Page 48 of Mr. Irrelevant (Rock City Renegades #1)

“Nice throw,” he says, and I wait for more because I know it’s coming.

“Hey, tell Liv I found her old iPad in my— our room.” Rolling my eyes, I beeline for the huddle, but he keeps talking.

“I thought it was broken, but imagine my surprise when it fired right up. Did you know that she has it set so every device on her account syncs to one another? All her texts, pictures, videos ,” he drawls, making me freeze as his grin grows dark and sinister.

“I have access to all of it. Tell her to give me a call. It would be a shame if something like that ended up in the wrong hands—or, God forbid, on the internet.”

I freeze, turning my head in his direction as his grin grows even more ominous.

Blood hammers against my pulse points, the sound of screaming fans completely overpowered by my own heartbeat in my ears.

My hands ball tightly at my sides, the veins in my arms pumping pure rage throughout my body and filling me with the overwhelming urge to destroy everything in my path.

I take a step into him, ready to attack, but I’m pulled away before I can.

“Dane, don’t,” Emmett says, his voice somehow breaking through the deafening noise inside my head. I keep my gaze locked on Deacon, but don’t protest as I’m pulled back toward my own huddle .

“Don’t give him what he wants,” he grunts quietly, his hand still clutching the edge of my shoulder pad as though he thinks I might dart away if he lets go.

“There’s a minute until halftime. Keep your head in the game, then you can cool off in the locker room.

” I swallow, nodding in affirmation as I try to push the possibility of Livvy’s ex having our private photos and videos to the back of my mind.

Anger still ripples through me, but Emmett is right.

If I fuck up, and we lose this game, he succeeded. And I refuse to let that happen.

The next sixty seconds of gameplay are a blur, ending in a field goal after they stop us in the red zone.

I’m on autopilot as I pull my helmet from my head, following my teammates down the tunnel that leads to the locker room.

I walk mindlessly through the double doors, dropping down onto one of the padded chairs and taking a few deep breaths as my chin falls to my chest. I need to get a grip on my emotions right now and worry about everything else later.

The entire city of Cleveland has put their trust in me to give one hundred percent, and I can’t let them down.

Liv’s face pops into my head, a reminder of the time she put into coaching me because she saw something that nobody else did.

She made me a better quarterback—a better man in general—and I want to give her the playoff run she deserves.

“Hey,” Jett says, his voice low as he takes the seat next to me. “You okay? What did Underwood say out there?”

I look over, trying my best to mask the frustration and anxiety that’s likely evident in my expression.

The last thing I want is for anyone to think I’m easily rattled by a little shit talk, even though what actually went down was so much more.

But I certainly can’t tell them that without blowing my own cover, so I’m more thankful than ever that he knows about my relationship with Livvy and has offered his support.

“I don’t know,” I reply. “He said he has access to some private photos and videos of Liv—of us. I have no idea if he’s telling the truth, or if he’s just trying to fuck with me, because the whole thing was really vague, but it sounded a little bit like a threat.

” My jaw clenches, teeth gritting together so tightly that pain radiates up the sides of my head.

“I don’t give a shit about myself, but if he does anything to hurt her, I’ll kill him. ”

He leans in close, nothing but sincerity and understanding behind his eyes. “He knows she’s your Achilles’ heel—that his best chance at throwing you off your game is to come for her. But he can’t do anything right now. So, let’s go out there, win this game, and if he tries to do anything dumb?—”

“We’ll make him eat his fucking teeth,” Emmett says, lowering into the chair on my other side.

I whip my head his way, panic flowing through me at the thought of him hearing our conversation.

Thankfully, nobody else is within earshot as they settle toward the middle of the room, waiting for Coach to begin his halftime speech.

“I saw her sneak into a dark room on my way to grab some new gloves from the equipment manager earlier—the same room I saw you walk out of when I was coming back.” My eyes go wide, stomach swirling with unease, as he puts two cautious hands out between us.

“I was alone, and I swear I won’t say anything.

Whatever’s going on between the two of you is none of my business.

I just wanted you to know that if he tries to pull anything, on or off the field, I’ve got your back. ”

Memories of our bye week flood my mind, realizing that I had mentioned the girl I was seeing…the girl he now knows is Livvy Grant. There’s not an ounce of judgment in his expression, only understanding and loyalty as he reassures me that I’m covered for the rest of the game.

I swallow the giant lump in my throat, giving him a grateful nod just as Coach Hendricks launches into the usual assessment of our first half performance, focusing on the things we need to correct moving forward.

I do my best to lock in, remembering Jett’s words.

Underwood can’t hurt Liv from the field, but he’ll do whatever it takes to break my concentration and end our season today.

Fuck him, though. I’ve worked too hard— she’s worked too hard —to let that happen.

He may have access to something that could ruin us, but that can wait. Right now, I’m ready to block out the noise and win one for my girl.