Page 23 of Red Zone
“You think this is real?” she scoffs. “This is you trying to get in my pants because I’m the one girl on campus who doesn’t fall at your feet.”
“Maybe,” I say. “Or I just like watching you start to crack every time I get close.”
“I don’t have any cracks, Hayes.”
“No?” I lean in, close enough for her breath to hitch. “Then why’d you stop walking when you saw that girl’s hand on me?”
Her expression flashes—brief but lethal. “I stopped because I thought I saw a cockroach.”
I grin, mean and low. “Thought you weren’t scared of anything? Including roaches.”
“I’m not normally,” she says. “But one that lives in a football house, especially one that you call home, might have something incurable.”
With that, she sidesteps me and walks away—back straight, hair swinging, every inch of her screaming composure.
But I saw the crack, and I can’t wait to break it open even more.
She wants me too.
The bell over the door chimes as I push into the coffee shop, bright-eyed and riding the post-win high like it’s game day all over again.
I spot them instantly—Madison and Lyla at the corner table. Two lattes, one shared laptop, and one tension headache in progress if Lyla’s clenched jaw is anything to go by.
I stroll right over and drop into the seat beside Madison like I was invited.
“Morning, Blakey baby,” I drawl, throwing an arm behind her chair.
“Seriously?” she mutters. Madison is the farthest thing from a morning person.
I can’t help but chuckle. “Relax. Just keeping you company while you stress about my boy.”
She sends me a glare. “I’m not stressing about Jaxon.”
“Sure you aren’t. First, I never said his name, but you just did.” I smirk, knowing I’m right. “You do realize he’s not gonna let you avoid him forever, right?”
The doorbell chimes again, and I look up right as the man himself looks over our way, his eyes landing on Madison before swinging my way, his brows pinching.
“Yo, Jax! Come sit with us.” I point toward the empty seat next to Lyla.
“Nah, man, gotta get going. Changed my mind on the coffee.” Jaxon turns around on the spot and is back out the door before I can blink.
Lyla leans in, voice low but sharp. “Why are you still sitting here?”
Madison blinks, confused. “What?”
She jerks her chin toward the door where Jaxon is already walking away. “You need to go after him. Catch up. Explain.”
“Lyla, I?—”
She cuts her off. “Mads. You can keep pretending you don’t care, but we both know that’s bullshit.”
I snort. “For once, I agree with her.”
Lyla cuts me a glare before flipping me off. “Look, I’ve watched you dance around this for weeks. You’re my friend, not my project, so I won’t tell you what to do. But I will tell you that whatever you think you’re protecting yourself from? It’s not working. You’re just making yourself more miserable.”
Madison pushes back from the table and shoots out the door, calling for Jaxon as she goes. He finally stops a few feet away and turns to face her.
“Think it’s rude to watch them?” I ask the green-eyed wonder sitting across from me.
