Page 482 of Forbidden Billionaires: Vol. 11

“Oooh Leo the Rugged Thief is coming out!” Sophie said. “I hope he makes the kick. If not, you should slap him when he tries to kiss you at homecoming.”

“You really think my kiss thief might be Leo?” I stared at him lining up for the kick. Of all the options, he was probably near the top of my list. Liam was right...Leo was funny. And Sophie was right too...he was a literal thief.

“Let’s see if he looks at you.” She cupped her hands around her mouth. “Go Leo!” she screamed just as they snapped the ball.

He turned toward us in the stands just as someone from Bernstein Prep crossed the line and absolutely decked him.

The whole crowd gasped.

“Pancake! Pancake!” Mr. Nigel yelled and hopped up and down. “Pancake!”

I’d never actually heard Mr. Nigel yell anything correctly at the team. But he’d certainly nailed that one. I pulled Sophie back down into her seat.

“Maybe bad timing,” she whispered.

“You think?”

She cringed. “I hope he’s okay.”

Leo had already gotten to his feet. But Uncle Matt sure looked pissed that they’d missed the kick. Well...not even missed. Leo hadn’t even gotten a chance to try to kick it.

“Let’s forget about my kiss thief and just enjoy the game,” I said.

Sophie nodded. “Good idea.”

We stopped cheering for people on my list and just focused on cheering for the team as a whole. Axel threw a perfect pass to Zach the Shy Spy for a touchdown. And he didn’t seem all that shy when he did a hip thrust.

“He’s definitely Zachthe Stallion,” Sophie said. “And I’d prove it too, but we lost footage of the locker room.”

I laughed. “We’re lucky to not be in jail.”

“I guess. I’m not sure we ever would have gotten caught though.”

“But you had plenty of time to spy on him,” I said. “Does he really never pull it out when he’s changing?”

“I’m telling you...he doesn’t want everyone else to feel ashamed by his massive member. Speaking of which, I might give Pavel the exploder another go. Because boyispacking.”

“But you don’t even like him.”

She stared down at the mascot on the field. “Yeah. Well...” She shrugged.

I put my arm around her again. I’d been so consumed with my own stuff that I hadn’t realized how much she was struggling with this Mr. Halifax thing. And I didn’t really have anything helpful to say. He was our teacher. He couldn’t date her. Or me. I tried to hide my shudder.

Any guy would be lucky to date Sophie. I stared down at Axel on the field. And my heart started aching.

I’d fallen for Jacob when we were supposed to only be fake dating. And I suddenly had this fear in my chest that Axel might fall for Sophie after being her date to homecoming. I bit the inside of my lip. If I was worried about that...wasn’t that my answer? That I still wanted to be with Axel?

My eyes gravitated back to Jacob. I was already picturing him pulling me into a searing kiss at the end of the game. What was wrong with me?

I bit the inside of my lip so hard that I tasted blood.

We were up 13 to 7 at the half. The game was closer than it should have been. Because Axel wasn’t handing off the ball as much as he should.

“Come on,” Sophie said and pulled me to my feet. “It’s show time.”

I’d been trying not to think of the whole homecoming court thing. But now that it was actually time to hear the results...I had this small tiny hope that it might be me. Maybe this would be fate. I’d be queen. And whoever was my king...that’s who I was meant to be with.

“Want to get something to eat while we wait?” she asked.