Page 76 of War

Madi was equally pissed. We were lucky that the fight occurred during the pregame, which wasn’t being televised. And that it happened so quickly that fans didn’t have time to start recording on their phones before it was over. The Langfields destroyed all footage from the arena, and Sara has spent the last twenty-four hours spinning it as nothing more than a slight disagreement between teammates rather than an unhinged captain sucker punching his friend.

To say this team is a family is an understatement. It’s the family I haven’t had since I lost my mother. The family I’m not quite sure I deserve.

Hall eyes me but doesn’t even turn his head.

I sigh, ready to grovel—I’ve been informed by Lennox and Sara that it includes wooing and flowers and oral; I told them I’d handle groveling when it came to my teammates, thank you very much—when my phone lights up with a FaceTime request from Brayden. I hold out a finger to Hall and swipe the screen to answer.

Rather than Brayden, I’m met with Josie’s bright smile. “Hey, Tyler.”

At the sound of her voice, all my teammates perk up. Everyone in the Bolts universe loves Josie.

I lean back on the couch in the open area of the locker room and focus on my girl. “Hey, fighter. You steal Bray’s phone?”

She looks adorable with her hair in a bun on top of her head. “Yeah,” she chirps. “After I told him my story about dance, he said I could call you.”

Bray is hovering behind her now, wearing a shit-eating grin, his eyes practically glowing with delight.

My stomach knots. What the hell happened at dance?

Hall leans closer, and his face appears in the little box in the corner of my screen. “What happened at dance, Jos?”

“My instructor invited Ava to class, and she danced with me.”

At the sound of her name, my heart thumps a little wildly. She was fast asleep when I finally got Scarlett down the other night, and she was already gone when I woke up. She’s avoiding me after what happened, I know that, but she can’t do it forever. Not that I have a clue what I’ll say when we see each other again.

“That’s fun?—”

“Yup, Monsieur Benoir even asked her to dance with him after class.”

“Wait.” Hall reels back, then tilts the phone in his direction. “Your dance instructor is a man?”

I grip the phone harder and pull it back toward me. “What else did he say?”

Brayden’s lips are pressed into a tight line, but he’s chuckling behind Josie, who is completely oblivious to my internal meltdown. “He told her how pretty her plié was and said he can’t wait to work onher tech”—nose scrunched, she looks off to one side—“What’s the word?”

“Technique,” Brayden mumbles. “He said he couldn’t wait to work on her technique tomorrow during her one-on-one class.”

Heated fury sparks to life inside me. “Herwhat?”

Josie pouts. “She said I can’t come because I have school.”

“We’ll see about that,” I grumble.

Josie’s green eyes fly wide. “I don’t have to go to school?”

Beside me, Hall shakes with silent laughter.

I swallow back my anger and affect a neutral tone. “You have to go to school. I just—” Flustered, I blow out a breath. “Is Ava around?”

“She’s making dinner with Hannah.” This from Brayden. “They’re having girl talk. Pretty sure it revolves around the ballet instructor. Lots of giggling going on over there.”

Brayden is enjoying this far too much. The damn grin on his face is just as big as Hall’s.Assholes.

“Good luck tonight.” Josie interrupts my train of thought, reminding me that we have an actual game in a few hours and I need to focus. “Will you be home tomorrow?”

My heart momentarily melts for this little girl. “Yeah, mon chou.” I sigh. “Be good for Ava and Maria, yeah?”

“Okay, bye.”

---