Page 34 of Endgame

“The necklace from your grandma? The one you love?” He made an angry sound when she nodded.

He got up. “Okay, Li. I’ve gotta go take care of something, and I will be right back. Please just hang out, and then we can go grab a bite, okay?”

“Okay,” she sniffed. Once Knight had left the room, she called Wren and gave her the update. Her response was similar to Knight’s, only with more swear words. By the time they hung up, Knight was back, the knuckles on his right hand bruised.

Lila stiffened. “Knight, what did you do?”

“What needed to be done. Bastard had it coming.”

“But that’s your throwing hand!”

“Season’s over. And, as you recall, we won our bowl game, thank you very much. Besides, I pulled it a bit. His eye’s gonna be black but not too swollen. He’s still got an NCAA championship to win.”

“Are you guys going to be okay? The last thing I want to do is cause problems between the two of you. I know you go way back.”

“This was all a part of us working it out. Trust me.” Knight’s smile was 90% brotherly concern and 10% sympathy.

“You’re a good man, Knight Patrick. One of the best I know.” She quirked a brow in his direction, “Now, when are you going to tell Wren how you feel about her?”

“You picked up on that, did ya?”

“Obviously. Though admittedly, it took a minute. Maybe more like half a second.” She winked.

Knight sighed. “I’ll tell her when she’s ready.”

“Well, let me say, on the record, that I’m shipping this whole scenario hardcore. It would be absolutely blissful if my two favorite people ended up together.”

“Noted.” Knight extended a hand and pulled Lila up to standing. “Now, before we go eat, let’s get you something for tomorrow’s party.” He held up a hand before she could protest. “You’re coming. And you’re going to have a great time.”

“Plus, you want to see Wren.”

“That is very perceptive of you.”

He held out a large Bradley U football team T-shirt that had his name and number on the back of it. “Wear this with a pair of those over-the-knee boot thingies, assuming you have some.” At Lila’s nod, he continued, “Guys will be drooling all over you.”

Lila’s mouth formed a small smile as she absorbed his enthusiasm.

“Are you going to want this shirt back, or can I modify it for fashion purposes?”

“Do your worst. I’ve got like 70 million of these.”

“Challenge accepted. Got another one I can give to Wren?”

His eyes sparked at the thought of that. “Hell yes.”

Chapter 18

“Well, if this doesn’t feel vaguely reminiscent of something we’ve done before…” Wren commented dryly as they walked into the party from the same direction they’d come from in the fall. They were both wearing the shirts that Knight had given Lila the day before, and over-the-knee boots.

Lila might have mentioned that said boots were kind of Knight’s idea, which is ultimately what got Wren into the footwear in question, though she’d never admit it out loud. His shirt was long enough on Lila that she was wearing it as a dress. Wren’s legs were too long to wear the shirt alone, so she’d paired her navy tee with a pair of similarly hued booty shorts. Knight was going to lose his damn mind when he saw her.

Julia was somewhere in the crowd with Nate, but Lila worried about seeking them out directly, given the fact she wanted to avoid King at all costs. She caught glimpses of Vicky and Dani in the crowd and waved as they weaved through throngs of people to get to where the makeshift dance floor was.

“Tonight, we dance our asses off,” Wren intoned. “I leave in precisely three weeks, and we are going to live it up until then.”

“You don’t have to tell me twice,” Lila replied with fake solemnity.

Whoever was on music duty was killing it with early aughts classics, and the friends, indeed, danced their asses off. Knight found them, his eyes almost bugging out of his head when he took in Wren in her boots, wearing his number on her back.

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