Page 198 of The Wrong Play

I let out a breathless, contented laugh. “I’m looking forward to it.”

His fingers traced slow, lazy circles on my spine as he pulled me closer like I was something precious.

I turned my head, my lips brushing over the strong curve of his jaw, my heart full and steady, knowing that this…this was where I belonged.Always.

SECOND EPILOGUE

JACE

A WEEK BEFORE THE COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYOFFS

Iwiped sweat from my forehead as I jogged back into formation, my cleats digging into the grass. Practice was dragging today. Coach was in one of hisI’m trying to kill you before the playoffsmoods, and I was mostly just counting down the seconds until I could get home to Riley.

But at least I had entertainment.

“So, remember Riley’s roommate?” I started, shaking out my arms, rolling my shoulders before getting into position for the next drill.

“How could we forget?” drawled Matty, looking a bit growly that I’d even brought her up.

“She texted Riley,” I continued, ignoring his rudeness.

“What did Creepy McCreeper say?” Parker asked, sounding intrigued because he’d never actually met Emma. He hadn’t seen her staring, and he’d just heard secondhand about her femur fantasies and her love of crazy clowns…you really had to meet Emma in person to understand.

I grimaced. “She said her new roommate isn’tnearlyas interesting to watch.”

There was a beat of silence. Matty lookedhorrified. Like, full-on, flashbacks to war, thousand-yard stare, kind of horrified.

Which was fair…and appropriate consideringhe’dbeen the one stuck keeping Emma distracted while I snuck into Riley’s dorm that night.

He hadn’t been the same since.

“She—she’s texting her?” Matty croaked, like he was moments away from having a full-body shiver.

I grimaced. “Well, not anymore. Riley doesn’t even know how she got her phone number. She never gave it to her.”

Matty made a strangled noise, looking like he was reliving the moment Emma had told him—dead serious—about her fixation on the taste of human flesh.

“Riley thinks it was Emma’s attempt at being sweet…like in a ‘definitely-should-have-ended-up-on-a-true-crime-podcast’ kinda way.”

Parker snorted. “Yes, real heartwarming. I bet she’s crying herself to sleep at night, clutching the hair she probably cut off Riley’s head while she was sleeping…like it’s a long-lost love story.”

That thought wasn’t pleasant.

“There’s no way she doesn’t have a playlist dedicated to Matty—one of those dramatic, longing ones.I Will Always Love You,Under My Skin, maybeEvery Breath You Take—really good ones like that,” I mused.

Parker barked out a laugh, but Matty threw a water bottle at me.

Minus ten best friendship points right there. Per se.

Coach blew the whistle, cutting off our shit-talking, and we launched into another drill, running routes, cutting past defenders, pushing through the burn in our legs.

I wiped sweat from my neck as we reset for another rep. “Oh, by the way, I recently came into a bunch of money,” I announced.

Parker looked confused. “One of your investments?”

“It’s strange for me, because I usually just use a paper towel,” I finished.

Parker barked out a laugh, but Matty was being suspiciously quiet. Why wasn’t he paying attention to me?

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