Volley of Love

3

"Hey, Glen! Trying to PR?" I ran up to Tristan as he set the bar down on the rack. He sat up and smirked at me.

"Do you think that low of me, Lircet? This is just my warm up." A bead of sweat rolled down his face. He pulled me closer to him and I smiled.

"Hey."

I know, I was head of heels for Dave a week ago, but the second I saw that look in his eyes as he hurt me, I knew I would never feel the same way.

It's a week into our arrangement and I'm already catching feelings. Tristan is the perfect guy. He volunteers every weekend. He has perfect grades. He's the nicest person I've ever met. And in addition to his incredible personality, he's hot. Like really hot.

Here he is, sitting in front of me, shirtless. His strong arms wrapped around my waist.

"Hey yourself." He smiled at me. I pushed away his sweaty body and pretended to be disgusted.

"You're sweaty!"

He stood up and grabbed me again. "So are you, buttface!"

His teammates watched from a distance, whispering amongst themselves.

"Well you're more sweaty and you smell!" He swept my feet out from under me. I felt the floor on my back as he started tickling me. I winced and shoved his hands away. He ignored me and continued his attack on my sides.

"Tristan please-"

"Magic words!"

My ribs were on fire. The pain was too much to handle. My vision was spinning and black dots appeared. I stopped struggling and yelled, "Stop!" It came out harsher than intended so I followed it with a soft, "Stop."

He frowned and pulled back.

"You ok?"

I shook my head. His eyes widened as he realized the issue. It's not his fault he didn't know. He still thinks it's just a bruise.

Tristan embraced me and whispered "I'm so sorry." over and over again. I placed a weak hand on his head and ruffled his hair.

"It's fine. Tristan," He buried his head in my shoulder. "Tristan." He didn't respond, he just held me closer. It intensified the pain but I didn't have the heart to tell him that. "Tristan! It's fine."

He looked up at me. Fear, guilt and regret covered his face like a nasty cloud. "It's not fine. You're hurt and I made it worse."

I smiled at him. "Like I said, it's fine. I didn't know, you didn't know-"

He interrupted me with his lips. His lips were soft as they moved against mine. He placed a hand on the back of my neck and angled my head up so he could get a better angle. I closed my eyes and melted into his arms. He pulled back and placed a finger on my lips.

"I thought you got it checked out." He pushed me gently so that I was lying flat. He lifted my shirt and pointed at the dark purple and green bruise. "Sofia." He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "This is worse. It's supposed to get better. You said it was a bruise. Bruises shouldn't hurt that much."

I took a shaky breath. He looked livid. "I did." I hate this lie so much. "It's nothing too serious-"

"Shut the fuck up Sofia. Tristan, she broke her rib. It's not a fucking bruise. Tell your girlfriend to get out of here, we are supposed to be training."

I froze. I haven't spoken with Aaron since he kissed me. Tristan glared at him and looked at me. I gulped. "I-"

"Why didn't you tell me? Why the fuck did you tell him but not me?"