Page 70 of Scrum Heat

He likes to talk a big talk, likes to mock even though I know first-hand that he can’t back it up as well as he’d have everyone believe. His mouth has been running a lot since the new season started, especially now that Alderbridge is getting press again.

Now thatwematter. Now thatshemade people care about us.

He doesn’t get to take that from Frankie. Not the spotlight, not the buzz, not the pride she’s already building around this team in such a short space of time, with only a phone, her bare hands and that perfect mouth.

God, thatmouth.

I’ve been thinking about her more than I probably should. And yeah, I’m not exactly starved for attention around here. I could snap my fingers and have any omega—or beta, hell, even an experimental alpha—climbing into my lap faster than Rory shuts down compliments.

But none of them are her.

None of them challenge me. None of them flirt back and then pretend it never happened. None of them blink at my compression shorts and makethatface.

Frankie plays it cool, but I see her. Iknowshe wants me—never mind because she fainted at first sight, but from the way her eyes drop to my mouth when I talk, the way she snaps back at my teasing and then turns pink from the neck up.

But she’s guarded and careful. I swear I can smell the hesitation in her scent sometimes, and I’d never rush her, never make her feel cornered—

But god, if she gave me the green light? If she looked at me andreallysaid “yes”?

I’d bond to her so fast I’d break the speed of scent.

I’d knot her into next week and send MarcusfuckingVale flowers from our honeymoon.

I would bring her into our pack without a second thought, because she already feels like ours. She already feels likemine.

And I don’t even need her heat to prove it.

But for now, I flirt. Iwait. I let her catch me shirtless in the hallway or stretching in ways Iknowmake her twitch. I steal her snacks and wink when she scowls. I find her clothes in the laundry, press them to my face like I’m not fully addicted, and drop them back in her room before she notices they’re missing.

I wait, but I don’tstop.

She gets time, but that doesn’t mean I have to behave.

And the longer this builds? The more this tension claws its way under my skin—her scent on my hoodie, her laugh echoing downthe hallway, the way she bit her lip the last time we passed in the kitchen like she didn’t trust herself not to say something filthy?

It’s driving me insane, in the best fucking way.

Which brings me back to Marcus.

Because all this tension, all this instinct I’m sitting on like a live wire, all thisneedwith nowhere to go… Yeah. That’s about to becomehisgoddamn problem.

He thinks we’re just some backwater pack of second-string alphas and betas with a pretty girl behind a livestream and no real bite.

He thinks the game this weekend will be easy.

He thinks I’m the same kid he used to sneer at across the debating stage, the one with the nervous tells and a politician’s shadow hanging over his head.

But I’ve changed, and I’ve got something to fight for now.

Because Frankie’s not just part of the team: she’s part ofus. And she doesn’t deserve to be targeted.

Not for doing her job. Not for being good at it. Not for beingseen.

I’ve been digging. I might not be the most tech-savvy alpha in the house, but I’ve got contacts. My dad taught me one useful thing—how to find dirt.

And thanks to his role in office, I have plenty of access to tech guys, law interns, and junior aides with clearance and something to prove. They’re all the kind of people who either want to look good to him, who owe me favors, or who just want to piss off the right families for the wrong reasons.

So far, we’ve figured out that the comments are coming from a few dummy profiles. There’s no trace of names, no attached emails or IPs that can be traced—yet.

---