Chapter 4
By the time Jason Montgomery asked her out, Faye Sinclair had already lowered her expectations.
Experience had taught her that first dates weren't life-changing moments. They were simply opportunities to find out whether two people enjoyed each other's company enough to meet again.
Sometimes the conversation flowed and sometimes it didn't.
Either way, she never expected miracles. Jason was kind, easy to talk to, and refreshingly straightforward. There were no mixed signals, no mind games, and no constant back-and-forth over what he really meant.
Compared to the chaos of the past few weeks, he almost felt... peaceful.
Which was probably why she said yes.
" You've been staring at the same shirt for ten minutes."
Faye glanced toward her bedroom door.
Camille, her best friend, leaned against the frame with a grin that instantly told Faye she was about to be teased.
"Either pick an outfit or cancel the date."
Faye glanced over her shoulder.
"I'm trying to decide."
"Between those two shirts?"
"Don't judge me."
Camille walked over, took the blue blouse from her hands, then held up the white one instead.
"Wear this. It suits you better. The game will start soon so we have to leave in ten minutes."
Camille said and slipped out of the room, leaving her alone with her thoughts.
Taking one last look in the mirror, Faye reminded herself that tonight was about Jason, and she intended to give him a fair chance.
The gym was already crowded when Faye and Camille arrived, the sound of sneakers against the polished floor mixing with the cheers of students filling the bleachers as Faye spotted Jason almost immediately, warming up with his team and laughing with his teammates, and when he noticed her, he smiled and waved, making her smile back because it was easy, simple, exactly what she wanted, until someone stepped directly into her line of sight.
"Well, look who showed up."
Faye sighed. She didn't even need to look.
"Do you ever appear normally?"
Ethan Carter grinned. "Not really. I think I'd disappoint you if I started walking around like a normal person."
"I'm sure you'd find a way to make that dramatic too."
He laughed, then his eyes briefly moved over her outfit. "You dressed up."
Faye glanced down at herself. She was wearing a simple outfit, nothing particularly special.
"I always dress like this."
"I know." He looked at her again, this time with a small smile. "You just look nice tonight."
She looked at him, slightly caught off guard. "Was that supposed to be a compliment?"
"It was."
"That sounded suspiciously sincere."
"Maybe I can be sincere sometimes."
"Since when?"
"Since you started assuming everything I say is a joke."
Faye gave him a look. "Can you blame me?"
"No." He chuckled. "Honestly, not really."
She shook her head, but Ethan noticed the small smile she couldn't hide.
"You're smiling."
"I'm not."
"You are."
"It's nothing."
"That's definitely a smile."
Faye rolled her eyes. "Don't you have a game to play?"
"I'm about to." He glanced toward the court before looking back at her. "Is that Jason?"
"Yeah, my date." Ethan raised an eyebrow, as if he couldn't believe she was serious.
"He's your date?"
Faye nodded. "He asked me to come, so..."
Ethan went quiet for a moment, and Faye noticed the change in his expression.
"What?"
"Nothing." He said, then shook his head.
"You're making a face."
He let out a quiet sigh. "I just didn't expect him."
"Why not?"
"I don't know." Ethan shrugged. "I guess I just didn't picture you coming to a game with someone like him."
Faye crossed her arms. "You've talked to him, what, twice?"
"Maybe three times."
"That doesn't exactly qualify you to judge him."
"You're right. It doesn't."
"Then maybe give him a chance before deciding you don't like him."
Ethan nodded, accepting that. "Fair enough."
Faye studied him for a moment before asking, "Why do you even care?"
"I don't."
The answer came a little too quickly.
She raised an eyebrow. "Right."
"I'm serious."
"You answered pretty fast."
"Because there's nothing to care about."
"Sure."
Ethan opened his mouth to respond, but his coach called from across the court.
"Carter!"
He looked toward the court, then back at Faye.
"I should go."
"Yeah, you probably should."
He smiled and jogged back onto the court, and Faye hated that she watched him go, already knowing Ethan Carter was becoming harder to ignore.
A few moments later, the game started, and Faye couldn’t seem to take her eyes off Ethan. She hated how impressed she was as she watched him play, because despite all that arrogance and teasing, he was genuinely good, and she was starting to see a side of him she hadn’t expected.
"You're staring again."
Camille's voice pulled her attention away.
Faye quickly looked at her. "I'm watching the game."
"At Ethan."
"He's playing."
"Exactly."
Faye felt her face heat up. "So? I'm allowed to watch the players."
Camille smiled. "I didn't say you weren't."
"Then stop looking at me like that."
"Like what?" Camille laughed. “Whatever, Camille. I am watching the game."
Faye looked back at the court just as Ethan stole the ball and scored, making the crowd erupt and a proud smile slip onto her face before she quickly hid it. Then Ethan looked toward the bleachers and caught her staring, and when he winked, her heart skipped as she quickly looked away, flustered.
Camille's eyes widened before a teasing smile spread across her face.
"Did he just wink at you?"
Faye immediately looked away. "No."
Camille leaned closer, clearly amused. "Faye, he definitely did."
"He didn't."
"You're blushing."
"I'm not. Just watch the game!"
Camille laughed. "Sure."
Faye turned back to the court, pretending to focus on the game while desperately trying not to look at Ethan again.
After the game ended, Faye made her way toward the entrance, where Jason was already waiting for her.
He walked over with a small smile.
"Hey."
"Hey." Faye smiled back.
"Thanks for coming tonight."
"Of course. I had a good time."
"I'm glad." Jason glanced toward the court. "Did you enjoy the game?"
"Yeah, it was fun. You guys played well."
Jason looked genuinely happy, and Faye’s chest tightened because she really wanted to like him, she really did, yet she had spent the whole game watching Ethan instead, knowing it wasn’t fair to Jason.
When Ethan walked toward them with his basketball bag over his shoulder, she tried to look away, but her eyes found him anyway.
“Interrupting something?” Faye sighed when she heard Ethan’s voice.
She turned and found him standing beside them, looking far too pleased with himself.
“Do you ever know when to leave people alone?”
Ethan smiled. “Not when I see you talking to someone.”
Jason laughed quietly. He looked between them, clearly trying to figure out what was going on.
“You two know each other?”
“Unfortunately,” Faye said.
Ethan shook his head. “She says that, but she actually likes having me around.”
“I really don’t.”
Jason smiled. “You two seem pretty close.”
“We’re not,” Faye said quickly.
Ethan only laughed while Jason glanced at his phone and slipped it back into his pocket. “I should probably go. I’ll see you later, Faye.”
“Yeah. See you.”
Jason gave her a small wave before walking away, and when Faye turned back to Ethan, she found him still watching Jason leave.
“What?” she asked.
He smiled, but he didn’t answer. Instead, he asked, “Did you watch me play?”
Faye knew exactly what he meant. She looked away.
“No.”
Ethan’s expression changed slightly.
“You didn't?”
“No.”
He waited for a moment, as if he expected her to change her answer.
“Really?”
Faye looked at him. “Why do you keep asking?”
“I thought you watched me play.”
“Well, you thought wrong.”
Ethan nodded slowly. “Okay.”
Something about the way he said it made Faye look at him again.
“You sound disappointed.”
“I’m not.” He looked away and let out a quiet laugh. “Maybe I am. A little.”
Faye frowned. “Why?”
He shrugged, but didn't answer right away.
“I just thought you'd want to see me play.”
“Why would you think that?”
Ethan paused, searching for the right words.
“I don't know. I guess I just wanted to know if you were watching.”
Faye stared at him.
“Why would that matter to you?”
Ethan was quiet for a moment, seeming to struggle with how to answer her, until he finally looked back at her.
“Because I kept looking for you. I don’t usually take the games that seriously. If I win, great. If I don’t, it’s not a big deal to me. But today, I played well because I knew you might be watching.”
Faye froze.
“What?”
“During the game,” he said. “I kept looking toward the stands, wondering if maybe you were there watching me, not my teammates.”
He said it so simply that she didn’t know how to react, and Ethan looked away, suddenly seeming embarrassed by what he had admitted.
“I don't know. Forget I said that.”
“No.” He glanced back at her.
“You can't just say something like that and then tell me to forget it.”
A small smile appeared on his face.
“Why not?”
“Because now I want to know why.”
He gave a quiet laugh. “You're really curious, aren't you?”
“You're the one who brought it up.”
“Fair.”
Faye folded her arms. “Yeah. So you were actually hoping I was watching you play? Why?”
Ethan looked at her for a moment.
“I wanted to know if you cared enough to watch.”
That caught her completely off guard. For a second, Faye didn’t know what to say, and Ethan seemed to realize how serious his words sounded because he quickly looked away.