Kate immediately popped into my mind, and I groaned.
Fucking Kate McGuire.
God, had it been too much to hope that I’d never have to see her horrible face again? The girl was a damn walking scandal waiting to happen. As if I didn’t have enough shit on my plate. I dug my phone out to text Kenna and send her a warning message that Kate was back.
Had Josie run into Kate? Josie might know her, but I wasn’t stupid enough to think Kate didn’t know Brock’s girlfriend. She would most definitely take notice of the first girl Brock had ever been serious with, and I shuddered to imagine the trouble Kate would stir up.
She would do anything and everything to get in between Micah and me. Her nastiness wasn’t just about having Brock, or Grayson, for that matter, remembering how hard she’d tried to gain my cousin’s attention. Kate thrived on the chaos her actions and her tongue created.
Vile monster that she was.
After sending Kenna a quick text, I checked the time again, beginning to worry. It wasn’t like Josie was a huge football fanatic. Neither of us enjoyed the sport, but we surely enjoyed the men who played it.
Turning over my phone, I was about to send her a text when I felt a wisp of hot air on the back of my neck, causing my skin to prickle. Before he even spoke, I knew Sterling was behind me.
“I have to say, I might have underestimated your boyfriend. He moves quickly. If I remember, you like to draw out the anticipation.”
I blanched at the insinuation. “What do you want, Sterling?” Exasperation covered the spike of fear. I was proud I managed to cover it up.
“I have a gift,” he said, tugging a strand of my hair.
I’d bet twenty thousand dollars that his fucking gift would be more of a torture than it would bring me joy.
No fucking thank you.
“Funny. I have a gift for you too.” Keeping my gaze centered on the field without really seeing the plays, I lifted my hand and flipped Sterling the bird. The players were in the middle of a drill, not paying attention to the stands.
His chuckle made the hairs on my arm stand up. “This is a gift you can’t refuse, Splash.”
Turning my head to the side, I caught a flash of the dark ball cap pulled low over his eyes. “I don’t give a shit about your fucktangular problems. Take all the photos you want.”
“Who said I just had photos?” His lips quirked.
Swallowing, I smeared my cold, sweaty palms over my jean-clad thighs. “You need help, counseling or some shit. I’m sure there’s a hotline just waiting for your call.” I started to fully turn around, but Sterling’s voice stopped me.
“Keep looking forward,” he ordered. “We wouldn’t want your boyfriend to end up with a suspension so early in the term.”
It was true. If Micah caught a glimpse of Sterling, he wouldn’t hesitate to hurdle the steps and beat the shit out of him a second time in front of the coaches and his team. “Don’t pretend like you wouldn’t love that,” I sneered.
Applause came from the sporadically filled seats around me, dragging my attention back to the field. I searched for Micah, but before my eyes could pick him out from the other players huddled together, a tiny prick pierced the back of my neck. I jumped at the sudden and sharp sting.
“What the hell?” I squeaked, my hand flying to the sore spot on my nape. It felt like I’d just been stung by a bee, which, being that it was the end of summer, was completely possible, but given the devil who sat behind, the probability seemed higher that Sterling was at fault. Forgoing his warming, I whirled and glared at him. “Did you just jab me?” I spat.
Shrugging, Sterling shoved something inside his pocket. A needle, perhaps? Alarm zapped like lightning through me, causing my pulse to race. “Don’t worry. It won’t kill you. I just gave you a little something to help you relax and kick-start the party a bit early.”
“You drugged me.” Fear made my voice higher and sharper. Everything in my head went haywire as I fought against the panic surging in my veins, along with the drugs. I couldn’t believe he had the gumption to inject me with a substance in broad daylight surrounded by people! Who, I realized, weren’t paying any attention to me. I needed a level head if I had any hope of getting out of this situation.
A finger traced down the inside of my arm as I clutched the edge of the bleachers, my head spinning with confusion. “It’s more fun if you use your imagination, Splash.”
Fucking fun? Nothing about this wasfun. “I’d rather drown you in a lake.” I shook my head, wondering how long I had until the effects showed. I’d never involuntarily been forced to consume something I didn’t want. The feeling was pretty much as one would conceive. It. Fucking. Sucked.Keep calm. You need to stay calm.“You shouldn’t have come alone,” I told him, wanting to sound threatening. I doubted I succeeded on that front.
“I’m not stupid.” He shifted his gaze from corner to corner before reverting to mine. “I brought a decoy. A little distraction to keep your boyfriend busy.”
I glanced to the left and right, picking out faces in the bleachers that were semi-familiar, yet I could only pull out one or two names. It was enough to understand. Sterling had brought his fraternity brothers to the field, scattered among the stands. An intimidation tactic? If so, he needed to start taking lessons from the Elite instead of trying to best them. “I hate to be the one to break it to you, but this won’t work. I know Brock and Micah. They already have something in motion to handle this.”
An evil smirk curved on his lips. “We’ll see. Would they dare do anything with you in the middle? You might get hurt, and we wouldn’t want that.”
Son of a bitch.