant something.
So what changed?
“What’s the problem?” I asked, pulling her up. Mud covered her front, her hands, her knees. Even her hair had some of it.
“It’s nothing,” she replied, cold.
Did I do something?
I didn’t even mean to say that.
That word. That name. It just... slipped.
“We don’t have time for this,” she scoffed, shaking off my hand. “We have to win the championship game.” She turned away, eye
