by L A Cotton
“Oh shit.” I’d clearly spoken too soon as Lewis Thatcher entered The Alley, a smirk on his face as everyone sat up a little straighter. Like Jason, he was worshipped by his classmates and townspeople. But he wasn’t in Rixon East now and technically, this was Rixon territory.
So what the hell was he doing here?
“Maybe we should go,” I said to Hailee who was still gawking at them. “Hails?” I kicked her leg gently under the table and her head whipped around to me.
“Sorry, what?”
“I said maybe we should go.”
“And let him win? No way.” Defiance sparked in her eyes. “I doubt they even recognize—”
“Ladies,” a deep voice said, and we both glanced up to find Thatcher and another guy staring down at us. “Hailee and, I’m sorry, I don’t think I got your name?”
“You didn’t,” I sassed. “Because I didn’t give it to you.”
The whole diner had fallen quiet, everyone straining to hear our conversation. Hailee flashed me a look that said, ‘don’t make it worse’, but no way was I just going to sit here while he taunted her.
“You go can now.” I dismissed them with my hand and focused on Hailee again. Silently praying they left. But they didn’t.
“I like this one,” Thatcher’s friend said. “I wonder what else her mouth can do—”
“You need to leave,” Hailee ground out, her hands curled around the edge of the table, turning her knuckles white.
“Funny,” Thatcher leaned down into her space, his lip twisted with amusement, “Because it sounds like a warning, and yet, I don’t see anyone here coming to your rescue. Do you, Gallen?”
“Don’t see no one, Cap.” Thatcher’s dog folded his arms over his chest, glaring at me.
My eyes surveyed the diner, searching for someone—anyone—who might help us. But the handful of kids I recognized from school all dropped their gazes the second I looked at them.
Cowards.
The rest of the kids watched with a mix of interest and sympathy, and I figured they were East kids. Used to Thatcher’s games.
“What do you want?” Hailee sounded disinterested, but I caught the inflection in her voice.
“Want?” Thatcher grinned. “I want lots of things, baby.” He plucked a strand of her hair and brought it to his nose, inhaling deeply.
Screw this. I dipped my hand into my purse and managed to dig out my cell phone without Lewis or his dog noticing. Quickly locating Cameron’s number, I fired off a text and then slid it back into my purse.
“Rumor has it you’re fucking Chase now?”
Hailee pressed her lips together refusing to answer.
“Get off her, you disgusting pig,” I yelled, but panic filled Hailee’s eyes as she shook her head subtly.
“Want me to shut her up, Cap?” The dog said. “Because I’d love nothing more than to watch her choke on my—”
“I’d like to see you try.” The words spilled out before I could stop them. Hunger glittered in the dog’s predatory gaze as his hooded eyes drifted down my body.
“Pig,” I muttered, angling myself away from him.
“I want you to give your boyfriend a message for me—”
“Why don’t you give it him yourself?”
Relief slammed into me at the sight of Cameron and Asher standing in the door. Thatcher immediately straightened, but he didn’t leave Hailee’s side.
“Are you okay?” I mouthed at her, and she nodded, unshed tears pooling in the corner of her eyes.
“Fee, baby, why don’t you come on over here?” Asher crooked his finger at me, and I rose, ignoring the low growl coming from Thatcher’s friend. When I reached him, Asher hooked me into his side and whispered, “You did the right thing.”
Although with the anger rolling off Cameron, I wasn’t sure. I didn’t want to incite a fight, but I didn’t want Lewis to upset Hailee any more than he already had.
“She yours, Bennet?” the dog asked Asher with a snarl. “Because if she’s not, I wouldn’t mind taking her for a ride; see if what they say about Raider chicks is true.” His laughter filled the air and a few of his teammates snorted.
My stomach washed with disgust but Asher’s fingers dug into me, grounding me. “What are we going to do here, Cam?” he said. “There’s only two of us and eight of them.”
“I’ll handle it.” Cameron inched forward, the air around him charged and dangerous.
“Hailee, come here.” He gave her a reassuring nod, and slowly Hailee rose from the chair. But Thatcher’s hand clamped down on her shoulder.
“Not so fast, baby, we’re just getting—"
“Get your hands off her.”
“Or what, Chase? You’re a lover not a fighter and I don’t see Ford anywhere, do you?”
Anticipation crackled in the air, the whole diner watching on with fascination. A few cameras were aimed in the direction of the stand-off between Cameron and Lewis Thatcher and I knew it wouldn’t be long before it was all over social media.
“You don’t want to do this, man.” Cameron implored, holding his hands up. “It’s a public place, people are filming.”
Hesitation flashed over Thatcher’s face, enough for Cameron to grab Hailee’s hand and yank her toward him. “Go.” He flicked his head toward us, and she hurried to Asher’s side.
“Maybe we should call Jason,” she said.
“That is the last thing we want to do right now. Your boy can handle it.”
“What’s going on here?” Tate appeared looking flustered. Planting his hands on his hips, he glowered at Thatcher. “You know the rules, Son. I won’t have you coming in here disrespecting—”
“Easy, old man.” He held up his hands, backing away slowly “We were just getting a bite and then leaving.”
Leaving my ass.
If Tate hadn’t showed up right when he had, we all knew things could have ended very differently. But Lewis Thatcher tipped his head toward the door and like good little minions, his teammates filed out of the diner, Tate following them out for good measure.
“Tell Ford we’ll see him soon.” Thatcher blew Cameron a kiss. “Nice seeing you again, Hailee.”
Asher released me and threw himself into Cameron’s path. “Don’t do anything stupid, bro.” He pressed his hand against Cameron’s chest.
“I’m cool,” he said, wrapping his arm around Hailee. “Let’s go sit down.”
“You mean let’s wait until it’s safe to leave?” I said unable to keep the sarcasm out of my voice. “What the hell was that?”
Asher and Cameron led us over to one of the booths at the back so we had a little more privacy. Hailee scooted in next to Cameron and Asher pulled me in next to him.
“He’s gunning for blood.” Asher scrubbed his face.
“Well, he ain’t going to be gunning for blood in my place again.” Tate appeared, his brows bunched together. “Cameron, good to see you, Son.”
“Hey, Tate. I’m sorry about—”
“Now now, there’s no need to apologize; but I won’t have your little rivalry spilling into my business, you hear me?”
Cameron nodded, his jaw set.
“We had no idea they would show up here,” Hailee added, the color finally returning to her cheeks.
“Yeah, well, the little shits planned it. A couple of them caused a distraction out back, or I would have been here sooner. You’re more than welcome around here anytime, you know that. But not if—”
“We got it,” Cameron said. “It won’t happen again.”
But it was promise we all knew he couldn’t keep. Lewis Thatcher did what he wanted. No one could stop him from coming around here, except the police. And like the Raiders, the Rixon East Eagles were virtually untouchable.
Tate didn’t look convinced, but he skulked away, mumbling something about ‘football madness’. Few people in Rixon were anti-football. In fact, in my whole life I’d only ever known three people who weren’t obsessed with the game: Hailee, Ta
te, and my mom. It was just a part of life here.
“Fuck,” Asher breathed out.
“I second that,” I said, dropping my head back against the booth.
“You okay?” Cameron asked Hailee, tucking her closer into his side. I envied them. Their closeness, their love. The way he looked at her like she was everything he needed, and he’d do whatever it took to keep her. I wanted that.
God, did I want it.
So why the hell did you have sex with Jason?
I ignored my inner critic, focusing on my best friend. “Maybe we should tell someone?”
“Tell who? Miss Hampstead? My mom? The principal?” She shook her head. “I can handle Lewis Thatcher.”
“You shouldn’t have to fucking handle him.” Cameron slammed his hand down on the table, making me and Hailee flinch. “Jason should never have…”
“What did he do that was so bad?” I asked.
Jason and Lewis Thatcher’s rivalry had grown with them from PeeWee through junior football camp. We’d all heard the stories of two of the best quarterbacks ever to come out of our district. The pranks and fights. But something had changed last year. The rivalry turned bitter. But no one knew the details, not even Hailee who lived with him.
“Nothing you need to worry your pretty little head over.” Asher grinned.
“You think I’m pretty? How sweet.” I shot back, my words dripping sarcasm. His expression fell and for a second I could have sworn he looked hurt, but then his smirk was plastered back in place as if it had never happened.
“You know Jase is going to want payba—”
“Not here,” Cameron said quietly, and something passed between them. Something they didn’t want me and Hailee knowing.
Dumb boys. I rolled my eyes.
“I don’t want you or Jason going after Thatcher.” Hailee grabbed his jaw, forcing him to look at her.
“We’re not, I promise.”
“Don’t lie to me, Cameron. I expect it off Jason, but not you.”
“What do you expect me to do? What he did to you—”
“Is done. Nothing you or Jason do is going to fix that. Let it go. I have.”
Cameron dipped his head, capturing her lips in a slow, bruising kiss. Asher cleared his throat, shifting uncomfortably. “Seriously, here?” he drawled, shooting me a bemused look.
“Sorry.” Hailee’s eyes slid to ours as she tried to break free from the kiss. But Cameron was stronger, planting big wet sloppy kisses all over her face.
“Aaaaand that’s me, gone. Come on, Fee, baby, you can kick my ass at air hockey.”
With a groan, I followed him out of the booth. Asher was the joker of the bunch: always smiling, always cracking a joke. With sandy blond hair, sparkling blue eyes, and a roguish smile, he was the epitome of the All-American boy next door. And somehow, I’d earned a spot in his life. Cameron constantly teased me about getting with Asher and sometimes, I did wonder what it would be like if I went there. I mean, he seemed interested, always teasing and flirting with me. But sadly, he wasn’t the guy who turned my head and made my heart beat that little bit faster. Deep down, Asher was good. His heart was pure.
Which sucked for me… because apparently I preferred bad boys with dark hearts.
Jason
“What the fuck happened?” I demanded the second Cam and Asher arrived at our regular spot in Bell’s, a local bar run by an ex-Raider and one of our biggest fans. My eyes flicked to Hailee who was quiet and a little pale at his side. I barely even acknowledged Felicity. I couldn’t risk her pulling that hypnotic voodoo crap on me, not here.
“Well?” I arched my brow, growing impatient.
“It was Thatcher. He showed up at The Alley.”
“He was bothering you?” Meeting my step-sister’s gaze, my eyes bore into hers, and she gave me a small nod.
“Fuck.” I raked a hand through my hair, trying to rein in the anger I felt coursing through my veins. Thatcher was supposed to be my problem. Mine and the team’s. He was never supposed to go after Hailee. But that shit was on me and I’d deal with it.
One way or another, Thatcher would get what was coming to him. Even if I had to bide my time until the season was done.
My fist curled against my thigh, anger radiating deep inside me. Fucking Lewis Thatcher.
“I’ll get the drinks in,” Asher said cutting the thick silence. Everyone seemed to inhale a breath as they were collectively waiting for me to get my shit together. I met Cameron’s heavy stare. Concern shone in his eyes as he silently warned me not to do anything reckless.
But this was me we were talking about.
And when it came to Lewis Thatcher, the temptation to go across the river and cause a little chaos was usually too hard to resist.
“I’m good,” I said, my eyes flicking past him to Hailee and then Felicity. Her eyes snapped to mine, narrowing slightly.
“I’ll go help Ash.” I walked away, barely able to stand the knot in my stomach. “Hey.” Leaning on the bar next to Asher, I gave him a tight smile.
“Hey, you okay, man?”
I grunted some inaudible reply.
“This shit with Thatcher is getting hairy,” Ash went on, “You should have seen him with his hands on Hailee. I thought Cam was going—”
“He touched her?” My jaw clenched.
“He was just trying to get a rise out of Cam. I managed to get Fee out of there before one of his guys...” he trailed off, watching me intently.
I knew what he was doing and I didn’t like it.
“Anyway,” he said when I didn’t take the bait. “Cameron held it together. I’m not sure we’ll be able to show our faces around there anytime soon though. Tate, the owner, wasn’t too impressed.”
“You know I haven’t stepped foot in that place for almost two years, right?”
Asher shrugged. “I’d forgotten how cool it was.”
“Cool, really?” I fought a smirk. “You’re fucking weird sometimes.”
“Fuck you, man.” He shouldered me. “You have a plan, right? To get Thatcher back for pulling that shit with Hailee? I know she told Cameron not to do anything, but he can’t just get away with it.”
“And he won’t,” I ground out.
“Well you know I’ve got your back.” He slung his arm over my shoulder just as Jerry brought our beers over.
“You two ain’t cooking up no trouble, are you?” One of his bushy brows rose.
“Nothing you need to worry about J.” I winked and the old man laughed.
“Seen that look one too many times. Just remember you got a load riding on the next couple of games. Don’t go screwing up what could be a perfect season.” His eyes slid to mine.
As if I’d ever let that happen. We were going all the way this year. Anything less was simply not an option. We’d lost out to Rixon East last year and it had fucking stung. But this year, State was ours. We were five for five. Another two wins and our ticket to the play-offs was in the bag.
We gathered up our drinks—beers for me and the guys, and sodas for the girls—and headed back to our table. Mackey and a couple of the other guys had joined us, and he’d wasted no time in turning his charm on Felicity.
“So, Flick. Is it okay if I call you Flick?” he asked around a suggestive smirk.
I slid into the booth, taking a long pull on my beer.
“You can call her Felicity, jackass,” Asher piped up, smacking him upside the head.
“But I thought...” Mackey looked to her for help, but a slow smile spread over her face, and I braced myself for whatever shit was about to come out of her mouth.
“Asher is right,” she purred, placing a hand on his arm. “It’s only really a nickname my close friends use. Felicity is fine.”
“Close friends?” The rookie’s eyes lit up. “Baby, just say the word and I can make that happen.”
The girls smothered their laughter while Asher hit him upside the head again. “Fuck, man, what was that for?”
&
nbsp; “You need to work on your game, bro.”
“Khloe didn’t seem to mind last night when she was sucking my—”
A chorus of ‘dude’ and ‘Mackey’ rang out around us.
“Oh, it’s like that now. Just because Hailee and Fli... Felicity,” he shot her an apologetic look, “are here, we have to tone it down.”
“That’s right, dipshit,” Asher replied. “Because we respect women.”
“Dude, didn’t you hear Jase telling everyone about the chick he banged over the weekend?”
Fuck.
My head snapped up. “Shut the fuck up, Mackey. It was just locker room talk.”
“Locker room talk my ass. You said—”
“No fucking buts.” I slammed my hand against the table, the crack reverberating through me. I chanced a look at Felicity, hoping she hadn’t heard him. But from the way the blood had drained from her face, I knew she had.
Stupid fucking rookie.
“Excuse me,” she nudged Asher, “I need to use the bathroom.”
“I think I’ll come with.” Hailee followed her out and the two of them hurried off, but not before my step-sister glowered at me.
“What the fuck was that about?” Asher frowned at me.
“Maybe she got her period.”
We all gawked at Mackey. “Or maybe,” Asher drawled, “They need to pee.”
“Nah, chicks go to the bathroom in packs when they get their period; it’s called menstrual synchronicity or something.”
“I’m pretty sure that has everything to do with chicks getting their periods together, not chicks peeing together.”
“All sounds the same to me.” He shrugged and someone balled up a napkin and threw it at him.
“Did something happen with you two?” Asher lowered his voice enough that no one else heard him.
“Who?” I played dumb.
“Jase, come on. She looked ready to puke all over the table.”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“Of course you don’t.” He grimaced, turning away from me and joining in the rest of the conversation.
