Page 30 of Rivals

Weston smirks and shrugs. “No sweat, Thorn. Although you should be aware she’s had a few drinks already.”

My lips tip up. Good. Not that I want her inebriated, but a buzzed Riley tends to let her feelings out more than a sober Riley. Making my way through the crowd, I post up on the back wall where Carter is hiding out from his fan club. Leif is busy playing pool and nods his head in my direction. With the season in full swing, I won’t be drinking, but I cradle a bottle in my fingers anyway while keeping my sights on my girl. Her eyes flicked briefly to me, and I felt that sear of her gaze burn through my body and flare in my chest. It was quick, and now she’s back to pretending she’s alone with just her girls on the dance floor while I stare down any of the Public assholes who think they can get closer to her. Nah. She’s mine. None of them will get close enough to touch her.

Riley and her friends stay close and keep dancing, like nothing in the world is bothering them. I continuously keep checking on them, which is its own brand of torture. My girl can dance. And every time she twists, her shirt rides up a little higher, exposing more of the soft skin of her torso. With every sway of her hips to the beat, I can feel the blood heat in my veins. It’s torture keeping my back on the wall, and my fingers tighten around the bottle I’m holding. Thankfully my brain seems to understand that she needs this time with her girls. Even though she was trying to hide from me, she’s in my sight now. I can be calm, breathe, and know she’s leaving with me whether she fucking wants to or not.

When more of my team members start to trickle in, the room gets more crowded and for the first time I notice Riley’s eyes flicker around the room and her teeth clamp on her lower lip like she’s nervous. Awareness skates down my spine and my eyes search out who she’s looking at. He’s a junior and wasn’t talented enough to make varsity, but his father was able to pad some wallets and he managed to get a starting spot on junior varsity. He’s also on our list should any of our starters ever be hurt. She can’t be interested in him?

My eyes swing back to Riley and she’s looking at the ground. I notice one of her friends, the girl with the striking blonde hair, touches her arm in a reassuring way. No, she isn’t interested in him. She has that look on her face when she’s worried and not sure how to act, and it’s clear she would rather be anywhere else right now.

“Who’s that junior player over there?” I ask Carter and tilt my head in the guy’s direction.

Carter’s brow lifts when I ask, but he glances over anyways. “Ah, Hunter Tomichos. He’s a center forward on the JV team.”

I nod, already knowing that piece of information. “Anything to be worried about?”

Carter glances at me and shrugs. “Nothing notable. Other than he’s heading this way.”

My head snaps up and sure enough Hunter and his friends are heading over. He has a smile on his face that looks as phony as his stride. I push my back off the wall, not trusting him. Riley finally stops moving and edges off the dance floor when she notices what’s going on.

“Yo Thorn.” Hunter raises his voice, making sure I can hear him, as well as everyone in our vicinity. I notice the slight slur in his voice but let it go.

I keep all emotion off my face, letting my eyes land on him, sizing him up. Even with him being drunk, my instant hostility puts a little dent in his ego because his grin falters, as do his steps, like he’s contemplating if he made the right move walking over.

“Hunter.” I say his name, with zero emotion or recognition. His smile disappears completely and a red tinge lights up his cheeks.

“No reason to scowl, Thorn.” He tries laughing it off but the sound quickly dies.

“Why are you over here then?”

One of his friends laughs but quickly covers it up. Hunter’s neck is beat red, the color climbing higher and higher to his face. “Just here to talk about a challenge if you’re interested.”

Riley freezes in place and her gaze falls on me. I don’t have to look to know that I have her full attention and that something about the guy in front of me is causing her distress.

“I don’t just take challenges without knowing what the stakes are.”

His beady eyes look over at my girl and I instantly know two things. One, this has to do with Riley and her jumpy as fuck behavior and two, I’m going to beat his ass for even looking at her.

“A chance for revenge,” he says and my eyes narrow on him. “After all, Thorn, it’s not like you could actually care about the Pirate bitch, right?”

He laughs, his glassy eyes looking around, waiting for everyone to join him in his taunts against Riley. The very girl whose face is pale, and her eyes widen, looking directly at me. I can practically hear her screaming at me, begging for answers. I hand my bottle to Carter who whistles under his breath before stepping closer to Hunter.

My voice lowers. “No one gets to talk about her that way.”

His eyes widen and he drags his dry tongue across his lip, contemplating. “It’s not like you’ve actually claimed her though. You never do girlfriends and especially not during the season. I’m thinking you want revenge for how she fucked you over and I can help you get it.”

My head tips to the side and I let my gaze wander over to my obsession. She’s watching carefully. Waiting to see my response and it all makes sense now. Her questions from the other night, missing my game today. I hold her eyes, and read all the confirmation I need from her. My chest squeezes when I see how close to tears she is. “I don’t do girlfriends.”

Hunter nods enthusiastically, his face lighting up, like I just proved his fucked-up version of events right in his mind. “That’s exactly what I told that puck whore, man. So how about it? Challenge accepted, put her in her place?”

Blood sprays from his nose in the next second when my fist collides with his face. Once his shock wears off, he swings at me, but I’m able to dodge and land a few more hits, sending us both crashing into the pool table. I’m vaguely aware of Carter trying to peel me off him, while his friends are trying to get his body out from under mine. All I can hear is my own heartbeat pulsing in my veins as I hit him over and over for calling Riley a whore. For insinuating that she means nothing to me, and that he thought he had the right to talk to her.

“Enough, Reign.” Leif and Carter finally get me off of Hunter, his body passed out on the floor of the basement. I’m breathing heavily and even my best friends are eyeing me warily.

They get me to my feet before I shrug them off. Weston makes his way over and looks from the passed-out prick on the floor to my bloody knuckles. “He talks too much.”

A laugh escapes me and Weston claps my shoulder before turning to Hunter’s friends and ordering them to clean him up off the floor and get out of here. Pulling my beanie from my head, I slide my fingers through my hair, willing the riot in my chest to settle before I look for Riley. She was there the entire time, her lips parted and eyes wide while I beat the shit out that prick for her. I then saw her slip away from the crowd when Weston came over. Searching out her friends, I make eye contact with the girl with curly hair who points toward the ceiling. With a nod of thanks, I slip through the crowd and take the stairs up two at a time. I need to get to her. She also shouldn’t be trying to drive after having the drinks she did.

The air is crisp when I get outside so I instantly tuck my hands in the pocket of my hoodie. I see Riley is almost to the road, with her arms wrapped around her body, and for the second time tonight, I see red. She’s walking. It’s freezing out and she doesn’t even have a jacket. More than that, she’s running away to put space between us and that pisses me off. Jogging across the yard, I reach her easily, my hand catching her arm and turning her body to mine. I just need to feel her, to see her, for this whole fucking night to be better.

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