Page 173 of Blood & Betrayals

Alice scoffs as we drop into our seats.

The campus is abuzz with people excitedly chatting about the game as we join the steady stream headed toward the stadium. Many of the students are wearing Connor’s number, but knowing that I am the only one wearing one of his actual jerseys fills me with fizzy excitement.

“Zach’s number?” I ask, glancing at the jersey Alice is wearing.

Alice smiles at me, the picture of innocence. “Huh?”

“You are so bad.” I shake my head and laugh softly.

Ashley runs up to us, her hair in a high ponytail and proudly wearing her cheer uniform. She smiles brightly. “You know, no one has ever turned us down before. Are you sure we can’t change your mind?” she asks.

I shake my head. “I think we’re more spectators. Thank you, though.”

“Summer! Alice!” Brett calls, weaving through the crowd of people outside the stadium.

Alice turns to greet Brett, and Ashley’s face goes white, her eyes flashing.

“You okay, Ash–”

“You’re wearing Zach’s number?” she asks Alice, an edge to her voice.

Alice glances at Ashley over her shoulder, reaching back to stroke the number. “Oh, yeah. Need to support my Zachy Wacky.”

Ashley’s eyes flash again, and the smile she forces onto her face looks almost scary. “Well. Go, Knights,” she hisses through her teeth before turning and stalking inside.

Brett walks around to stand beside me, watching after Ashley. “What was that about?”

I glance at him. “Nothing. Just Alice being annoying.”

“Ah, so the usual,” he says with a laugh.

Alice’s smirk of satisfaction remains firmly in place as we head inside. We’ve been given fieldside seats, and the game starts with a bang. The Morningstars dominate on the field, and Connor winks at me when he scores the first point of the game. I pull my lower lip between my teeth, knowing how that powerful body moves and feels when he focuses it on me.

“Fuck, just marry him already,” Alice groans when I blow him a kiss.

Ashley throws scathing glances at us every time Alice shouts for herZachy baby bear, and I can feel the anger in the look. Every time Zach looks our way, Alice blows him a kiss. Zach flips her off each time before glancing at Ashley worriedly. I fucking hope Alice knows what she’s doing because Ashley is seething. One thing I know for certain, you don’t want to piss off a Valkyrie.

The opposing team pushes hard, closing the gap in the score, and the game goes into overtime. Zane scores the final point, and the team piles on him. The Avalon students rush onto the field, and Connor finds me immediately, the crowd partingeasily for him. He pulls his helmet off and wraps an arm around my hips, lifting me easily.

I wrap my arms and legs around him. “Congratulations, big guy!”

He smiles brightly and kisses me deeply, high on the victory. I cup his cheeks, running my fingers up through his sweaty hair. Rafe calls his name, and he reluctantly lowers my feet to the ground.

“You coming to the party?” he asks.

“If you’re going.”

“I’m the captain, babe. I have to go,” he says with a charming grin.

“Let’s go then.”

“I’m just going to go shower.”

“Okay, I’ll meet you there?”

“You’re not going to wait on me?” Connor pouts.

I roll my eyes. “I’ll wait then.” Connor’s kiss is hard and quick before he heads into the locker room with the team.

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