I know.

Eighteen

"YES! Another point for Rory." I bit down on my bottom lip, having a self-celebration party dance at the fact I was genuinely winning. He wasn't making it easy. I don't think I have ever worked this hard in a friendly game in my life. We were sweating like a pair of sinners in church.

Fin grabbed the ball, bringing it back to our mid-point we had had a few too many arguments over. His cheeks were flushed red from the exercise, his head shaking at me embarrassing the daylight out of myself. But I didn't care. I was beating a professional player and he wasn't holding back. He wanted to win as much as I did. Fin had pushed me no less than a dozen times, almost toppling me over but I managed to steady my feet and slap the ball out of the air before it got to the net.

"Okay last point wins." He panted and I nodded in agreement. "If I lose this, no one can know, you know that right?"

"Mhm."

"You're not going to keep it quiet are you?"

"Not a chance. I'm going to scream it in the pub tonight, get it added onto the quiz questions. 'Who would win in a basketball game? Griffin Taylor or Aurora Stephens. Answer? ME." I hit the ball again, laughing as I moved my feet around him, the ball bounced between his open legs. I landed my feet back on the hard ground, continuing to bounce it towards where I knew I could comfortably get it in the net.

Grasping the ball in both hands, I looked up to make the shot, gasping as Fin wrapped his arms around my waist. I stumbled, gripping the ball tighter with a nervous giggle.

"This is cheating." His chin rested on my shoulder and I swear my heart tripped over its own feet. "I can't win if you've got a hold of me."

"That's the point Rory." His voice deepened a few notches, making my breath catch in my throat, a solid mass quickly growing in the centre of my chest. "I don't like losing."

"I know. Neither do I." This moment felt a little thick. Heavy in the air surrounding us both and I couldn't work out why when the rest of the game had been so relaxed and fun. This was still fun. I was still enjoying it, but it was different. Fin pulled me back until my back was flush with his chest, feet barely brushing the floor as he carried all my weight.

"I'm gonna let you win anyway."

"I was gonna win." He started walking closer to the net. In one move, Griffin lifted me up, his hands holding onto my waist tightly until I dropped the ball in the basket. With the rattle of the chains, he pulled me back, placing my feet on the floor and turning me around. Even before his little stunt, I'd have won. He knew it. But the sore looser I was expecting to see was nowhere to be seen. Instead, Fin was looking at me with a barely there smile, eyes glistening with my reflection, a drop of sweat sliding slowly down his forehead. "I told you I'd win."

"I went easy on you."

"Does going easy on me make you sweat this bad? You're breathing pretty heavy too. Are you sure you're not just rubbish?" He breathed out heavily and I found myself searching his face for the words he wasn't speaking.

"My minds on something else."

"Want to talk about it?" He wrapped an arm around me again, pulling me into his drenched self. "You're all gross." I chuckled pushing back on his chest a little but his grip held me there tight. His breathing wasn't lightening up and I was starting to become worried that he was having a heart attack or something. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." He nodded, still gazing at me in the gentlest way I've ever seen him look at anything.

"Are you sure? Because you're breath-"

"Rory."

"Mhm?" My hands were still planted on either side of his chest, rising and falling as he breathed and I prayed he couldn't feel them shaking against him.

"You're shaking."

"Oh. Um," I looked up at him and snickered nervously. "Probably the adrenaline." My face grew hot and I could feel it starting to flush as I got more confused about what was happening. It clicked as I watched his eye flick down to my lips. Holding there for a few seconds before coming back up to my eyes. Uh oh. Big, big, big uh oh. "Fin?"

"Hm?"

"You need to put me down." I pulled the corner of my bottom lip between my teeth, tugging at the dry skin there, dropping it when I felt his breathing change under me. He held me tight with one hand, bringing his other one to my chin, tilting me up so I looked him in the eyes again.

"What if I don't want to?"

"You need to." He shook his head slightly. "Don't do something you're going to regret Fin." My voice cracked, coming out just above a whisper but they didn't deter him. His face moved down, nose brushing beside mine, his air covering half of my face. I wanted to stop him. To tell him he couldn't do this, that he'd gotten the wrong signals, that this was just a game. We were just playing a game like we used to. But I didn't. I kept quiet. Eyes wide as I could feel him inching closer.

"RORY? FIN? ARE YOU GUYS HERE?" He froze and I pushed off him, his grasp on me dropping so I could put enough space between us, grabbing the ball from the floor. My heart pounding harder in my chest than it ever had, entire body feeling fuzzy. I swallowed, bouncing the ball once and shotting it into the hoop so it made a noise, the chain links rattling as I forced myself to laugh.

"I win." He stood there staring at me in the same spot he had been, completely frozen.

"See, I told you they'd be here." I turned my head to Zoe and Gus, walking in the far entrance. "Do you two even use your phones? You have them for a reason you know."

"Oh. Yeah. We, um, we were playing. You missed it. I just won."

"Against Griffin?"

"Yeah." I nodded turning to him. "I'm gonna go. See you at the pub tonight?" He nodded, catching the ball as I threw it to him. I walked over, quickly pulling my earphone from his ear and walking up to Zoe who already had my bag in her hand waiting. I took it from her, pulling it over my shoulder.

"Shortcake!"

"Hm?" I turned around quickly.

"You cheated. I demand a rematch."

"If you want to lose to me again Lamppost, I'll do it again any time." His lips pulled up in a half smile, still nowhere near as big as it had been all afternoon. I turned on my heel, walking back with Zoe.

"What was that about?"

"What was what about?"

"You're telling me you won and I couldn't hear you screaming as we got to the park?"

"Oh." I chuckled. "Out of breath. He really made me work for the win. Got my heart going and I couldn't breathe." She nodded slowly. "So, Jamie called me last night."