“How are you doing?” I asked.

If all else fails, make polite conversation, I figured.

“My sister is fucking the guy who stole my hopes and dreams, and the whole world knows about it. You tell me.”

I shook my head. “Look, Kyle, I get that this looks wrong. It’s not like we planned for it to come out the way it did.”

“Of course not, but it did,” he said. He sounded pissed off.

“And what Kina and I do isn’t any of your business.”

“Well, it’s my business, now. It’s everyone’s business now that you’re on national news. But that’s your style, isn’t it? The whole world knows it whenever you’re doing something. This isn’t the first time you’re in the news, and I’m pretty sure it won’t be the last.”

I sighed. I hated it when people referred to the fight and the assault charge that resulted from it.

“So, you’re going to leave Kina alone, now.”

I was getting angry. If Kyle wanted to nail me with my past, that was one thing. But he wasn’t going to tell me what to do.

“Kina is a grown woman. She can take care of herself. If she wants me to leave her alone and tells me so herself, I’ll respect her wishes. Until then, I’m not doing anything other than what I want.”

Kyle laughed, but it wasn’t a friendly sound. “So, typical Jacob,” he said. “You haven’t changed one bit. You’re still the asshole who only cares for himself.”

“What, because I took the opportunity to go pro when it presented itself? I wasn’t going to turn it down to make you feel better that you didn’t get that opportunity.”

“Fuck you, Jacob,” Kyle spat. My phone beeped with another call coming in. I glanced at the screen, and Kina’s number flashed on call waiting.

“I don’t have to listen to your shit,” I said and hung up, taking Kina’s call instead.

“I was looking for you,” I said to her. “Are you doing okay?”

“I’m sorry, I was in a meeting with my boss.”

I let out a sigh of relief. She hadn’t been avoiding me. I’d been stupid to assume that.

“And? How did it go?”

“Not great. He’s not happy, obviously. I’m on probation, but I haven’t lost my job or anything. It’s deemed unprofessional, and they’re going to let me know what happens when my review comes up, soon.”

I rubbed my forehead with my fingertips and sat down on the bench next to my locker.

“I’m sorry,” I said. “It’s a lot of drama.”

“Don’t be sorry,” she said. “We both got ourselves into this, and I know that I’m not the only one suffering the repercussions.”

She was right, but I still felt bad that she was in trouble because of me.

“I want to warn you,” she said. “Kyle knows about us, too, now. He’s really pissed off. That it’s you, of all people—”

“I know,” I said. “He thinks it’s my fault his life went down the drain.” I got that from his conversation. It was ridiculous, of course. I wasn’t responsible for him.

“Did you talk to him?” she asked.

“Yeah, he just called me.”

She sighed. “I’m sorry.”

I shook my head. “Don’t apologize,” I said the same way she’d said to me.

“Kyle thinks we shouldn’t be doing this.”

“And? You’re a big girl. Who is he to tell you what to do? If you want to do this, you can do it. He has no say over you.”

She hesitated. “He’s a big part of my life, Jacob. I’m taking care of him right now.”

“Which is exactly why you’re the one who should be calling the shots, not him. If he can’t even take care of himself.”

She sighed. “I know what you’re saying. This is just such a big mess, and with Kyle being the way he is, all the trouble he gets himself into all the time, it’s a lot to deal with.”

I could understand what she was going through. Kyle was making life very hard for her, and she felt obliged to pick up the pieces all the time because she was his twin. I thought it was wrong, but just as much as I believed Kyle wasn’t the one who could tell her what to do, I wasn’t either.

So, I kept my opinion to myself.

“Look, in my opinion, you can date whoever you want,” I added.

“We’re not dating, Jacob,” she said in a soft voice.

I shook my head. I was still irritated with Kyle and that was translating into the conversation with Kina.

“I’m sorry, I thought you said we were in this together. I thought that meant something.”

“I meant the scandal. I just explained to you how this is too much for me to handle. And now you want me to focus on a relationship, too?”

“Dammit, Kina. Is it so bad for you to get involved?”

“I am involved,” she snapped. “I’m involved in all your nonsense because it’s my job, and I’m involved in your personal scandals because I let my guard down with you.”

Her words hit me like physical punches.

“You say it like you regret it.”

She hesitated. “I don’t,” she said.

“You took a while to think about that.”

“Don’t do this to me, Jacob. We have enough problems as it is.”

Why was she holding back so much? Everything she did made me feel like she was on my side, like I meant something to her. But when it came down to putting it into words, she didn’t want to admit her feelings or what we were, after everything we did. I refused to believe that I was just a fuckbuddy. Kina didn’t seem like the type of person to do that. She was pure and wholesome, and it was something I loved about her.

“So, what? Everything they’re saying in the tabloids is true. We’re just fucking around, and it means nothing?”

“I didn’t say that,” Kina said.

“Then what are you saying? I’m running out of things that it could be, considering everything you’re telling me it’s not.”

“Why do you need to label it all?” she asked. “You’re acting like a woman. Be a man for a change and be the asshole who wants sex and nothing else.”

I pulled a face, and I was glad she couldn’t see slivers of my temper surfacing. Seeing me angry was never pretty.

“I don’t even know what you’re saying right now,” I said.

“Just forget it, Jacob,” she said.

“Forget what?” I asked, but she hung up before I could get an answer.

I didn’t know what was going on, where we stood now. What was it that she wanted me to forget, the argument? The idea that I wanted more? That we had slept together at all? God, she was so damn difficult to read.

I ran my hand over my short hair and groaned. Why was everything so fucking complicated? Why couldn’t I just play football and have a woman without all this shit? If it wasn’t a fight or my woman cheating on me, it was a sex scandal with a woman who looked like she wanted me but didn’t.

Why the fuck was everything so difficult?