“Would like to see you try, Cirillo. When I find where you’re hiding your girl, I’ll make sure the only one she’s celebrating with tonight is me.”
My shoulders square as I take a step toward him, but a hand clamps down on my shoulder, pulling me back.
“Focus,” Seb snaps in my ear. “I’m not playing the rest of the fucking season without you, man.”
“You got it,” I agree, turning to take up my position, ready for the whistle.
* * *
The game is fucking hard, and it’s not helped by Thompson’s intimidation tactics. More than once he almost taunts me into the fucking fight he’s gunning for. But I refuse to give into him, to allow him the satisfaction of watching Coach end my Knight’s Ridge football career early.
Football has pretty much been the only thing I’ve ever had for myself. Everything else in my life is dictated by my father, by the Family. And I fucking need it. I need it almost as much as I need her.
My eyes find the Knight’s Ridge supporters once more as we wait for All Hallows to throw the ball in.
I’ve already found Stella and Calli right at the front, both wearing their Knight’s Ridge shirts and shouting and screaming for us. Hell, I’ve even spotted Teagan, Sloane, and Lylah cheering us on. But I never find her.
Each time I look up, a little bit more of the hope I was secretly holding onto that she might come to support us, not just me but Seb and the others as well, withers and dies.
Maybe she really doesn’t care.
Maybe everything the past few days was just her getting me out of her system and she really stands by her parting words to me on Monday. That she really believes there’s nothing to be salvaged between us.
I’d really hoped after last night that things were turning a corner. The way she reacted to me despite me being miles away in the warmth of my own bedroom, I really thought it might just be the start of a new us.
Well, it seems the joke is on me because she’s not here.
“You might as well stop looking, Cirillo. We both know your girl is waiting in our locker rooms, ready to suck me off after we beat your arses out here.”
“Fuck you,” I hiss, walking away from him, refusing to allow him to ruin this entire experience for me.
“Nah, I’m much more of a pussy guy. I’d totally let you watch though as I slowly pushed my co—”
I’m on him before he even realises, my fingers curling in his shirt as I hold him in place, our noses almost touching, our heaving breaths mingling between us.
“Cirillo,” Coach barks behind me as I try to convince myself not to take this fucker to the floor.
“Go on,” he taunts. “You’ll make my night so much sweeter.”
My eyes hold his, but then some movement over his shoulder drags my attention away from the fuck in front of me.
All the air rushes from my lungs the second my eyes land on her.
She’s here.
She came.
Releasing Thompson, I shove him away from me, the force of it making him stumble, but to my disappointment, he doesn’t fall on his arse.
Looking back up, I find her again standing with her leather jacket wrapped around herself as if she’s freezing, standing out here watching us.
The need to run over and wrap my arms around her, to warm her up and take her away from everyone here so it can just be the two of us burns through me.
But then she leans to the side and an arm wraps around her shoulders, tugging her into his body.
“Motherfucker,” I spit.