Page 33 of End Game

“I promised you I would do anything for you,” he says lightly, but his eyes are dark and haunted.

I throw my arms around him, and he tenses in my grasp. Slowly, painfully slowly, he wraps his arms around me and holds me tight.

Chapter 11

Barrett

Johanna is… a lot. I’m not exactly sure why I’m here, except for the fact that I’m a sucker for pretty much anything my best friend asks me to do. So this girl has a crush on me. Okay. It seems pretty cruel to lead her on. I’m not about to suddenly fall head over heels for her because we go out one time for coffee.

Still, Diana asked, and it means a lot to her, so I’m doing it. This will make her life easier. Her team captain is capable of making her life a living hell. She’s already been an unwelcoming bitch to her in the first two weeks of school. I’ll do whatever I can to make her transition here easier.

Even if I have absolutely no interest in her.

Johanna is slightly shorter than Diana and equally fit, lithe and limber with firmly packed muscles. She has a ski-jump nose and slightly upturned monolids. Her long, dark hair falls halfway down her back in soft waves. They’re not natural curls, like Diana’s—she’s styled her hair this way. All in all, she’s pretty with nice features, and I’m sure one day she’ll find a guy who appreciates her. I’m not that guy. I’ll never be that guy.

Because all I can think about is how she compares to my best friend, the person who set us up.

Standing in line at the coffee shop, she rattles off her London fog latte order with ruthless efficiency, and I order a vanilla iced latte, light ice, out of habit. It’s something I started drinking after Diana ordered me one, and unexpectedly I fell in love with it nearly as easily as I fell in love with her. Now it’s my favorite drink, and not only because it reminds me of her.

Being the gentleman who was manipulated into this farce of a date, I wave away Johanna’s attempt to pay and cover both of our drinks and a small fruit and cheese plate. If nothing else, the snack will give us something to do with our hands aside from sitting there fidgeting. Or is that just me?

“So…”

“We should sit down,” she announces. She makes a beeline for a small table and chairs near the unlit fireplace in the back. Romantic and cozy. Great. I’m not sure the spindly little chair will hold my weight. It creaks out a warning as I sit down.

“So, Barrett…”

I look her in the eye. She holds the contact, confident, her spine straight and sure.

“Johanna.”

She flushes pink, and her eyes dart away from mine. “It’s nice to meet you. Officially, I mean.”

I ignore the fact that we’ve met on at least three occasions now: when I dropped Diana off at her house the other night, after the football game, and at their game the other day.

“Likewise.”

“You and Diana, you’ve known each other a long time?”

“She’s my best friend,” I say honestly. “We’ve been friends since we were eight years old. We met at summer camp and stayed in touch ever since.”

She nods. “How fortunate that you are able to attend the same school.”

A pang of bitterness ricochets through me. Diana was offered a full ride scholarship here five years ago. If she had taken it, she would have been here with me all this time. If she hadn’t gone to USC, we wouldn’t have had to spend four years in a long distance friendship.

But USC was the right choice for her at the time, and I can’t begrudge her for taking a chance at what was best for her. Just because I wanted her here with me didn’t mean she wanted to stay. And if she had, who’s to say we would still be friends now? I like to think we would. I like to think our friendship could survive pretty much anything that gets thrown at it.

“It’s pretty great to have her here,” I finally say, because I still can’t believe she’s in town for good—or at least until graduation.

Johanna goes quiet. Things are tense between them, I know. I don’t pretend to understand the politics behind it, but from what has been explained to me, Johanna is the team captain and queen bee and used to getting her way. Diana being here—also of Chinese descent, gorgeous, brilliant, and an all around awesome person—threatens her position at the top of the team’s social pyramid.

Even though Diana has no interest in toppling the current hierarchy. She only wants to fit in and make friends, not waves. She’s never cared about social politics. She wants to have a good time and be able to kick back with her girls, and if she isn’t in the mood to spend time with them because she’s doing something else, it isn’t the end of the world.

Somehow I don’t think Johanna is nearly as chill.

The waiter brings over our coffees—in to-go cups, thankfully—and the small fruit and cheese plate. It’s not much, but it will give us something to do with our hands.

I don’t know what to say. I don’t know this woman very well, and the few things I’ve heard about her haven’t exactly been complementary. All I know is that she’s interested in me. And while I’m flattered, I don’t return the interest, especially after having met her again. She’s pretty. I’m sure she’s nice.