“Oh yeah?” he says, a smirk pulling at his lips, light pulsing back into his eyes and sending just the slightest ray of hope coursing through me. “What word would you use?”
A soft laugh rumbles through my chest as I reach for the door and pull it open, truly thinking about my response before glancing back one more time, holding his complete attention. “Intoxicating and irresistibly delicious in every possible way.”
Chapter 25
BRIELLE
I’ve always hated football. I don’t know if it’s because I simply don’t understand the game or because it’s just a bunch of men running after a stupid ball and taking it from one end to the other. But one thing is for sure, sitting up in the grandstand and watching as Tanner dominates the field is the most exhilarating thing I’ve ever seen.
He’s a beast, and it finally makes sense to me why the whole school turns up to watch these games. He’s incredible and with Riley, Hudson, and the twins working along with him, the five of them are unstoppable.
It’s the hottest thing I’ve ever seen.
There are only five minutes left on the clock, and I’ve watched every second of it with wide eyes, cheering at all the right times despite not even knowing what I’m cheering for half the time. Hell, anyone who looks my way right now wouldn’t have a damn clue that I don’t know what’s happening down on that field. I look like a seasoned pro.
The team huddles around their coach, more than ready to smash out these last five minutes against their disheveled and exhausted opponents. Bradford is up against the Broken Hill High team and they’re good, really good, but they’re no competition for Bradford.
I sit between Ilaria and Arizona, cheering for Chanel down on the field with her blue poms-poms. The cheerleaders have been giving their all for the first game of the season, and I’ve listened intently as Ilaria has told me about the Ryder brothers who go to Broken Hill—Nate and Jesse. She’s apparently been crushing on them for years. Nate sounds like the untouchable type while Ilaria describes Jesse as the any hole’s a goal type, a complete flirt, and honestly, he sounds like my kinda guy. You know, apart from the brooding asshole down on the field who has looked up here every chance he gets.
The players make their way back to the field and I sit straighter, far too excited for these last five minutes. They get into position and the whistle blows, and just like that, everyone is moving again. Bradford is up by four, but the Broken Hill players have been putting in a good fight, doing everything they can not to let their opponents get away from them. But they’re tired. Bradford is pushing too hard and they’re quickly falling behind.
My gaze locks on Tanner, watching how he plays, and it’s clear he takes this seriously. The whole way through the game, he’s been checking in on his teammates, pushing them to their limits, and making sure everyone is playing a good, safe game. No wonder he’s team captain.
There’s a scuffle on the field between players, and the ref blows his whistle again, only adding to the intensity of the last few minutes. The crowd gets to their feet with wide eyes, and even Ilaria shuts up about the Ryder brothers, too captivated by the game playing out before her.
Two minutes on the clock and the opposition gets the ball, storming through the exhausted players, until Hudson and Riley intercept. Jax gets an elbow to the face and blood spurts everywhere, but Hudson is right there, saving their play. The elbow dude is benched and Jax hovers by the sideline, not giving two shits about his nose as the game picks back up.
Hudson takes off like lightning and gets the ball to Tanner, and I grip onto Ilaria and Arizona, watching intently as the impressive quarterback launches the ball down the field, Logan racing for it with a storm of Broken Hill players right on his ass.
Riley forges forward having Logan’s back, throwing himself at another player and clearing the way for Logan to shoot through. He launches himself up into the air and collects the ball with ease, the crowd roaring for their team.
We watch with wide eyes as one after another, Bradford players take the opposition out of the game, dropping them to their asses and clearing a path for Logan to get through to the center of the end goal and slam the ball down into the grass.
The crowd roars, chanting the Bradford war cry as Logan launches the ball high into the sky, letting it crash down in the middle of the overcrowded grandstand. A wide grin stretches across my face as the buzzer sounds, and I can’t help but notice the way Logan seeks out Chanel, making sure she just witnessed his show-stopping moment. The poor guy. He’s got it bad.
The entire team races toward Logan, throwing themselves around him as the crowd begins spilling out onto the field, more than ready to celebrate with their winning team. I watch in awe. It was never like this at Hope Falls, never filled with this kind of all-round school spirit. Arizona tried to warn me, but I shrugged it off, not believing it for one minute, but now, after witnessing this, I know that from here until the end of the season, I won’t miss a single home game.
“Come on,” Ilaria says, gripping my hand and dragging me along with Arizona sticking to my back. “You get it now? Our game nights are epic, but not as good as the party that will follow.”
I roll my eyes and laugh as we try to navigate the stands and avoid being trampled by the masses. “Don’t even think about it,” I tell her. “I’m not going to the party. Me around Tanner Morgan is not a smart move, and besides, I was hoping to catch my mom before Orlando flies her to Paris for the weekend. We still haven’t spoken since our fight last week, and I’m starting to wonder if she actually remembers I live with her.”
“Ughhhhh,” Ilaria groans. “That’s shit about your mom, but YOU’RE SO FREAKING BORING! You can’t tell me that you’d rather stay home with Jensen over coming to the track with us. Come on, stop being such an old lady. We’ll hitch a ride and then we can all drink and have a good night.”
“Nope,” I say, hitting the stairs. “Absolutely not.”
They don’t push me on it. They see the connection between me and Tanner, it’s obvious to anyone who knows to look for it, and while I haven’t told them what happened up against that tree last Friday night, or the million things that followed, they know something happened. Something has shifted.
They haven’t demanded answers, and I have offered them the same privacy, but sooner or later, their curiosity is going to get the best of them.
Arizona laughs. “Yep, she’s going to be an old lady,” she tells Ilaria. “She’ll have matching knitted sweaters made for us within the week.”
“Don’t knock the knitted sweaters,” I laugh as we finally reach the bottom of the grandstand and make our way onto the field, only to get bulldozed by Chanel.
“Holy shit,” she says, her pom-poms flying around mine and Arizona’s faces. “Did you see that game? They were amazing.”
“Hell yeah, they were,” Ilaria says.
“So, what’s the plan?” Chanel asks, her gaze shifting toward the crowd, searching but not finding whatever or whoever it is she’s looking for. “I didn’t bring any clothes with me, so I was going to head home and get dressed before heading to the track. Did you guys wanna come with me, or should I just find my own way there?”