Page 35 of Rules of the Game

She sniffed and raised her chin, her smile dipping slightly on the ends. “You can play on Lucas’s team. You won’t have to worry about switching.” She walked backward to where Alex stood.

“What, why?” I followed her as she moved, unable to shift my focus.

“Because you won’t score anyway.” Her voice was sly, and a mischievous grin grew across her face.

Jax choked on a laugh. “Fuck off.”

“Don’t worry. I’ll have no problem backing that up. You don’t mind if we start with the ball, do you? Since we’re one man short and all?”

I didn’t trust her sweet tone, but what the fuck was I supposed to do? I tossed her the ball and took my position on the opposite side of the net. Jax stood beside River, and I took the defensive position at the back.

Piper dropped the soccer ball to the ground and gave me one last smile before taking off.

We all had a foot on her. You’d think that would be an advantage, but she dipped and swooped around us like it was nothing. I beat her to the posts, positioning my body in the way, but she did some kind of fancy spin move and easily deked around me, scoring the first goal.

“That’s one!” Alex whooped and messed up her hair with a giant hand.

My heart pounded in my chest at the look of victory in her eyes. Her cheeks flushed with the heat of kicking our asses. “That’s your only one, Killer.”

She laughed, her body relaxing into it, and it wrapped around me. It had been entirely too long since I’d heard that sound. I used to go out of my way to hear it.

“Okay, sure. Your ball.” She tossed me the ball and trotted backward, giving us room, then adjusted herself into a ready position—knees slightly bent, hands forward, lifted onto the balls of her feet. My pulse rushed through my ears as adrenaline pounded through my veins, kicking every competitive instinct into gear.

She was ready, and I desperately wanted her to chase me.

Jax took off down the right, kicking the ball in front of him. She took the bait, cutting him off, but once she was in touching distance, he passed it over to me. It was like she forgot we played a competitive sport.

She turned to me with a giant smile, and shock registered through me. What the fuck. My body slammed into the brick wall that was Alex, and I bounced back, losing my footing. He easily stole the ball while I stood fucking stunned.

She’d set me up.

River was in goal, ready as Alex ran toward him, and Jax got in between him and the net. My breath hitched, spotting Piper at the corner wide open, dancing on her toes. We were fucking idiots.

My legs burned with the effort to get to her and provide coverage, but they made their move. Alex passed it to her in the air, and she did a spectacular air kick fucking thing that defied gravity.

I hovered over her prone fallen form, sucking in deep breaths, and panted. “Where the fuck did you learn that?”

“Oh, you liked that, did you? Spent last summer practicing in Spain.”

Her lie stung, and I looked away before reaching down. “Come on, you’ve got three more before you can celebrate.”

She let me haul her to her feet and brushed the grass off her leggings. “It’s going to be a short game. You might want to play best two out of three.”

* * *

Jax collapsed down beside where I was already on the ground, panting. He looked over to me. “How the hell does she have that kind of endurance?”

“Fucking Energizer Bunny.” I poured water over my head before sucking back half the bottle.

“Hell yeah, Pips.” Alex spun a laughing Piper into the air as they celebrated their win.

My teeth clicked together when his hand dropped to her waist before setting her down. River was at his side, saying something to Alex, but his voice was too low to make it out.

Fucking quiet bastard. Alex turned away with a small smirk.

Piper crumpled to the ground and took the water River handed her. She swallowed several gulps before pointing the end at us. “You made that too easy.”

“Easy there, Pips. Our egos are already bruised enough.” Jax held up his hands in surrender, but a devious smile brought out his dimples.

---