Page 27 of Blood & Betrayals

Alice slides into the seat next to Rafe, throwing him a look of disappointment. “You too?”

Rafe, being an angel of few words, simply rolls his eyes and takes a bite of his burger. Alice has been trying to provoke him into a fight since Zach has taken to giving her a wide berth.

“Hey, gorgeous.” Connor winks at me, that classic boyish smile pulling at his lips.

“You again?”

Zach tuts and pulls out his phone. His thumbs fly over the screen and the distinct sound of a transaction pings.

“Thanks for the credits.” Zane smirks.

I lift an eyebrow at them, sitting in the only seat available which, of course, is next to Connor. “What was the bet?”

Zach grumbles, “I said you’d tell Connor to fuck off. Zane said you’d say you again?”

I shrug and smirk. “I like to change it up, you know?”

Luke chuckles, shooting Connor an apologetic look.

Connor playfully shoves his shoulder into Luke’s and then turns his penetrating gaze back to me. “Have you picked out an outfit for the game? I brought an extra jersey.”

Ah, the delusional hope that I’m going to just go along with this. I pop a berry into my mouth. “I’m good. I already have mine.”

“Same,” Alice agrees, slurping on her blood bag.

Rafe pauses in his eating and narrows his eyes, looking between Alice and me. Does the little brother sense my plans? Well, it’s too late to stop them now, Rafey boy.

My lips twitch slightly, but I make sure to keep the facade of innocence around my demeanor. It’s more fun if they don’t suspect.

“So, Con, are you going to kill Monto-Monster today?” Zach smirks at his older brother before taking a big bite of his burger.

“No. Why do you always think I’m going to kill him?” Connor asks. There’s a jingle of humor in his voice. Over the last few days, spending time with them all, it’s become clear how much Connor adores his brothers, but it is certainly not softening me toward him. I’m not that weak.

“Because killing is fun!” Alice answers with a creepily cute smile on her face. There’s a beat of silence around the table before everyone dismisses her comment. They’ve quickly adapted to her unhinged commentary.

“Don’t kill him.” I pick up another berry and plop it into my mouth, keeping the smirk off my face. “It would be a waste of such a hot body.”

The guys go silent again, but this time their eyes lock on me one by one. I can feel the weight of their gazes resting heavily on my shoulders.

“What did you say?” Connor asks, his voice soft but with an edge of menace. Sexy. No, not sexy. Annoying.

I look at him. “The captain from Irachmoor? He’s hot.” I shrug, secretly pleased with myself that I’ve managed to get under his skin. He’d been so unfazed by me for this last week that I had started to think nothing would get him riled.

Rafe lets out a loud laugh that makes Alice jump, and the twins gape at him in surprise. Even I turn to look at him, surprised at the sound of joy coming from the most brooding Morningstar.

Connor’s eyes narrow on me, and his smile remains, but turns sharp at the edges. Well, well, it looks like the golden boy act only goes so far. “You’re talking about Hector Montgomery. Right?”

I nod. “Yep. Alice showed me hisNexuspage. He’s so muscly…” I trail off on the final word as if picturing the captain in my head.

Alice had taken the time to give me the basic rules regarding Infinity Slam, but I’m not sure how much of that I truly retained. Sports are not my thing.

Connor blinks, and Rafe covers his mouth, his shoulder shaking as he continues to laugh. The three other Morningstars are torn between looking at Rafe in astonishment and me in horror.

“I’m muscly.” Connor crosses his arms, his muscles bulging beneath his shirt. I focus on his face, feigning an unimpressed look.

Alice bites her lip, struggling to keep a straight face.

I poke Connor’s biceps and scrunch my nose. “He’s definitely bigger than you.”

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