Page 63 of Fraternizing with the Enemy
I reached up to grab Kyle’s wrist, planning to peel him off, when Connor got back to his feet. He stared the guy closest to him down, as if daring him to shove at him again. For a moment, I held my breath. Out of any of them, Connor was never the type to engage. “Move.” He left no room for negotiation.
“Make me,” the football player returned.
Logan grabbed the beefy football player’s shoulder. “Drop it, Jake,” he ordered in a voice that was full of authority. His quarterback voice. “Let’s go sit down.”
He held Jake back long enough for Connor to shove past him, not caring that their shoulders all but slammed together. Like Maisie, he wasted no second glance before rushing out of the diner. Like, actuallyleft. I gaped at the entrance, and through the glass windows, I could see him go straight to the parking lot.
“Wow.” The second football player scoffed. “Scaredy cat running away, huh?”
“He’s above petty fights,” she replied sweetly, tilting her head. “Apparently unlike you Bulldogs.”
“Ah, you’re callinguspetty.” Jake snorted. “After what happened last year? Rich.”
Last year. I blinked, expecting Jade or Kyle to ask what he meant, but neither did. Kyle actuallygrinned. What was it that Jade had said the other day? I’d told herNoah from Expresso’s was a Bulldog, and she’d said—“I know. You don’t remember him? From the Bobcat/Bulldog game last fall.”
In a move I was sure that was deliberate, Kyle’s hand slipped from being propped up on my shoulder to dropping over the front of me, palm nearly landing on my chest. I jumped at the brush, ready to slap him into next week, but he just jostled me closer.
Before I could start yelling, a voice cut in—steady, low, and certain. “You should watch your hands.”
Both Bobcats and Bulldogs froze, heads swiveling toward Logan. He’d spoken to Jake a second ago, but the quiet authority in his voice was stronger this time. He stood at the back of the pack, tall and unshaken, his eyes locked only on Kyle.
Kyle gave a little chuckle. “Me?”
“You’re the only one at the table whose hands are filthy.” Logan’s jaw ticked, but his voice stayed calm, deliberate. His expression was controlled, but the fire in his eyes betrayed him. “You’re going to get her top dirty.”
I looked down at where Kyle’s grimy fingers grazed my white cheer uniform. There was still dirt underneath his nails from the game.Jealous of you sitting on his knee? Of his hand on your waist?Logan had said.I’m surprised you couldn’t tell.
“Her top,” Kyle echoed with a scoff. “And you care, why?”
“Because he’s heard of a thing calledrespect,” I chimed in before Logan could say anything else, grabbing Kyle’s wrist and tearing his arm off. I then shoved at Alex’s side. “No one here’s ever heard of personal space, apparently. And that goes for you, too.” I shot Jake a dirty look.
The Bulldogs seemed to decide one dweeb, two cheerleaders, and a smelly defensive lineman weren’t worth the trouble. “Text your boyfriend and tell him I’m waiting for him to come back inside, if he decides to grow a pair.”
Jake directed the last bit at Jade, who simply raised her eyebrows at his demand. With a last scathing look, the two Bulldogs went over to a table furthest from us. Logan followed, with only a beat of hesitation that no one else probably caught. But I did.
“I’ve never seen a rivalry up close,” Alex breathed, all but clutching his pearls. “Is it always like this?”
Kyle folded his arms over his chest. “WheredidConnor go?”
“No idea,” Jade said, but I knew the cogs in her brain were turning. She turned to Alex. “You can have his shake. You like chocolate?”
My shoulders were still stiff, body locked in tension. Logan sat behind me, making it impossible to glance at him without being obvious about it. Was he looking at me? Looking at how close Kyle sat to me?
“I bet that felt good,” Jade said to me, our gazes locking from across the table. “Hearing him defend you.”
My stomach dropped. I shot Alex—who no doubt would submit a Brentwood Babble submission the second he got home—a quick glance. “Jade.”
“It’s always nice hearing someone defend you,” she went on, eyes glittering. “Even if it’s a stranger.”
“I guess.”Obvious much?
“He seemed a littletoointerested, didn’t he?” Kyle mused thoughtfully, giving me a sidelong glance. “You sure you don’t know him, Mads?”
“She’s sure,” Jade answered for me, looking over myshoulder. No doubt at Logan. I couldn’t read her. I couldn’t get my brain to work fast enough.
Our milkshakes came out, but I felt far too nervous to even stick my straw into the ice cream. Alex happily slurped down Connor’s chocolate shake, though, chatting with Jade and Kyle. They seemed to be listening, or at least pretended, but I didn’t. I was too preoccupied with the constant crossroads I found myself at.
And the fact that Logan sat literally a few feet behind me. How were we always crossing paths? Was this the universe’s way of trying to get the truth to come out?
