The Boy She Chose

Chapter 4

**Julian**

"You literally just said—"

"I said I was looking around. At the crowd. For... energy. Team spirit. Whatever."

"For me." She wasn't letting it go. Of course she wasn't. Maya never did.

"Maybe." I shrugged, trying to play it cool and failing spectacularly. "It's not a big deal. You're always here. It's weird when you're not."

Her smile returned. A small, teasing smile that made my heart kick against my ribs like it was trying to escape. "You missed me."

My heart kicked harder. "Obviously."

She blinked, surprise flashing across her face.

I froze.

For a second, neither of us moved. The rain fell between us, the celebration continued around us, but it felt like we were the only two people on the planet.

Then I forced a laugh, scrambling for the safe ground we'd always stood on. "I mean, obviously I missed you. You're my best friend. Who else is going to yell insults at me from the stands? Who else is going to bring me those disgusting energy drinks I pretend to like?"

There it was.

The safe answer.

The one I'd used for years, the one that kept everything from imploding.

Best friend.

Maya smiled, but it didn't quite reach her eyes the way it usually did. Or maybe I was imagining it. "You're my best friend too, Jules. Always."

And somehow, those words hurt more than they should have. Like a reminder of the line I wasn't supposed to cross.

I smiled anyway, because that's what I did. I smiled through the ache. "Then dinner? To make up for the trauma you caused me?"

She nodded, tucking that stray hair back again. "Fine. But you're buying dessert. And I'm picking the place. Somewhere with actual vegetables, because I know you'll just order a burger the size of your head."

"Tonight?" I pressed, not wanting this to end, not wanting her to disappear back into the crowd.

"Tonight. After you shower, because you smell like a wet dog mixed with victory and poor life choices."

"Promise?"

She held out her pinky, rain dripping off her sleeve. "Promise. Pinky swear, no take-backs, or I get to tell everyone about that time you cried during that Disney movie."

I hooked mine around hers. The smallest touch. Nothing, really. Just skin against skin, her fingers cold from the rain, mine still warm from the game.

It shouldn't have meant anything.

But my fingers tingled anyway, a spark that traveled all the way up my arm.

She pulled away first, shoving her hands into the giant pockets of the sweatshirt. "Go celebrate with your team. They're going to drag you to some party, I bet. Don't do anything stupid."

"I'd rather stay here. Talk to you. You're more fun than those idiots anyway."

She rolled her eyes, but her cheeks were pinker now. "Julian. Go. Be the big football hero. I'll see you later."

"Maya."

"Go."

"Bossy."

"Idiot."

"You're lucky you're pretty. Otherwise I'd never put up with this abuse."

She froze.

I froze.

Damn it.

That wasn't supposed to come out. The words just... escaped, hanging there like a live grenade.

Her lips parted slightly, rain catching on them. For a second, I thought she might say something, call me out, or laugh it off, or... anything.

Then she laughed, a little too brightly. "Go celebrate, you weirdo. Before I change my mind about dinner and make you eat salad for a week."

I smiled, relief and disappointment warring in my chest. "Yes, ma'am."

I turned away, taking three steps through the mud and celebrating bodies.

Then looked back.

She was still watching me, leaning on the railing, that sweatshirt making her look like she belonged here, in my world, even if I knew better.

I smiled.

She smiled back, waving a little.

And for one perfect moment, I let myself believe that maybe—

just maybe—

she could feel something too.

Something more.

Something that wasn't friendship.

Something that wasn't safe.

Something that could become everything I'd ever wanted, if I was brave enough to reach for it.

I didn't know then that sometimes the person you would choose with your whole heart...

would eventually choose someone else.

I didn't know that the girl smiling at me from those bleachers, rain-soaked and perfect, would one day become the reason I'd learn how ugly love could get. How it could twist and break and leave you wondering if any of it had been real.

I didn't know that I would eventually regret every second I spent pretending I could be just her best friend, every time I swallowed the words I wanted to say, every glance I looked away from.

All I knew was that Maya was here.

She was smiling at me.

The rain was falling, the team was winning, and for tonight, that was enough.

At least...

I thought it was.

I jogged back toward the chaos, teammates grabbing me, pulling me into hugs and photos and plans for the afterparty. But my mind stayed on that railing, on her laugh, on the way her pinky had felt hooked around mine.

Dinner tonight.

A promise.

I held onto that like it was the game-winning catch all over again.

Because in a world of noise and lights and expectations, Maya was the only thing that ever felt real.

And I was too much of a coward to tell her.