Page 146 of Offside Devil

Taylor has been trying to get me into color theory for years, but I never cared until now. Maybe I should wear more red.

I’m flushed and embarrassingly breathless when Zane walks down the hall with the team. His blue eyes find me in the crowd and he crystallizes. Everything else goes soft and hazy around him.

As he passes, he sweeps out an arm and tucks me into his side, pulling me into the stream of people. “There you are.”

I angle back to wave to Taylor, but she’s too busy hugging Daniel.

“Your boyfriend is the star of the game, Mira!” Davis throws a fist in the air, getting everyone riled again.

Everyone joins in—except for Carson. He’s walking fast at the head of the line like he’s looking for the closest door to bolt through.

“Where are we going?” Reeves asks when the chanting dies down. “Our kid is at Jace’s house tonight, so Jemma and I are up for anything. As long as it ends before midnight.”

Davis boos the curfew, but Nathan holds up his phone. “McTavern’s posted online that they’d pay for drinks for the team if we won by three, and I don’t know if any of you saw our wunderkind, Zane Whitaker, out there tonight, but?—”

A chant of “MVP!” erupts. The guys jostle Zane, and he tucks me closer into his side to protect me from the melee. He smells like wintergreen and body wash. I want to take a bite out of him.

“McTavern’s, it is!” Davis shouts. “Which rookie wants to be the designated driver?”

People start arguing about who it should be, but it all fades to white noise when Zane’s lips brush across my temple. “You look good in my jersey. But you’ll look even better out of it.”

“Don’t you want to go out with the team?” I ask, desperately hoping the answer is “no.”

Suddenly, Zane jerks me into a side hallway. I fall against his chest with a yelp.

The stream of people carries on without us. No one seems to notice we slipped away.

“Where are we going?” I whisper.

His mouth slips into a smile that makes my stomach flip and he takes my hand. “Come with me.”

We turn into a stairwell and Zane doesn’t let go of my hand as we climb… and climb… and climb.

“You didn’t tell me we were training to be firemen,” I pant. “I’m not wearing the right shoes for this.”

He takes me in from head to toe and sinks his teeth into his lower lip. I silently thank Taylor for dressing me tonight.

The mini skirt and heels seemed like a weird pairing with Zane’s jersey, but Taylor somehow made it work. Now, I’m very glad she did.

“You’re wearing exactly the right shoes for what I have in mind.”

Still, he tucks his shoulder and shifts me onto his back with one arm.

“I can walk!” I protest.

Or, I try to protest. It’s hard when my legs are wrapped around his broad back and I plan to cling to him like a koala if he tries to put me down.

He chuckles. “Remember that. You won’t be saying it by the end of tonight.”

Oh.

He carries me the rest of the way up like I weigh nothing, only putting me down when we reach the door. He pulls a silver key out of his pocket.

“Wow. You really have the run of this place.”

“Perks of my best friend being the equipment manager and your best friend being the owner’s daughter.” He wags his brows and pushes the door open…

To reveal an endless velvet sky.

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