Page 159 of Saving the Halfback

Silent tears rolled down my cheeks.

I wasn’t sure how long had passed, but the tears stopped, and I wiped away what was left before I returned to thinking about the game. Slowly, I began hearing whispers around me. “Don’t wake her up,” Nolan said.

“She’s not sleeping,” Ethan told him.

“Yeah, that’s not her sleep face,” Chase chimed in.

“I find it disturbing you guys know what her sleep face looks like,” Nolan said.

“Jealous?” Chase asked smugly.

“Stop teasing,” I mumbled. I sat up, wiping my mouth. “Sorry for drooling on you,” I said to Ethan.

“It’s okay. What were you thinking about?”

“You, creaming some guys on the football field.”

His chuckle was low and comforting, causing some of the tension to ease from my body.

“It put me in my happy place.”

“Shut up,” I heard Lachlan say. I looked over, not too surprised he was talking to Hadley.

She looked up from her phone. “I’m just saying, what is the hype? You all act like she's a golden princess.”

I shivered. I never wanted to be anyone’s princess…ever.

“Fuck, are we there yet? We should have driven ourselves,” he grumbled.

Want to switch?” I asked him. Lachlan shook his head, taking his earbuds out of his backpack and sticking them in his ears.

It wasn’t much longer before Lachlan jumped. “Keep your damn hand on your seat. There is a line.” I didn’t like the tone in his voice, and I wasn’t the only one. Chase stood up, but I was on my feet first. “What?”

“Move,” I ordered Lachlan, pointing to the seat.

“Gladly.” Hadley shifted out of her spot and practically crawled across Lachlan’s lap. He pulled away from her, plastering his body as far into his seat as the cushion would allow. He looked physically pained. “No touching now,” she whispered in a sultry voice, wiggling her ass.

I’d had enough. I grabbed Hadley by her ponytail and yanked her off him. With a yelp, she scrambled into the aisle, and I released her.

“Girls! Please remain seated. We have one more hour before our pit stop,” Coach yelled.

“Don’t touch me, Farm Girl,” Hadley whispered as she sat down next to Ethan. Before I could do anything else, Lachlan grabbed hold of my hips, pulling me down onto his lap.

“You know, forcing yourself on a guy is no different than when some creep guy forces themselves on a girl,” I informed her.

“Says the girl jumping to like ten different guys. Does Nolan know about the two of you?” she snarked. “Now who’s forcing themselves on him?” She nodded to Lachlan.

I looked down at him. Lachlan had his arm resting on the armrest and his face buried in his hand. I softly touched his cheek, and he jumped before looking up at me. “You okay?” I asked. He didn’t take his earbuds out, just wrapped his arms around my waist and buried his face into my side. He was practically vibrating, holding himself back from doing something he didn’t want to do.

“Oh, please, I was just getting out from beside him. He should be grateful I even bumped into his creepy ass. You’re just jealous that he probably enjoyed it too much.”

I lunged for her at the same time Chase called, “Lachlan!” He must’ve seen the fury on my face, because I was going to rip this mofo to shreds. Lach’s arms tightened around me like a vise, andthere was no getting up. He moved the armrest beside him and pulled me over, so I was sitting on the seat next to the window.

My legs were still across his lap when he moved to pull back, but I held him still, my eyes inspecting his face. His eyes were glacial, his lips hard and tight. I reached up and pulled one of his ear buds out and slipped it into my ear. The music was blaring so loud, I wasn’t sure how he didn’t burst an eardrum. It was some sort of heavy metal music. I wasn’t familiar with any heavy metal bands.

So, he hadn’t heard Hadley and likely hadn’t heard Chase, either. He’d just grabbed me when he felt me jump. “You’ll hurt your ears,” he said, pulling out the ear bud.

“Can I kiss you?” I asked.

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