I Teased His Kidney, He Kissed Me

Chapter 2

I was frozen there, water bottle in hand. Couldn't hand it over, couldn't pull it back.

I just stood there, completely lost.

Holden didn't rush me either. His eyes stayed fixed on me, steady and patient.

Then it hit me, what Piper had told me earlier.

"Today's water move is to test the waters. You walk up to him, do your little test, and then don't give it to him. Give it to someone else.

"And whatever you do, when it comes to my brother, you gotta have backbone!"

So I puffed out my chest and braced myself.

'Listen here, buddy. Don't go chasing things that ain't yours.'

For whatever reason, that was the only line my brain could dig up.

The silence that followed was deafening.

A c***k of confusion flickered across Holden's annoyingly perfect face.

Then someone in the crowd just lost it.

"I thought we were about to witness true love right here!"

"Damn, Shaw, your charm's taking a nosedive, huh?"

The guys kept roasting him, and Holden's expression went dark.

I sucked it up, shoved past him, and beelined straight across the court.

I handed the bottle to his arch-rival, Evan Cross.

Holden and Evan had been rivals since high school. According to Piper, they'd competed over literally everything. Grades, sports, you name it.

"Hey, good game out there!" I said.

Evan took the bottle, shot a smug look Holden's way, and flashed me a grin.

"Thanks, sweetheart."

"Y-yeah... no problem."

The burning stare on my back made my stomach knot up.

I got the hell out of there as fast as my legs could carry me.

Word had it that Holden's team demolished the other side that afternoon—by a landslide.

"I'm telling you, my brother was totally jealous!"

Piper was shoving her phone in my face, pointing at some photo on the campus forum.

In the picture, Holden stood tall, lean, pale-skinned.

Only problem was his forehead was all scrunched up in a frown.

"Told you, I'm a genius!"

She scrolled through the comments underneath, a smug little grin plastered across her face.

"Luna, just relax, girl! You got me, Piper Shaw/genius, on your team. That's basically a win already."