Seeing Dakota and his friends at the restaurant had come as a surprise. We’d established an unspoken rule early on in our relationship that we’d each stick to our respective sides of town. That meant he didn’t go to the places Northshore populated, and I didn’t impose on Ridgemount territory. I guess Dakota was becoming lax with that rule.

And what did it mean if he was?

We didn’t stick around at the café after mine and Dakota’s altercation. Trent switched our order to take-away and we’d hightailed out of there before Dakota had even returned to his table. Scott and Trent didn’t question my haste, rightfully assuming the tension between us had snapped once again, resulting in my swollen eye that was quickly forming a colourful bruise.

Tension wasn’t the only thing that had snapped though. I had too.

What had I been thinking? Kissing Dakota behind locked doors was one thing, but kissing him out in the open was reckless and unthinkable.

We’d been in a secluded area but that was no comfort to me given how easy it was to access. We could have easily been caught and where would I be then? Outed against my will and most certainly off the team. I couldn’t afford to strike a match for a fire that I didn’t want to burn.

My head rested against the backseat window as Trent drove us through the north side of town. Manicured lawns and suburban homes passed by in fleeting glances of scenery as I wracked my brain for answers to my reckless actions.

I’d long since given up on understanding why I was physically attracted to Dakota. The guy was intolerable on a good day with his conceited attitude and antagonistic provocations. Yet, people still thrust him into the spotlight and made him the centre of attention.

Some might’ve related his demeanour to a gravitational pull. I thought of it as more akin to a disease: a great inconvenience and hard to get rid of.

Still, that all seemed to go out the window when Dakota’s hands were on my body, tugging at my hair and nails scratching across my collarbone, driving me crazy. I hated that someone I despised so much had such power over me.

I’d long since given up on the prospect that Dakota and I would ever get along. But for every argument we got into and every insult we threw each other’s way, that hostility completed evaporated the second we fell into bed together. As though a switch had been flipped, we became different people between the sheets. Something heated and wild and explosive that set every one of my nerve endings on fire with the slightest touch.

I might have hated Dakota Anderson, but that boy knew how to fuck.

But now, having kissed him in public, something inside me had changed for that desire to arise. I had to figure out what it was quickly before the spark caught fire and burned everything to the ground.

“Connor.”

“Huh?” Reality came back in sharp fragments when Scott called my name from the front seat. “What’s going on?”

Scott had turned around in his seat and was watching me with concern. “You’ve been staring out the window in silence for the past ten minutes. Is everything okay?”

“Oh, uh,” I cleared my throat awkwardly, sitting up. “Yeah, sorry. I guess I’m just tired.”

“Our game last night was pretty intense.” Trent offered from the driver’s seat. “Those Aldrich defenders are next level. Maybe it knocked you around a bit.”

I laughed in attempt to conceal the fact that I’d been in deep thought. “Yeah, maybe.”

Scott turned around in his seat. “We were just asking what you and Anderson were talking about for so long.”

“Oh, um,” My attention shifted to outside the car. “Nothing really. He was just dissing Northshore to get a reaction out of me. The same as usual.”

“Looks like he did,” Trent gestured to his own face to indicate my bruised eye.

Scott faced me again, anger spreading through his features. “You’re not seriously going to let him get away with that! Who does that bastard think he is?”

“Don’t worry.” The smirk was rising before I could stop it. “I have my ways of getting back at him.”

“Yeah, like kicking his sorry ass on the field!”

“We have to beat Caulfield first.” Trent supplied.

“We will.”

Trent drove through the suburban estate, coming to a stop behind a red BMW parked at the curb outside my house.

“Your brother’s in town?” Scott asked in question to the BMW.

“Yeah,” I answered, unclipping my seat belt, “he had a conference in the city all week. It’s easier to stay here than a hotel.”

Andrew – or Drew – was my twenty-two year old brother who lived upstate. The last time I’d seen him had been Christmas a few months back. He’d moved out three years ago but to say I’d missed him would be an understatement.

Quickly thanking Trent for the lift, I said goodbye to my friends and made my way inside. Laughter sounded from the kitchen as I closed the front door. Heading down the hall, I stopped to lean in the doorway of the kitchen, smiling softly at the sight of my family.

“You’re too skinny,” Mum was saying as she attempted to force-feed a pecan cookie to my brother, who was making a valiant effort to fend her off. Dad watched them in amusement from the table. “Do they not have food in the breakroom at your company?”

“Mum, stop.” Drew laughed, pushing her hand away. “I’m fine. There’s a whole street of café’s opposite my office. You don’t need to worry.”

“Oh honey, I’ll always worry about my boys.”

Drew rolled his eyes playfully and glanced sideways. His smile lit up when he caught sight of me leaning in the doorway. “Connor!”

He bounded over to me, enveloping me in a bear hug. I took no comfort in the fact that he was still at least a foot taller than me. “Hey, baby bro! I see you still haven’t grown since the last time I was here.”

Pulling out of his embrace, I punched his shoulder and laughed when he winced. “I see you haven’t gotten any stronger since the last time I saw you.”

“Shut up.” Drew laughed, ruffling my hair. “How’s school? How’s the season?”

“Oh, don’t talk about the season.” Mum chuckled as she packed cookies into a Tupperware container. “You’ll get him all fired up.”

“Ah,” Drew turned back to me. “You still caught up in that Shakespearian feud with…what was his name again?”

“Dakota.” I growled, stepping further into the room. “And it’s not a feud! The guy is just a jackass!”

“Language,” Mum scolded. “Speaking of-“ She looked up then, gasping, “Connor, what happened to your face?”

Drew’s attention was back on me in an instant. Gripping my chin, he tilted my head sideways to get a better look at my face. “Man, it looks like someone clocked you pretty hard.” Then, “Tell me who I need to kill.”

“It’s nothing.” I smirked. “The other guy looks worse.”

“Connor Jackson Taylor!” Mum’s voice rang out over the kitchen as she flapped a tea towel in my direction. “I did not raise you to belief violence is the answer to your problems!”

“He started it! I just returned the favour.”

“That’s my boy!” Dad cheered from the table. At Mum’s glare, his glee subsided and he coughed roughly. “I mean, uh, did you use your words?”

“For God’s sake.” Mum growled. Picking up the empty baking tray, she dumped it in the sink with a loud crash. “I’m surrounded by animals.”

“But seriously,” Dad continued, eyeing my swollen cheek. “That’s quite a bruise you’ve got forming there, son. What happened?”

“I ran into Dakota and his friends at the café. I may have provoked him a little.”

That was only half the truth but my family didn’t need to know that. As far as anyone was concerned, Dakota and I couldn’t go two minutes without spitting insults at each other. Knowing the whole truth was out of the question.

Mum was at my side in in the blink of an eye. “He hit you? Connor, that’s not okay!”

“Mum, Mum!” I gently pried her hands off me. “It’s fine! I got a few hits in too.”

This earned a laugh from Dad and Drew but they fell silent when Mum shot them a glare. “You need to put ice on that for the swelling to go down.”

“I will.”

“So, kid,” Dad said. “We were thinking of heading out for a family lunch. You in?”

I nodded. “Yeah, sure. Just let me go change first.”

Without waiting for a reply, I turned on my heel and headed upstairs to change. Two minutes later I emerged from my bedroom in a clean pair of jeans and my white BTS Love Yourself hoodie, unable to tell whether the lingering scent of cologne on the material was mine or Dakota’s.

We spent the afternoon at a local restaurant, my brother regaling us with his latest stories in the legal world and how his firm was already talking about making him a junior partner within the next seven years.

My parents were quick to engage in the subject, listening eagerly to how my brother’s career had taken off since he’d moved upstate after university. For my part, I attempted to listen but ended up zoning out of the conversation more than once. It wasn’t that I didn’t love my brother but his work wasn’t something I found particularly interesting.

For a long time, I’d felt like I lived in my brother’s shadow. He was the eldest and therefore crowned the golden boy by both my parents and his peers alike. When he graduated high school with grades in the top percentile and was accepted into the most prestigious university law program, every one of those expectations seemed to fall upon my shoulders in pursuit.

University was still something I had to figure out. I had subjects I enjoyed in school but nothing seemed to make my heart beat as wildly as it did on the field in the heat of a game. Soccer was my passion, but the chances of becoming a professional player were slim. My careers counsellor had been right in saying I needed a backup plan.

Whether I graduated with a scholarship or not, I had excellent grades and was the Captain of my soccer team – both of which looked great on my academic resume. Maybe I’d never be a lawyer like Drew, but I knew my parents supported me and would give me the time to figure out what I wanted on my own.

Although, a small part of me felt their pride would turn to dust if they knew what – or who – I really spent most of my free time doing.