Page 44

CHAPTER 44

WILLOW

THE GLADIATOR BAND

I showed up for the charter bus to Austin with a heavy suitcase and a damn determination to put all my energy into the shows that added me to their lineup— not King. For the football players, it marked the beginning of summer training. For King and me, it was the real end we needed.

He didn’t have to worry about my defective vagina. I wouldn’t have to worry about ruining his entire football career.

It’d be that easy.

Please, let it be that easy.

"I’m real sorry again," Kassie whispered as we waited for the buses to arrive.

"It’s okay, Kass," I assured her.

"Adam and Zariah activated the child lock for Ryan’s TV and he didn’t figure out for three weeks. He thought it was just supposed to turn off at nine o’clock. Ryan’s so bad with technology! I didn’t even know he could open the music apps!"

"I think it’s great," Ryan said with a huge grin. "I subscribed to your YouTube channel all morning."

I frowned. "You…made multiple accounts?"

"No, I just kept clicking subscribe, adding more subscribes."

I redirected my confusion back to Kassie, and she sighed. "I’m sorry. For real. He won’t say anything and I changed the keyboard on his phone. If he writes anything close to Jade the Architect, it just comes up with some bullshit about gym slots."

I threw Ryan a smile. "You’re very supportive."

"Thank you."

Kassie dropped her voice when he walked away. "Usually, he’s the last person to know things. I think he’s just happy to be included."

I was about to ask her about the buses, but the confused look on her face stopped me.

All the conversations around us died in one abrupt swoop. Everyone turned towards the same direction, right behind me. I shifted to see the new people approaching our group.

June Basil.

Homecoming queen, campus busybody, and King’s fake girlfriend in…ripped jeans and a Gladiators hoodie? I cocked my head, confused. I saw so many photos of her on King’s socials when I’d been sort of, kind of, casually scrolling. June had money with the designer bags to prove it.

Those photos were definitely from before. Her long, blonde hair had been chopped off, no expensive heels to be seen, and she didn’t wear any makeup.

I was surprised. June wasn’t what I expected.

But it was the guest of the hour walking alongside her that shut up the crowd.

Elijah Contractor.

The hockey player strolled up like there weren't a hundred football players staring him down from around the curb. He whistled loudly, the only sound.

Wow. He did lack survival instincts.

"Good morning, baby!" Elijah called to me.

I arched an eyebrow. "What are you doing?"

"Proving a point."

"By walking into the wolves’ den?"

"Ha. This is the Puppy Superbowl!" He shoved his hands in his pockets and spun back, grinning. "Good morning, Romans! What a beautiful day!"

No one said anything to him.

I sighed. "Okay, I’ll bite. What point are you proving?"

"Can you get rid of the audience?"

"The entire team? " It took me a few seconds to realize who he was talking about—Kassie, and Piper, inching over to see if she was needed. I shot them an apologetic look. "Can you give us a minute?"

Piper nodded, but Kassie grabbed Elijah’s shoulder on her way out. "Don’t do anything stupid, Toothless ."

Elijah grinned even harder. When we were finally alone, he lowered his voice. "King is dangerous."

My eyes flickered to King.

One of his teammates was trying to tell him something, but King’s eyes were on me.

Back to Elijah, I tried to keep it light. "You’re not going to let this go, huh?"

"Nope." He dug in his pocket and raised his fist. "You need to be careful. He has a thing for you."

Elijah turned over his hand and opened it. Inside was a woven bracelet, connected to the Gladiators sigil, crafted out of wood.

I blinked in surprise. It was cute, but not really my style.

"We put them on our hockey sticks for photos, but there’s this tradition to give them to whoever we’re seeing."

"Great. So Sloane’s worn this."

"No, but I’ve tried to give it to her a thousand times."

"You’re giving me a cursed bracelet?"

When I glanced up, Elijah wasn’t focused on me. He had his eyes trained on King, whose whole body was rigid. A statue surrounded by his teammates.

"Bingo," Elijah whispered.

Oh, shit .

I hurried to take it. "Give me that."

"I’m supposed to clasp it?—"

"No time, that’s the bus!"

The buses roared in the distance. Which was great, I needed as much distance between me and the suicidal hockey player as possible. I had to prove King didn’t have feelings for me. But as I passed him, King took a definite step in my direction, following so close, my backpack bumped into him.

Shit, shit, shit .

"Kassie!" I called out. "Piper!"

The girls appeared immediately.

"What are we doing in Austin?" I blurted out, looking for anything to talk about while I could physically feel King closing in. That stupid man, falling right into Elijah’s plots. They weren’t even good plots!

"I am super glad you asked." Piper beamed. "We’re grabbing dinner tonight. I signed us up for an Austin tour, it’s all the touristy spots tomorrow. I want to do group photos!"

"Sounds fun," I said, distracted. I bolted the second the doors opened and sat in the first seat, tossing my backpack to the one next to me, blocking it off.

I needed to have a real conversation with Elijah about this. But what then? What if I told him I liked King and he doubled his efforts to try to prove there was some big, bad twist about him?

"That’s my seat. Move over," King growled.

He towered above me, a hard, unrelenting glint in his eyes. Dark hair poked out from his backwards cap, and I could see his muscles bulging from this angle, pressed against the fabric of the shirt.

Not a good time to ogle him.

"You’re sitting with your girlfriend, " I reminded him.

He frowned, confused, like June wasn’t right there.

"Hey!" June reached for my hand and shook mine. "I’m usually so on top of this—hi, I’m June—and you have to be Willow. I hear you’re Jasmine’s new favorite."

My face heated. "King’s kidding?—"

"Oh, no. I talked to Jasmine and she told me to my face . I asked if there was any way I could earn that top spot back. She said no."

Weird enough, I grinned back at her.

I hadn’t expected to have some blood feud with June but I wasn’t excited to meet King’s fake girlfriend for the simple reason she got to have him. I didn’t think it’d be so…comfortable with her.

June sat across the aisle at the window seat but kept talking to me.

"I’m sorry about the drones at the training center."

"Drones?"

"The people that follow after you? King told me about them. I’m going to talk to the front desk staff, and get that to stop."

"Oh. Thank you."

She smiled. "Your stepdad’s done a lot for me."

"Yeah. I hear that pretty often."

My eyes traveled to King next to her, silent, while everyone else walked down the aisle. He should’ve been joining in, but he didn’t say a single word.

I shoved the bracelet into the side pocket of my backpack, where it would stay the entire trip. The jealousy bit had to stop between King and I. It was getting too real. I didn’t want him getting hurt. It was time to play cards and forget all about it.

King didn’t say one word the entire game.