Page 62 of Fraternizing with the Enemy
Kyle’s teasing grin went flat in an instant. “You want to go there?”
Connor pressed a finger into his eye. “Trust me.Youdon’t want to go there.”
What was in the air tonight? And why wasn’t Jade stepping in? “Youguys.”
Kyle leaned forward. “Oh, I’m kind of thinking I do want to go?—”
“H-Hey, guys. Mind if I pull up a seat?”
Everyone at our booth looked up to find Maisie’s boyfriend standing over it. For a split second, I thought it was a joke. I really did. But once my gaze dipped to find his plate of food in one hand, his drink in the other, the realization of what he actually said washed over me like a bucket of ice water.
I looked past him toward where Maisie sat at the table, her half-eaten burger still in front of her, her expression nothing short of enraged.
Enraged and humiliated.
“Of course!” Jade grinned from ear to ear. “Squeeze next to Madison. Madison, scooch over. Kyle won’t bite.”
“No promises.” Kyle wrapped his arm around my shoulders, using the grip as leverage to tug me into his side. I nearly gagged on the stench of sweat wafting from his underarm. “But yeah, Alex man, we can make plenty of room.”
Maisie’s boyfriend—Alex, apparently—crammed himself into the booth, but at least had the politeness to not saddle up against me. “What are you doing?” Connor demanded, staring at Alex. No,glaring. “You’re here with someone.”
I couldn’t help but look at Connor closer. He said exactly what I was thinking, but that was weird. It was no secret that among everyone in the Top Tier, Connor was a bit more friendly to those not in it, but Jade was right—Connorwasacting weird.
“Oh, she’s—” Alex chuckled nervously. “She has somewhere to be.”
Sure enough, Maisie was rising from her chair. She wasted no backward glance on her crappy boyfriend before beelining to the door, which swung outward as someone opened it.
My gaze followed Maisie as she walked out, but snagged on the patch of the person who was walking in. It was a bulldog in full growl, red fabric caught between its teeth with a black pawprint as its shadow.
I was afraid to trace my way up to the wearer’s face, but when I did, I didn’t find the golden hair and blue eyes that haunted my nearly every thought.
No, that person stoodbehindthe guy who walked in first, and he was combing his hand through his golden hair when our gazes locked.
Logan.
I immediately jerked my head down, leaning back in hopes that I could disappear between Alex and Kyle. A cold sweat broke out over my skin, specifically along the back of my neck where Kyle’s arm still hung.
Connor stood from the booth, causing Jade’s head to whip up. “Where are you?—”
Connor slammed back into the seat, and for a second, I thought maybe Jade had grabbed his arm, until I noticed the figure at my peripheral. “Look who it is,” a deep voice murmured. “Brentwood. What’d you do, lose the game so quickly you got here first?”
Unable to fight it, I let my gaze pivot upward, finding three Jefferson Bulldogs standing over the table. Or, well, two. Logan stood a step behind them, hesitating to come closer. They were clearly football players—slightly sweaty with their hair sticking to their temples.
Logan scratched the side of his neck, clearly as unsettled as I was.
And then, through his lashes, he lifted his eyes to mine.
Everything in me fluttered to life.
“Seriously, though,” the first guy went on, planting his hand on our table and leaning in. “What makes you think you can waltz in here?”
Alex shrank back into me. “It’s public property,” Jade said with a huff, peering at them around Connor. Something almost like amusement glittered in her eyes. “Isn’t it, Mr. Quarterback?”
“In enemy territory.” That was the second football player, the broadest of the three. “You’re fair game.”
Kyle sat back more comfortably in the booth, peeringup at the scene unfolding with amusement. He wasn’t like Ashton, who picked fights. He wasn’t like Landon, who tried to defuse them. He just watched, enjoyed.
Logan’s gaze dropped to where Kyle’s arm hung off my shoulder, his hand relaxed far closer to my chest than I would’ve liked.It’s not what you think, I wanted to tell Logan.It’s really not what you think.
