Page 16

hawke

. . .

“Down. Set. Hut,” I yell over the groans and growls of my offensive teammates before dropping back and finding my receivers down the field.

Fucking Parker. Once again, he’s completely covered and can’t find an opening.

Riggs is open and his hand in the air, signaling, telling me how much he wants the ball.

I launch the ball down the field and into my best friend’s waiting hands before he runs it in for another touchdown.

“Shit!” Our offensive coach hollers before bowing his head and walking away.

I have to drop my head in order to hide the smirk on my lips.

Coach has been here for over twenty years and he takes pride in the offensive line he has created, according to him, and now me and Riggs arrived from Texas we’re destroying his star players, showing their weaknesses and highlighting why this team hasn’t advanced in the last decade.

I like Anthony Parker; he’s a decent guy, and a pretty good receiver, but he’s too slow.

Unlike Riggs who can run circles around the defense, and he keeps proving it every practice.

Same with Bohde Hines, he’s a good receiver, if he actually studied the plays and put in the effort he’d continue to shine, but his mistakes are becoming more evident each time he almost collides with his fellow offense players.

With our first game coming up, I know I need Riggs on the field.

Our defensive coach, our head coach, our whole team knows it.

Now our offensive coach knows it too. Riggs will be starting and the past five years that Parker and Hines have been here won’t matter if they’re benched.

Maybe I should feel sorry for them, but I don’t.

I’m here to win. I’m bringing a Natty to Michigan to prove my loyalty to this team.

I worked hard enough bending the rules to get here that I can at least give them that.

Plus, I’m stuck here for as long as Emmarys is here.

I’m popping off the straps on my helmet when Riggs runs back over to the center of the field, both of us ignoring our coaches’ bickering and the fury radiating off of Parker and Hines who aren’t happy about the changes taking place.

“Nice throw.” Riggs’s fist bumps against mine before slapping his hand twice on my shoulder while I do the same to his. It's our game celebration or anytime Riggs makes a helluva play.

“Way to get open,” I tell him in return and the guy grins.

“It's too easy. The plays are mediocre at best and the defense has no focus. No wonder they haven’t won a single championship in over ten years.”

I shake my head as we walk to the sidelines. “Everything’s about to change. They need to get on board.” I eye the coach and the few players who are struggling knowing that I’m taking over the team now.

Riggs sighs. “They will. Winning is addictive. And if they don’t, they can join their previous QB next year.”

I nod in response and join the huddle. A few minutes later, after the team receives their balls handed to them on a silver platter, we head to the showers.

I’m ready for this day to be done. I just want to head back to my apartment and start the next phase of my plan.

According to Riggs and his source Isla, there is something big coming down the pipes in regards to Jax Kellan.

I know that Falcon and her have been working on the dirt and apparently there is something big.

I need it. After our kiss, Emmarys ran, and if I know her, she’s letting misplaced guilt get the better of her, and I refuse to let her be in pain.

We did nothing wrong. Everything about that kiss, about her being in my arms, clinging to me, was right. It was how it should be.

Once the huddle is over, I follow the team to the locker room and quickly grab a towel to hit the showers. My phone beeps in my locker and I pick it up when Falcon’s number flashes on the screen.

FALCON: I’ll have that info by tonight. Be ready.

ME: How bad?

FALCON: I don’t know, but Riggs’s chick is saying it's pretty damning for the boyfriend.

ME: He’s not her boyfriend. He’s no one.

RIGGS: Pretty sure he thinks he’s her boyfriend from the way he talks about her.

ME: The fuck. What does he say?

RIGGS: Isla is at the hockey parties a lot. Apparently, he doesn’t mind sharing how amazing she is at things.

FALCON: Like sexual things?

RIGGS: No, like at breathing. He has it bad.

ME: I don’t give a fuck. He’s overcompensating for something. I want the details.

FALCON: One breakup coming right up.

I toss my phone back in my locker and flip Riggs the middle finger while he cackles at my expense.

I wash up quickly and dress, so lost in my thoughts that I barely register the conversation around me, until I hear my name.

Glancing up, a few of the guys are watching me.

Riggs coughs discreetly and his eyes flick to one of the defensive players.

I recognize him and know he’s one of Kellan’s friends.

“Sorry, what?”

The guy laughs, but it sounds forced, more like he’s pissed I’m ignoring them. Tough shit, I have no plans to befriend half of these guys until they can play up to the caliber we’re aiming for. I have too much riding on this season, and I will not be leaving the campus my girl is at.

“I was just wondering what could pull you to our little neck of the woods. Michigan is a great school and we hold our own, but to leave the team that gave you two national championships, that's interesting,” the guy repeats with a shrug of his shoulders.

My jaw clenches and my teeth grind around his veiled barbs and insinuation that my previous team gave me anything.

It's a team sport, but without my guidance, they would have zero rings. Something this team is going to learn real fast, and I’ll cut down and take out anyone who threatens my plans for this team.

I force my lips to turn up into an easy smile, masking my emotions and true nature, like I have in years past.

“Nothing much to tell. My girl plays hockey here. I couldn’t go another year without her.”

The silence is deafening, except for Riggs who is smiling like a Cheshire cat.

Whatever they were expecting, it clearly wasn’t that.

Once again, I pluck my phone out of my locker and pocket it before grabbing my bag and leaving them all behind.

I make it to the parking lot before Riggs catches up to me and we head towards my truck. I need to get out of here and think.

“Well, that was fun.”

I glance at him briefly. “They’re a bunch of morons.”

“True. You just really lit the fire back there. Those gossip mongers are vying for information on which girl from the hockey team is yours.” Riggs shakes his head.

“They’ll put it together. What, there’s only four girls on that team from Crimson Bay?”

“Yeah and two are taken, one of them being your girl. The other is spoken for and then there’s Isla. Which makes it even more interesting.” Riggs grins and my brows rise a little.

“I’ve heard the rumors.” I shrug at him, not judging the girl at all. Who cares if her reputation is a little sketchy with the stalking rumors. I’ve been practically stalking my girl since I landed in the state of Michigan; it's not like I can judge her for having a decade long crush on someone.

“She deserves better,” Rigg’s replies, this time his jaw is tight. After Riggs’s cousin put him in touch with Isla to help me out, those two kept talking. I know he considers her a good friend. “Hungry? I was thinking of stopping by ChuChu’s.”

Riggs nods his head and we jump into my truck. “I could definitely eat.”

By the time we get to the off-campus pool hall that happens to serve the best buffalo wings in a twenty-mile radius, I’m past the point of starving.

Coach worked us hard today and I need to reload.

Riggs follows me in and a few of the guys from the team are there.

They wave us over and we join them at the tables.

“Did Parker quit crying long enough for his friends to jump off his tits?” one of the bigger lineman on our team asks, his eyes filled with humor.

Riggs busts out laughing at the joke, but I tamp it down.

I’m the quarterback, a team leader, and the last thing I need is any excuse for the guys on the team to try to undermine me when I’m aiming for another championship trophy this year.

“He’ll get over it and we’ll move on.” I glance around the table at the other guys and see several gazes of respect and a few that are just unsure. Before anyone can comment, the waitress makes her way over and we order.

An hour ticks by and we’ve all eaten our wings and drank multiple pitchers of water when the crowd gets rowdy.

Riggs looks over my shoulder and then nods at me.

Glancing over in the direction he was looking, I’m not surprised to see a few guys from the hockey team, with none other than Jax Kellan among them.

My jaw clenches, watching him work the room.

I want nothing more than to slam my fist into his face.

Guess I’ll have to settle for destroying his life instead for thinking he could touch what was mine.

“Don’t do it, man,” Riggs mutters under his breath, and I force myself to breathe.

For now, I have to let him live, as I wait and bide my time.

I can’t risk messing this up and pushing Emmarys further away from me.

Even though it kills me to think about her with him; in the end, she’ll be mine again.

I had her first and I’ll fight against anyone and everything to never lose her again.

I shake my head and drop my glare down to the table instead, focusing on breathing in and out, concentrating on the conversations going on around me. Above all else, I need to remain calm and focused. Riggs’s phone dings in his hand and his eyes widen and he glances at me.

“The fuck.”

The table quiets and eyes turn to him. “Everything okay, Griffin?”

Riggs flashes a dimpled smile, one I know he uses when he’s talking to the press only and my brow quirks. “Ah yeah.” He tucks his phone back into his pocket. “Just a text from a friend in Texas.” He glances down at my phone, which is lying face down on the table, and my heart lurches.

Riggs keeps talking casually while I pick up my phone and see Falcon’s name blaring with little red exclamation emojis. Tapping on my phone slowly, even while my heart is beating furiously against my chest, I open the message from my brother.

FALCON: This should definitely be enough.

Swiping up, an image appears that sets my teeth on edge. Any guilt I felt for making Emmarys upset vanishes. Kellan is a dead man. I just need to figure out the way to hurt him the most.

ME: Get her information.

FALCON: I think that Isla chick is already on it.

Riggs shoots me warning looks, but I ignore him, getting up off my chair and walking the short distance over to where the group of hockey players are congregated.

They notice my approach and I’m met with a few chin nods and misplaced smiles of welcome.

Tuning them out, I turn to Jax who eyes me warily, a flash of uncertainty on his face.

I pull out the chair nearest him, sitting on the edge, my phone still clutched in my hand.

“Is there a problem, Sheppard,” Jax chuckles slightly, leaning back in his chair, arms crossed over his chest. The table has quieted somewhat, everyone focusing on us.

His cocky smirk starts slipping the longer I’m there, in his space, glaring. “Break up with her.”

His brow lifts. “Excuse me?”

“You heard me.” I shake my head, my lips curling. “Break up with Emmarys. You don’t deserve her.”

His face goes blank, anger rippling off his body. “Why don’t you back the fuck off, man? I have no idea what you’re talking about and you know nothing about me and my girlfriend.”

A laugh escapes my chest and I see Riggs approaching, having my back like always. I tried being calm about this situation but that picture Falcon sent tipped me over the edge.

“Guess she hasn’t told you about our history then has she?”

He pales slightly. “I don’t need to know Emma’s past. You obviously didn’t make it to her present for a reason.”

His words feel like a small dagger in my chest because in a way he is right.

Up until now, I haven’t been present in her life as much as I’ve wanted to be.

If I had, there is no way guys like Jax Kellan would think they stood a chance with her.

Everyone would have known from early on that she was claimed, that I was gone for her, and that she was completely mine.

“I’m going to give you one last chance.” I lean forward. “Break up with Emma before you regret it. Let her go now, before I’m forced to make her hate you.”

For the first time since I sat down, Jax looks unsure of himself.

I can see the war going on inside him. He doesn't know what I have over him, but he also doesn’t want to let Emmarys go.

Not that I can blame him. Once she’s mine again, I don’t plan to ever let her go.

We’ll be together until death do us part, and even then, I’ll follow her across lifetimes, stalking her ass forever.

Somehow I manage to get up without punching his face in and force myself to leave before it's too late. If he’s a man, he’ll figure it out.

If not, I’ll take great pleasure in showing him never to cross me.

Jax’s time in Emmarys’s life is limited.

It's up to him how painful he wants to make it for himself in the end. If he wants to force my hand, I won’t hesitate to ruin him.