When William reached her, her scent nearly drove him insane. She looked beautiful, even if the cold was making her look like a mess. William didn’t think anything could make her looking anything but that in his eyes.
“You made it,” he breathed out, eyes softening. “Cold?”
"'Course I did. I wouldn't miss it," Amber said with a chuckle. A cold wind blew past them, sweeping right through her hoodie. She shivered and nodded. "Yeah, a little…"
William blinked before he shrugged off his basketball jacket, gently wrapping it around Amber. He zipped it up around her without letting her slip in the sleeves. When he was done, he pulled the hoods of both her hoodie and his jacket over her head.
“There,” he murmured. “Stay warm. Don’t take it off. The match is starting, so I’ll need to go.”
Amber chuckled a bit before she realized what she was wearing. Then, her cheeks blossomed into a light pink. She was wearing his basketball jacket… People would notice and think they were dating. They weren’t dating, though. Were they?
“O-oh. Yeah, of course. Good luck out there,” she stuttered a little as she tried to get her arms through the sleeves.
William winked at her, bending down to gently press his lips to her forehead, a silent declaration that the woman before him was his. Nobody could have her.
“Don’t look at anyone else but me,” he told her. “Do you understand, Blue? If I catch your eyes on anyone but me, I’ll flick you over the forehead.”
Amber crinkled her nose and she playfully flared up at him. “I’ll watch whomever I want to watch,” she teased. “Now help me with this. I’m a little stuck.”
“Ah, good luck with it,” William smirked, looking down at her. “I’ll catch you after the match, Blue.”
He rubbed her head through the hood over her head and he walked off, going back to his team.
“Hey! That’s not cool!” Amber called after him, shaking her head with an exasperated huff. Whatever… She’d get out of it eventually.
They'd won. William felt a grin crawl up his lips as his team cheered. He turned his head to search the crowd for Amber but was interrupted by their opponents, who wished them congratulations. Caroline began to pass out the towels and the water bottles, and once she reached William, she faltered. The tall basketball player simply took his things without another word, but Caroline held on to the towel tightly. William furrowed his eyebrows as she reached out to wipe his forehead off, but William grabbed her wrist tightly, sighing.
"What are you doing, Manager?" he murmured in a hard tone, blank eyes staring at her. She flinched a little. Amber never feared him like this. If she did, she never showed it. William didn't give Caroline a moment to respond before he stepped back and searched the crowd for Amber. He barely saw her, but when he did, he simply caught her turning around to walk away. He narrowed his eyes. Where was she going?
Caroline lifted her hand to wipe William’s forehead, and Amber blinked. She’d been making her way over to him to congratulate him on the win, but now… Now she was just going to go home.
She was a fool to think he’d actually liked her. He wasn’t over Caroline, so why would he?
"I'm leaving," William muttered barely loud enough for the team to hear, and before they started protesting, he took off. Was it because of his interaction with Caroline? Didn't she – William cursed. Of course she didn't. He had never told her. He should have, but he didn't.
He contemplated calling her, but then realized his phone was in the pocket of his jacket, and his jacket was with Amber. God, he'd even given it to her, so why did she walk away?
Amber sank down into the couch when she got home. She should have gone to her room, but she didn’t really feel like she had the energy to walk the next few feet. She propped her elbows up on her legs and buried her face in her hands.
“I’m such an idiot,” she groaned.
William entered the dorm, the cold creeping up at his bare arms and shoulders. He didn't care–didn't feel the cold until he stepped inside. There she was, Amber on the couch. She still had his jacket on and had her face buried in her hands.
"Blue," he breathed out, irritation lacing his voice as he took steps towards her. "You know, you could have at least waited to talk to me before you left."
“Why, William? What is there to talk about?” Amber mumbled into her hands without looking up at him.
"Everything," William responded, bending down in front of her. He reached out to remove her hands from her face so he could look at her when his phone began to ring in the pocket of his jacket. He heaved a sigh.
Amber pulled away and took the phone from the pocket of the jacket. She handed it to William, trying not to look at the caller ID, but she still say it anyway.
Caroline was calling him…
William barely looked at the phone before he tossed it away, uncaring of where it fell. He instead focused his gaze on Amber, furrowing his eyebrows.
"What's bothering you, Blue?" he questioned though he knew exactly what it was. He just needed her to confirm it.
“That was Caroline. You didn’t want to talk to her?” Amber questioned, her expression mimicking his.
“There’s nothing I have to say to her,” William responded, forcing himself to not lean forward and kiss her. “Whatever it is, it can be said during a team meeting.”
“But… it’s Caroline. You like her,” Amber murmured, half to herself.
William sighed, running a hand through his hair.
“I think five years are more than enough,” he finally said after a moment’s silence. “I let her go. Maybe there’ll always be a part of me that loves her, but maybe my heart wants more than that. And what it wants is not the manager.”
“Oh… So earlier, when she was going to wipe your forehead…?” Amber breathed, hardly daring to look up at him.
“I stopped her because that’s not her job anymore,” William answered softly. “She’s just my manager. Nothing more than that. Do you remember the time you barged in on me while I was getting dressed after my shower?”
Amber’s cheeks reddened involuntarily. “How could I forget,” she muttered, mortified.
William shot her a smirk.
“That was the day I told her I was letting her go,” he finished. “Can you give me a few days to sort out my feelings, Blue?”
“You can have all the time in the world, William,” Amber mumbled, still embarrassed by the incident that had been brought up. She didn’t immediately register what he’d said, but when she did, she blinked. “Oh…..”
William bit back the chuckle that threatened to escape his lips. Or at least, he tried to.
“The semi-finals,” William clarified, ignoring her slip-up. He would pick on her later. “Give me till the semi-finals. Three matches, four days.”
Amber sighed and nodded slowly. She was so confused… but it would be over in a few days. Just a few more days…
“Okay. I can do that,” she said, her calm confidence slowly returning.
“Good girl,” William smiled, reaching out to pat her on the head. She didn’t like it when he did that, but that was exactly why he did it. “Now, I’m going to shower. Unless you have any objections to that…?”
Amber scrunched her nose up at him and swatted his hand away. “No, I do not. Please, go. I would like to have some alone time, now.”