Harleigh
I chewed my thumb watching Nix fist the Devils player’s jersey and yank him closer.
“Oh, shit,” Nate breathed.
“Walk away, Nix,” I murmured. “Walk away.”
“If he wanted to hurt him, the douchebag would already be crying on the ground,” Chloe said, dropping her chin on my shoulder. “He’s in control. See.”
Nix shoved the guy and let Zane usher him away, but the guy said something else. Something that had Nix lunging for him. Zane caught him around the waist, hauling him away as the rest of the team descended, forming a physical barrier between their quarterback and the Devils instigator.
Coach Farringdon beckoned Nix over and the two of them moved away from everyone else.
It had been a hard game to watch. Every time Nix got sacked or tackled, my heart stopped. And I was almost certain I’d seen a DA player punch him in the back earlier.
They’d been gunning for him the entire game. Nate and Chloe had tried to reassure me that it was only because he was the best player on the field, but I wasn’t so sure. There had always been a certain level of rivalry and hatred between Nix and Marc Denby, but tonight seemed different. It felt… personal.
As the teams slowly began to disappear off the field, the bleachers started to empty. But we stayed behind, letting the crowds clear.
“So, what did you think?” Nate asked me.
“I’ve never really been a huge football fan.”
“Seriously? I would have thought with you and Nix being close that you’d be a groupie.”
“Yeah, well, I’m not.”
I’d watched some of his games, but it didn’t excite me the way it did most people. Not to mention the fact it had always meant watching the cheerleaders fawn all over him. At least tonight Cherri had kept her hands to herself.
The Hawks cheer squad was still on the field, chatting and laughing and taking celebratory selfies. Cherri looked the part, her ample curves wrapped in Hawk magenta and black, the pleated skirt skimming the top of her thighs. Her dark-blonde hair was scraped back in a sleek ponytail, two thick curls framing her face. She oozed sex appeal and much like Angela and her squad, had spent most of the game working the crowd into a frenzy.
Too many times I’d witnessed her congratulate Nix on a win with a kiss. But not tonight. Tonight, she’d barely looked twice at him.
As if she felt me watching, her head whipped over, her heavily made up eyes finding mine. Her easy breezy expression dropped, replaced with sheer contempt. My stomach dipped and I glanced at my toes, needing to escape her venom.
“Friend of yours?” Nate asked.
“Is she still looking over here?”
“No, they’re leaving.”
Relief rolled through me and I peeked up at him. “Not a friend.”
“You don’t say, you’ve gone as white as a sheet.”
“Cherri Jardin is…” Sexy. Popular. Sexually experienced. Everything I’m not.
“Darling Hill High’s equivalent to Angela?” Celeste asked and Chloe nodded.
“You could say that.”
“We should go,” I said, wanting nothing more than to disappear. First Angela, now Cherri.
“Don’t let her get to you,” Chloe said as we filed out of the bleachers and headed down the steps. The plan was to head to the gas station at the edge of town to meet Nix and the guys, since we couldn’t exactly meet up here.
Unsurprisingly, Max and Nate’s brother took off, barely sparing us a goodbye.
“That wasn’t weird at all,” Celeste grumbled.