Page 98 of Blood Sport

“Oh, we’re here!” Candie calls from beside me, her eyes focused on the stadium as it comes into view.

Our driver drops us around the other side of the stadium where there is less traffic, and the four of us walk to the front gates. Once inside, it’s mine and Rylee’s turn to grab the drinks and food while Jaycee and Candie find our seats.

Rylee turns to me in line. “How are you doing?”

“I’m fine,” I answer with a shrug.

She gives me a deadpan look. “No, how are you really doing? Especially after the accident.”

“Oh,” I say, and chew on my bottom lip. “I’m fine. It was an accident, and neither of us got hurt.”

“I’m sure it must’ve been hard for you,” Rylee says as we take a step forward. “And I’m sorry for putting you on house arrest. Miles was very… convincing about it.”

“It’s not your fault. I know how he can be, but I appreciate you all looking after me.”

It hasn’t been an easy couple of weeks, to say the least, but I’m happy and healthy, which is all I can ever ask for. I’m just hoping that Miles will loosen the reign he has around me now that my wounds have healed and the girls are no longer keeping an eye on me.

I hate that I’ve created tension between my brother and Jaylen, but I’m also not responsible for Miles’s feelings. If he has a problem with me getting close to Jaylen, then that’s on him. I know what I’m doing and am more than capable of handling a guy like Jaylen. If our relationship keeps progressing the way it is, Miles is just going to have to get used to it. I’m not going to be his little sister forever.

“But still, I’m sorry about what happened,” Rylee says as she pats my shoulder gently. We’re now two people away from the front of the line. “It seems things are going well with Jaylen.”

I smile. “It’s getting there. I enjoy spending time with him, so only time will tell what’s going to happen next.”

“Just be careful, okay?” she warns, throwing a knowing look my way. “I don’t want to see you get hurt.”

I wave off her concern. “I always am, Ry.”

If she had said that to me a couple of months ago, I would be nodding my head and telling her that I promised to be careful because I was convinced that Jaylen would shatter my heart into tiny pieces if given the chance.

But not now. It’s clear that Jaylen wants to cherish my heart and protect it with his life. And I’m more than willing to let him do so.

“Next!” the cashier calls out, and the two of us step forward to place our order.

Minutes later with our food and drinks in hand, we head down to our usual section across from the technical area, ready to watch the first semi-final game of the season.

Jaylen

I smile at Evie’s text before slipping my phone into my gym bag. As much as I would love to continue texting her, I need to get ready for the game. After what happened last night at the hospital, I’m a little wary about going out on the field because the hunter knows who Ethan and I are now, so we’re going to be like sitting ducks in a sold-out stadium. The motherfucker could be hiding in plain sight and we wouldn’t know it.

All I can hope is that the hunter isn’t able to gain access to the stadium to hurt us. But it doesn’t mean we’re safe after the fact. From this point on, we’re fucked. All it takes is a stake through the heart—for either of us—and we’re toast. Literally. I have a good thing going for me with Evie, so I don’t want to jeopardize that.

I know most vampires tend to move around a lot as they get older and it becomes obvious that they aren’t aging like the rest of the people their age, or they’re found out by a hunter and need to flee to save their life. Right now, I don’t want to flee. I don’t want to run away. I want to kill the fucker hunting and killing the vampires in Pullman. But I can’t do it alone. I’m going to need Ethan’s help, so we need to stick together and not get caught alone.

I sigh and run a hand down my face. The locker room is filled with chatter and music blasting from a speaker. Preston insisted on playing a hype-up playlist before the game to get everyone in the mood. But all it’s doing is irritating my sensitive hearing. I can’t focus on one thing at a time because of all the noise ringing in my ears.

“Has anyone fucking seen Roman?” Coach calls across the locker room, anger dripping from his words. “It seems he doesn’t know how to answer his fucking phone when we need him! I haven’t heard from him in weeks, so if anyone knows anything about his whereabouts, you tell me right away.”

A hand on my shoulder makes me snap my head up. Ethan is standing over me with his jersey on and his hair styled back neatly with gel. He has a nervous look in his eye, one I’m too familiar with. We’re both shaken after last night.

“You okay?” he asks as he sits down on the bench next to me, placing his cleats between us.

I nod. “As okay as I can be knowing a crazy fucker is hunting us down.”

Ethan sucks in a sharp breath. “Yeah, that sounds about right.” He looks over his shoulder before leaning in closer and lowering his voice. “I see things are still tense between you and Miles.”

I look over my shoulder at where Miles is sitting across the room with Preston by his side. He’s glaring in my direction, but it’s nothing new since the accident. He has been giving me the cold shoulder for weeks, but this morning when he showed up for practice he seemed extra cold. Like hell had frozen over him or something.

“I don’t know what is up his ass.” I stand to my feet and grab my jersey out of my locker, sliding it over my head. I can’t be fucked dealing with Miles when there are more pressing matters to deal with. Like fending off a fucking vampire hunter. Fastening the captain's armband around my right bicep, I turn to Ethan. “You need to be careful out there tonight, okay? We need to be vigilant for any threat because we don’t know the identity of the hunter, so they could be hiding in plain sight waiting for their moment to strike.”

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