“Hey, Jason,” she gave me a tentative smile, “it’s been a while.”
“Not long enough.” My teeth ground together. “Let me guess, your brother sent you.”
“Actually he doesn’t know I’m here. If he did...” She trailed off, her eyes darting to the ground. “Can we talk?”
“You can say whatever you came to say, yeah, and then you can get the fuck off my property.”
“Jason...” she let out a heavy sigh, running a hand through her hair. When I didn’t respond she added, “That’s fair enough. I guess I earned that.”
“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me,” I mumbled beneath my breath.
Aimee lifted her eyes to mine again, sympathy and regret swimming in her brown irises. “I suppose it’s too late to say I’m sorry?”
“Apologies mean nothing out of the mouths of liars.”
“I never meant to hurt you... it just all went too far and—”
“Save it,” I snapped, my chest heaving with frustration.
There had been a time when I’d wanted the girl standing before me. Wanted her so bad, I let down my walls. Opened up to her. There wasn’t an inch of her skin I hadn’t tasted. A dip or curve or blemish I hadn’t trailed my lips over. I thought I’d known everything there was to know about the quiet girl from across the river... until I’d found out she was none other than Lewis Thatcher’s little sister.
Anger rushed through my veins, igniting a firestorm in my chest. There had never been any love lost between me and Thatcher, but Aimee had changed everything. Turned our rivalry into a war that spilled off the field and into our lives, affecting everyone around us.
“You got your revenge, Jase, isn’t that enough? What you did to me—”
“Don’t fucking talk to me about what I did. You reeled me in for weeks, let me believe what we had was real. I felt things for you I had never felt before and it was all a lie.”
I had been falling in love with her. I couldn’t pinpoint the exact moment it happened. Even at the time I hadn’t realized. It was after, when I learned who she really was, that I understood how deep my feelings ran for Aimee Thatcher—my enemy’s sister.
“It wasn’t,” she cried, swiping at the tears falling from her eyes. “What we shared was real. It was real. It wasn’t supposed to be, but I couldn’t help it. I couldn’t help falling for you.”
Closing the distance between us, I stopped right in front of her. Looming over her, my eyes narrowed to deadly slits. “You played me, Aimee. You made me weak and defenseless and then, when I was completely at your mercy, you stabbed the knife in my back and watched me bleed out.”
“Jason...” Aimee’s voice trembled as she craned her neck to look at me. “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry.”
“Yeah? Well, I’m only sorry I didn’t completely destroy you.” The words came out low and deadly, laced with the pain of our past.
When I’d found out who she was and what she’d planned with her brother, I’d concocted a plan of my own. I would never forget the look on Thatcher’s face when he opened the video message of me fucking his sister. It had been all the revenge I’d needed, but it had been the catalyst for everything since.
“You were always mean, Jason, but I’ll forever regret turning you into... this.” A violent sob spilled from Aimee’s lips as she stepped back, putting some much-needed distance between us.
“I only came to warn you,” she added. “Lewis is out to destroy you. He wants to make sure you never see the play-offs. If you have any sense, you won’t go.”
I ran a hand over my head and down the back of my neck, the weight of her words pressing on my chest like a ton of bricks. “Is that all?”
“I mean it, Jason,” she warned, “he’s out for blood. Your blood.”
Another time, another place, I would have replied with some cocky statement about him being all talk and no action. But the stakes had changed. I went after his sister and he’d come after mine, but I hadn’t retaliated then. I’d been biding my time, waiting for the right time to go after him.
But my time was up.
I had to decide.
Fight.
Or flee.
Something Hailee once told me flashed in my mind, and I couldn’t help but think, no matter what I decided, there would be only one loser at the end of this.
Me.
“You should go, Aimee.” Shouldering around her, I headed straight for my car. The sooner we got this over with, the better.
“Jason, don’t do this…” Her cries bounced off the window like rain against glass. Aimee made it sound like I had a choice but running was never a choice, and my mind was already made up.
Grabbing my cell phone, I shot Grady a quick text before firing up the engine and gunning out of the driveway. Aimee’s defeated figure shrank in the rear-view mirror. I’d played in my fair share of dog fights. Football games where players broke the rules and cared more about hurting each other than scoring a touchdown.
As far as I was concerned, this wasn’t any different.
Thatcher wanted my blood?
Fine.
But I’d make him work for it.
It was quiet down at No Man’s Land when we arrived. Grady sat tense beside me, tapping his fingers against his thigh.
“Nervous?” I asked, surveying the stretch of land in front of us. It was right beside the bridge, sheltered by the huge cement pillars. Part of it ran underneath, only accessible when the river ran low. Which wasn’t often. When we were kids, we’d hang out down there, daring each other to try to make it across. Kids doing the kind of shit kids do.
This wasn’t like that though.
This was different.
“What’s the plan?” Grady ignored my original question.
“Plan?” I side-eyed him. “I’m going to beat the shit out of him and send him crawling back across the river with my initials scratched into his fucking skin.”
“Jesus, Cap.” Grady let out a low whistle. “Are you sure we shouldn’t call—”
“The less people involved, the better. If you want to walk, walk. I won’t hold it against you.” I wasn’t scared; I was fucking furious. It burned through me, liquid fire in my veins.
“Fuck that. I’m staying. Just promise me if things get too messy, we’ll leave.”
“Yeah, whatever.” The lie rolled off my tongue. No way was I leaving until Thatcher got the message loud and clear not to mess with me and mine.
“Shall we then?”
We climbed out, the bitter fall wind slamming into us. “Shit, it’s cold.”
“Grow a pair, Grady.” I smirked as I flexed my arms either side of me and took off toward the riverside. Thatcher was waiting but he wasn’t alone.
“Surprised you came,” he drawled.
“I’m a man of my word.”
“Interesting.” He inclined his head, scratching his jaw. “You didn’t come alone.” Thatcher’s hard gaze moved to Grady.
“Neither did you.” My eyes went to the goon at his side.
“Didn’t want to miss you get your ass handed to you, Ford,” Gallen said, stepping up to his teammate.