Lahat ng Kabanata ng Off-Side Love With My Best Friend's Brother : Kabanata 41 - Kabanata 50

Dani’s POVThe locker room went completely silent.Callum stared at me. Marcus stared at me. Ryan, somewhere in the back, made a sound that he converted immediately into a cough.The word sat in the room, fully out now, nowhere to take it back to.Then Callum found his voice.“Girlfriend.” He said. “Her, your girlfriend.”“That’s what I said.”“Blake hasn’t even gotten over her,” someone called from the back. “Everyone on campus knows that. You’re saying you moved in while he was still…”“What Blake feels is his problem,” I said. “Not mine. Not hers.”“He showed up at your house this morning.” Callum tilted his head. “Someone mentioned it. You’re telling me she’s your girlfriend and he’s still doing house calls?”“Which is exactly the point,” I said. “He doesn’t respect what’s mine.”I felt Wren tense behind me.“Prove it then.” Marcus was smiling now, “If she’s actually your girlfriend. Prove it right now.”“I don’t perform on request…”“You announced it in front of fifteen people.”

Wren’s POVRoss’s arm wrapped around me before I even realised I was shaking.“Hey, look at me." His voice was firm, steady. “Breathe. Just breathe.”I couldn’t. The air kept catching somewhere between my throat and my lungs, and every time I closed my eyes, I saw Dani crumpled on the floor of that locker room, so still, too still.“Wren.” Theo’s voice came from somewhere to my left. “You need to calm down. You’re going to make yourself sick.”“I can’t…” my voice broke. “He’s not… what if he’s…”“He’s not.” Ross tightened his grip. “He’s not, okay? Stop.”“Wait, I'll be back,” Theo said as he walked away.Anna appeared in front of me with a bottle of water, pressing it into my hands without a word. I took it because she was holding it toward me and I didn’t know what else to do with my hands. The cold of it helped, a little. I drank, swallowed, drank again.“I need to go to the hospital,” I said, the moment I trusted my voice. “Anna. I need to go to him.”“We’re going,” she said simpl

Wren’s povThe room was very quiet.Dani’s hand was still extended from the handshake, his eyes on Theo, Theo’s eyes on him.Ross looked at me. Then at Dani. Then at the ceiling briefly.“I need to make a call,” he said, producing his phone from his pocket. “Outside. Where there's a signal.” He moved toward the door without looking at either of them. “Carry on.”The door closed behind him.Theo hadn’t moved. He had the particular stillness of someone who wasn’t going to be the first to look away, and Dani, flat on his back in a hospital bed with a bandaged head, was apparently not going to be the first either.“Both of you need to stop,” I said.Neither of them looked at me.“Dani. You’re supposed to be resting. The doctor said…”“I’m resting,” Dani said. “I can rest and look at someone at the same time.”“That is not what resting means.”Theo finally shifted his gaze to me, and whatever was behind his eyes settled into something calmer. He touched my arm lightly. “Come with me to the

Wren’s povFor a second, I couldn't move.Emily stood there in her cream dress with her perfect hair and her hand still extended, and I stood in the doorway like I'd forgotten how to operate my own legs. Then something in me clicked back on, and I walked into the room fully, letting the door swing shut behind me.She came toward me with her arms open, that wide, practiced smile on her face. "Wren. Oh my God, it's so good to see you."I stepped back before she could reach me. I smiled. It cost me nothing. "Emily. Wow. Hi."Her arms lowered, smooth and unbothered, as she'd expected them to. "You haven't changed at all." She said it like a compliment, tilting her head slightly."Neither have you," I said. Which was also true, and not entirely a compliment either.She turned to Ross, and Ross, to his credit, did not look thrilled. He let her hug him for exactly one second before stepping back with the kind of awkward smile you gave someone you were still working out how to feel about."It

Wren’s POVI woke up to Anna already dressed, sitting cross-legged on her bed scrolling through her phone.“You're taking forever,” she said without looking up.“I'm moving at a completely normal speed.” I pulled my sweater over my head and grabbed my bag. “Some of us actually need to brush our hair.”“Some of us also need to not be late.” She was already at the door, keys in hand, tapping her foot with theatrical impatience.We walked onto campus together, and the first thing I saw was Emily, surrounded by a cluster of girls near the steps, laughing at something with her head tipped back like she was performing it for an audience. I looked away before she could catch my eye.Then I saw Ross, already crossing the courtyard toward us with his hands in his pockets.“Morning,” he said, falling into step beside me. “How'd you sleep?”“Terribly.” I rubbed my eyes. “Anna snores like a freight train.”“I do not,” Anna said immediately, indignant.“You absolutely do.”Ross wasn't looking at m