Page 23 of Blood & Betrayals

Alice lays her head on my shoulder. “I shouldn’t have stabbed him. Right? He just took me off guard.”

I snort. “Next time, stab his brother.”

Alice lifts her head, jabbing me in the side. “But youlooooooooooovehim.” Her phone alerts, and she grabs it from the table and opens the notification. “Oh, look, a new follower.” Her smile turns catlike. “Oh, I wonder whoConnorMorningstaris. Probably trying to find your name.” Alice clicks on his profile and quickly blocks him. “Not through me, bird brain.”

I burst out laughing at the pet name. “Well, that works.”

Alice tracks the profiles of his brothers. “I better block his clan, too. By the way, can we talk about their poor mother? It looks like they’re all enrolled here, so they must be like,” Alice counts on her fingers, frowning up at the ceiling as she calculates. “Holy fuck, some of them must be less than a year apart.” She blocks Luke, Rafe, and Zane but pauses when she gets to Zach’s account. Instead of pressing the block button, she selects the option to send him a direct message.

I chuckle at the message, and then Alice blocks him, too. “Yeah, their poor mom. She had five kids, five boys, five huge boys!”

Alice grimaces, squeezing her thighs together. “My box could never.”

“Fuck, I know. Luke, the youngest one, seems sweet. He seems different from his brothers.”

“Yeah, I’ve heard that healing is a super rare angelic ability.”

“Well, Rafe is still my favorite.”

Alice snickers. “Because he hates you?”

I shrug. “He’s all angry and broody. Definitely my type.”

Alice pouts, sticking out her lip. “But I’m your angry friend.”

I laugh. “You are unhinged. Rafe isI don’t give a fuckangry.” I take another bite of my pizza, my stomach having finally settled. “You’re coming to the game with me on Friday, right?”

“Well, duh.” She smirks wickedly. “Want to piss off lover boy?”

I quirk a brow, intrigued. “What do you have in mind?”

Alice lets out the most malevolent cackle I’ve ever heard, and it only makes me appreciate her more. “I’m thinking we get some jerseys to support…” she pauses for obvious dramatic effect, “the opposite team.”

I grin. “Abso-fucking-lutely.”

Alice claps her hands together excitedly and grabs her phone. She starts researching the game and stores where we can buy custom jerseys.

“We should get them big and wear them as cocktail dresses.”

Alice gives another maniacal laugh, typing away. “Connor is the captain of the Avalon team.”

“Okay, I have so many ideas. We need the name of the captain of the opposing team. I’m going to write it on my cheeks.”

“There are so many articles about the rivalry between the two schools. This is going to be so fucking delicious.” Her thumbs are a blur as she types into her phone, her eyes darting over the screen. “We’re playing Irachmoor Academy. Their team captain is Hector Montgomery.”

I grimace at his name. “Is he at least hot?”

Alice pulls up a photo of him and turns the screen toward me. “Maybe in a hulking brute kind of way, I guess.”

I tilt my head, considering. “I can work with that.”

Alice smirks, ordering two of the jerseys in Irachmoor dark green, both withMONTGOMERYin large white letters on the back. “Oh, man, I can’t wait to see his face.”

“I doubt he’ll want to go to the party with me after this.” I chuckle, proud of us for thinking of such a petty and ridiculous way to get to the oldest Morningstar.

Alice holds out her hand. “I’ll take that bet.”

I narrow my eyes. “Five credits and… coffee for a week?”

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