Page 50 of Siren's Game

"Well, I can assure you, I have a bunch of curses in my vocabulary," I assure him. "Dickhead."

"Come on, let's get some food." He turns around and I swear I can hear him mumble, "Maybe it'll put you in a better mood."

A full belly and half a nice, cold beer later, the match finally starts and all of us line up at the glass front of the box to watch it unfold.

"I have no idea what's going on," I whisper to Reed, who's standing to my left, Asher a warm presence to my right, as we all watch what's happening on the field. I’m the only woman in this room, which sucks, but I’m quickly finding out that the Walker brothers are lovely to hang out with.

"Me neither," he admits with a soft laugh. In the window’s reflections, I can see his red cheeks without even turning to look at him and I am eighty percent sure he had a beer, or three, more than me already. "I'm only here for the vibes and I will cheer when my brothers cheer. I’m not even sure which team we’re cheering for."

"That sounds like a wonderful way to spend the evening." I giggle and clink my beer against his, then lift it to take a sip. Just in that moment I can see myself on the damned screen showing the audience and sigh.

Why can't I just watch a damned football game in peace?

But, instead of showing my annoyance, I decide to grab a new red plastic cup with beer and just down it. Maybe the more I drink, the less I will care about being on those fucking screens.

When I'm done with the cup, the camera is on some other celebrity who's not in our box and I sigh relieved, not noticing the silence that fell in the room.

"I really need another beer." I sigh and turn to get one.

Suddenly and all at once, all of the guys burst into laughter and I blink at them, utterly confused. "What’s going on?"

"Really? You're on camera and you start chugging your beer?"

"I mean, what else am I supposed to do? A handstand? Isn’t chugging your beer something you do when the camera is on you?" I tilt my head, confused as to why they find it so funny.

"It is," Asher assures me with a proud grin and I slightly relax. I almost thought I'd made a fool of myself. "Unless it's during one of the breaks when they're doing a kiss cam or something. It will say so under the live feed."

"Well, remind me to go to the bathroom when that happens," I mumble and turn around. I really need more alcohol.

As the evening goes on, the Walker brothers get drunker and even funnier than they were to begin with. They joke around, sing fan songs I don't understand in a pitch that makes my toenails curl, and scream and bump against each other when the team we're cheering on scores a point.

Apparently, it’s the one with red uniform. I definitely could have guessed that, considering I’m wearing their color.

Meanwhile, Asher nurses his lemonade since he insisted on driving, and I have decided that my second beer should probably be the last alcoholic drink for today. With the occasional camera on me, it’s probably best to not make a complete, drunk fool of myself.

"Yoo, look at that mascot!" Reed shouts into my ear and points at the giant screen.

"What is it even supposed to be?" I tilt my head and try to make sense of what I'm looking at. It’s grey and has huge ears, and it’s currently breakdancing. "Looks like a rat."

"I think it's supposed to be a bear," Asher chimes in, but Reed shakes his head.

"That's very clearly a meerkat," he says contemplatively, then he bursts into laughter. "Shit, I don't even know anymore."

"Well, whatever it is, it has some amazing dance moves," I say with a giggle.

"Look at how that butt jiggles," Reed points out between laughter, making me laugh even harder in return when I see it.

"Oh my God," I wheeze, tears springing to my eyes as I bend over, laughter making my stomach hurt.

Whenever I think I can compose myself, Reed bursts into another giggle, making me laugh in return until I'm finally too out of breath to continue. The alcohol doesn’t help either. I turn away from Reed, hoping it will help, when I see movement from the corner of my eyes.

"Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!" All four of the Walker brothers start chiming, their arms in the air and to my shock I realize Asher and I are actually on the kiss-cam and all humor leaves me at once.

Oh, come on.

I want to run away. God, I wish the ground would just open up in a hole I can jump right into. I don’t even know where it leads, as long as it gets me out of here.

But it doesn't. And I can't just turn away and run; that would mean all of this fucking charade was for nothing.

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