Page 17 of King of Violence

What the fuck is wrong with me? Normally I’m Mr. Suave, but with Felix...

“I’ll think about it,” Felix says. He nods and turns on his heel.

“I’ll text you the address!” I call out too eagerly.

Felix raises his hand in response and disappears into the sea of people.

???

The locker room smells like sweat and victory. The echoes of clapping and shouting from the stands still resonate in my head, but now it’s just us—teammates, friends, brothers. The weight of the game is behind me, the tension in my muscles giving way to relief. We pulled it off. Another win. Another notch in the belt. But as I sit on the bench, peeling off my pads and wiping the sweat from my forehead, I keep wondering if Felix will actually show tonight.

I can’t help it. Every time I close my eyes, I see him standing in the stands, his cool, focused gaze following every move I made. It’s like I’ve never played with so much intensity before, like every play was about impressing him more than beating the other team.

But why?

Why does his opinion matter so much? He’s just a guy…a guy who hardly talks to me, a guy who barely gives me the time of day. But I can’t stop thinking about him. It’s frustrating as hell. And I’m trying not to show it, trying not to let it slip, but the more I try to push the feeling away, the more it lingers.

I finish changing into my street clothes and am tying my shoes with more force than necessary when I hear footsteps behind me.

“Great game out there, man.”

I turn to find Cole standing there, his big frame blocking the light from the door. He’s one of the team’s star players, and even though we’ve been friends for a while, there’s always a bit of distance between us.

Cole smiles, clapping me on the shoulder with a force that almost knocks me off balance. “You really came through when it counted. You were on fire out there, Julian. You know it.”

I give him a half-hearted grin, nodding. “Yeah, I guess. I wasn’t exactly playing my best at first, but we got the win.”

Cole raises an eyebrow. “Man, you always say that. You were great. And you know what? I was thinking...after all the stress of that game, we should celebrate. Just the two of us. Maybe grab a drink, or even just hang out somewhere quiet. You know, let off some steam.”

I look at him, unsure. Cole’s been a friend on the team, but beyond that, I’ve never really felt a connection. His flirtations—if you can call them that—have always seemed surface-level to me. I’ve never felt the need to get closer, even if he’s the kind of guy who has a way of drawing people in.

But I can’t ignore the undercurrent of something else in his voice. It’s subtle, but it’s there…something more than just the camaraderie of two guys celebrating a win.

“Thanks, but I’ve got that party tonight, remember?” I say, my voice steady but firm. “But, uh...I’ll see you there?”

Cole’s face twitches just slightly, like he wasn’t expecting me to turn him down. But he recovers quickly, his smile still in place, even though it’s not quite as wide as before.

“Right, yeah, no problem,” he says, but I can tell it’s forced. He clears his throat and glances away, his eyes flicking over to the door as if he’s looking for someone else. “Guess we’ll catch up later, yeah?”

Not the catching up he was planning on doing. “Sure, man.”

Cole gives a half-wave and walks off, but the tension still hangs in the air. There’s a subtle change in the way he’s acting, and I’m not sure what to make of it. Maybe it’s nothing. Maybe I’m just reading too much into things. But the brief look he gaveme before leaving, the way he glanced toward the door—it felt almost like he was looking for someone else.

I let out a breath and head for the exit. I don’t have time to deal with this right now, not with everything going on in my head.

???

I need to get drunk. Immediately.

I throw back a shot, trying to ease my obsessive need to watch the door. The air of my loft is thick with laughter, music, and conversation. Lewis stands at the door, making sure no students with shady backgrounds get in. I don’t need snitches at my party.

The adrenaline of the game still pulses through my veins, but as the noise continues to swirl around me, I find myself growing restless. The buzz of the crowd is soothing, but not enough to drown out the thoughts racing in my mind. Girls throw themselves at me. Guys are trying to befriend me, but I simply do not care. There’s only one set of eyes I want to meet tonight.

Where is he?

“Jules.”

My name startles me, and I turn around to see Elijah. He’s wearing black slacks and a silky button-down. Lipstick is smudged on his neck.

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