“N-nothing, I didn’t mean… I shouldn’t have said that.” Her expression fell. “I don’t care what he thinks. But he could make things difficult for her. For them.”
She wasn’t talking about Celeste and Zane. She was talking about us.
Saying everything she couldn’t, using words she could.
“Come on, let’s go back to the others.” She didn’t look at me as she grabbed my hand and moved past me.
And I let her.
Because there were some things I still wasn’t ready to hear.
“So where are you playing next weekend?” Celeste asked innocently enough.
It was getting late, the sun already sinking behind the tree line. But none of us were in any rush to leave.
Kye had used his Boy Scout skills to start a fire, the flames licking the dusky sky while he and Zane drank their beers.
They each looked to me and I let out a small sigh. “DA.”
Harleigh went rigid beside me. “Your first game is at DA?” she said. “But that’s—”
“Some real bad luck?” Zane quipped.
“Can’t Coach Farringdon get it changed? Can’t he—”
“The schedule was already changed. Our first game was supposed to be Dartford, but it got moved to DA.”
“At our stadium?” Celeste asked, and I nodded, a ripple of frustration going through me.
Playing Denby at his place would have been irritating enough but playing him at his place now that Harleigh was back in my life… it made me want to punch something.
Preferably that smug fucker’s face.
“Well, we can’t exactly sit in the visiting fans section, but we’ll be there.”
“We will?” B blinked at her half-sister.
“Yeah, well. You want to support the guys, right?”
“I…”
“Come to the game, B.” I nuzzled her neck. “I want you there.”
She twisted around to look at me. “You know it’s not that simple. If anyone—”
“We’ll figure it out.” Because I wouldn’t be able to focus without her there, in the bleachers watching.
It was a little unnerving how possessive I felt toward her. But I’d lost her once. I had no fucking intention of it ever happening again.
“Nix, I’m not sure—”
“You should come, B,” Z said, surprising me. “He’ll be useless if you’re not there, and we’ve got a lot riding on the game.”
I pinned my best friend with a hard look, and he quirked a brow. “What? It’s true. We all want to kick DA’s ass, but it’s more than that. Every game is one step closer to—”
“Z,” I hissed.
“What?” Harleigh glanced up at me. “What’s going on?”