The Cell Phone Swap

Chapter 19 iAm a Fool

Swiftly, Keeley waded in between the two of them, making sure she had no bodily contact with Talon. “Both of you need to calm down.”

“Move Keels-”

“Get out of the way, baby doll-”

“You cannot afford to get in a fight,” she told Zach, completely ignoring Talon. “If Coach hears about it he’ll bench you.”

“It’d be worth it.”

“Recruiters are watching the games,” she reminded him, knowing how important it was to him.

“Like I said,” he growled, “it’d be worth it.”

“No, it’s not.” Keeley refused to let Zach get in trouble over some jerk who thought she was nothing more than a girl he could toy with. “Don’t let him take that away from you. Let’s just go home.”

Zach hesitated, clearly torn between leaving and sucker punching Talon.

“Please,” she begged. When he didn’t answer, she dropped the pretense from her eyes and let her twin see the stark vulnerability that lay underneath. The vulnerability she wasn’t yet ready to face. “Zach, please.”

Rather reluctantly, he nodded, forcing his body to retreat from the fight. It wasn’t till he was a good four feet away that Keeley let herself take a deep breath, relieved that the crisis was averted. She started to follow after him but a voice stopped her.

“Keeley,” Talon called out.

Her eyes closed in response. Whether it was to stave off the hurt or shut out reality, she didn’t know but either way, she kept them closed. He didn’t deserve to see the pain in them. He didn’t deserve to see her weak and defenseless.

“Baby doll, listen to me,” he continued in lieu of her silence. “It’s not what you think-”

“Don’t,” she whispered, cutting him off. She didn’t want to hear whatever excuse he was bound to make. Words meant nothing to her anymore.

“Just let me explain-”

“There’s nothing to explain.” 

He growled in frustration. “So, you’re just going to walk away? You’re not even going to give me a chance to defend myself?”

The only answer she had for him was to continue to walk away.

“I never took you for a quitter.”

That comment stopped her in her tracks. He was in no place to be throwing accusations around. Not after everything he had done and said. As she turned around to face him, she drew upon her anger, wrapping it around her like a coat of armor. “And I never took you for a liar,” she said, her lips curled in a sneer. “I guess we both didn’t know each other as well as we thought. Goodbye JT.”

With that, Keeley marched to the car, her head held high. She could feel his eyes boring into her, the intensity so extreme, the hairs on the back of her neck stood on end. For a second, a sweet, sinful second, she was tempted to stop and listen to his explanation, but then she remembered his insinuations and the temptation fled as soon as it came.

When she arrived at the car, her brother was sitting in the driver seat, his hands tightly gripping the steering wheel. He barely gave her a glance when she sagged into the seat next to him, all his attention focused on his arch nemesis. It wasn’t till Talon walked out of view that Zach released the wheel. He fished his keys out of his pocket and started the car, but made no move to drive. The engine gently growled in background, adding to the growing tension between the siblings.