Page 34 of You Found Me (The Meadow Springs #1)
I would keep laughing if a part of me didn’t feel sorry for her.
Mia picks up on my bleeding heart making an appearance because she clears her throat.
“Em, we should probably go out and find the guys.” And to make the point of me being over Chance, she throws in, “Spencer probably doesn’t know how to act with you away from him for so long. ”
“Right,” I respond.
As soon as we get away from the bathroom Mia says, “I’m proud of you for keeping it together. Although I’m upset you didn’t let me have a real go at her.”
Since she’s faking a pout, I know she’s joking. But there’s a side of her that is dead serious and that’s what makes me laugh uncontrollably. Which is right when we find Spencer and Beckett.
Neither of them have ever heard me laugh like this, so when Beckett leans over to Spencer and loudly whispers, “ Is she broken? ”
Mia joins me and laughs just as hard.
“We missed something,” Spencer tells Beckett.
When I finally get it together, I give them a rundown of what happened in the bathroom. Beckett is a bit confused, but Mia tells him she’ll fill him in on the way to find her some loaded nachos.
“Are you okay?”
“I mean I kind of froze and felt a bit of a panic attack coming on. Then I listened to her spit out the lies he fed her—which she believed—and it made me realize I don’t want to be that girl anymore.
It was like looking at a different version of me.
I don’t want anyone else to walk all over me—even if I do kinda feel bad for her. I stood up for myself.”
He pulls me closer to him, kissing the side of my head. “I’m proud of you, Emmaline. Seriously.”
“Thank you,” I say, just as my stomach growls.
Spencer laughs, “Sounds like you need something other than sugar. Want to split a double cheeseburger with me?”
“Absolutely I would.”
***
After halftime, both teams really step it up.
The Cougars score two touchdowns within the third quarter, but it goes downhill for them after that.
Chance became even more aggressive and reactive to the normal shit talk players spit at one another.
At one point in the fourth quarter, he catches a pass and gets tackled.
As soon as he gets up, he goes after the Tennessee player that tackled him and ends up getting ejected from the game.
I’ve watched him play for years and this is not at all normal for him. There’s obviously something going on with him, but I can’t worry about what that is right now.
The Titans score two touchdowns, one of them being an intercepted pass, causing them to win the game.
A man named Mark from Sebastian’s management team found us before the game was over and brought us to the tunnel that leads to the locker rooms. I’m a little worried that I might end up seeing Chance, but I really want to meet Sebastian.
Some of the Cougars players start leaving their locker room which makes me curl into Spencer.
He holds me and kisses my forehead. “I can text Bastian to let him know we are going to wait somewhere else.”
“I can hide right here with you until Sebastian comes out. I promise it’s okay. I appreciate how understanding you are about all of this. ”
I hear Mia mutter, “ Shit ,” and know right away that Chance has spotted her. “He’s making his way over here and he looks pissed, babes.”
I look up at Spencer, panic starting to take over. He tilts his head at me unsure of what to do. My attention goes to his lips briefly then back to his eyes. He gives me a soft smile then leans down to kiss me.
It’s soft and sweet. I feel his tongue sweep across my bottom lip, and I part them to invite him in.
Chance doesn’t take the hint because before Spencer and I pull away from each other, he’s standing in front of us, shouting, “Did you really come to my home game, wearing the other team’s colors, all while kissing another man? Since when did you turn into a whore?”
“What the fuck did you just say to her?” Spencer spits out.
“Spence, don’t let it get to you. He’s pissed off about the game more than anything.”
I look at Chance, not sure how we got to this point with one another.
I was going to marry the man in front of me, and now here he is, yelling nasty things at me, getting in the faces of people I care about.
“Chance, you need to walk away and cool off.”
“No. I wanna know what part of you thought this was a good idea?”
“I don’t think she was thinking of you at all when her boyfriend asked her to a football game. But what do I know? I’m just the dumb blonde you’ve always hated because I don’t put up with your shit,” Mia adds in.
Chance looks at her in disgust and then looks at Beckett. “You need to get better control of the mouth on your bitch.”
“Don’t you ever fucking call her that again,” Beckett says quickly. “You don’t know me like that, but I will kick your roided out ass in a heartbeat.”
In the months that I’ve known Beckett, I’ve never once heard him raise his voice. Nor have I heard him curse more than a hell or damn . Needless to say, I’m stunned .
They end up in each other’s face yelling before Spencer pulls Beckett behind him. I try to de-escalate the situation, but Chance starts loudly saying how I ruined our engagement because I was the one cheating.
What I’m stuck on is Beckett’s comment. Could that be his main issue? That he started doing steroids when he got traded to the Cougars? It would explain a lot of his issues before we split and the anger now—because this isn’t at all the Chance I knew and loved.
I catch sight of someone coming our way and when he notices how angry Spencer and Beckett look, he rushes over. This must be Sebastian.
He grabs the back of Chance’s shirt and pulls him away from Spencer. “You need to back the fuck up, Collins.”
“Stay the hell out of this, Maxwell,” Chance spits out. “It’s actually none of your business.”
Sebastian chuckles low and dark, then points between Spencer and Beckett. “These two are my family which makes them my business. And since Emmaline is dating Spencer, that would also make her my family.” He takes a menacing step into Chance’s space. “So, I say again . . . BACK. THE. FUCK. UP.”
He stares down at Chance until he backs away.
“This isn’t over,” Chance calls out.
Sebastian spins around once Chance is far enough away and turns his attention to us. “Well, what an exciting way to end the day,” he says with a big smile.
I notice he has the same dimples as Beckett. All three of them have the same, happy go lucky smile, though Spencer and Beckett have deeper blue eyes, Sebastian’s are so light they appear gray. They’re absolutely striking against his warm, brown skin.
He hugs Mia and me. “It’s nice to meet you both. I’m thinking maybe y’all brought me good luck in the game.”
Mia smiles. “You like chaos, don’t you?”
“Oh, absolutely. It fuels me,” he jokes. Then to me he says, “I hope I didn’t overstep too much with the Collins situation. I just hate that fucker.”
I snort at his honesty. “I think it was a necessary intervention. ”
“Then I’ll happily do it again if needed,” Bastian says, tipping his imaginary hat.
He hugs Spencer and Beckett and asks, “How are my favorite aunt and uncle?”
Beckett laughs, “You say that as if they’re not your only aunt and uncle. Mom and Dad are great though. She’s been busy planning his birthday shindig and Dad’s just letting her do her thing.”
“I really wish I could make it. Our game is on the West Coast that weekend. I know they’ll miss having me there.”
“Somehow I think they’ll manage, since blabbermouth over here,” Spencer points at his brother, “decided to spill the beans about Emmaline and me.”
We all laugh while Beckett shrugs and says, “This is his payback for not telling me as soon as you started dating.”
Sebastian looks over at me. “Be sure to ask for albums from when he was about eleven years old. Those are the ones that are the most embarrassing.”
“Bastian, seriously?” Spencer groans. “You do realize you’re in those too, looking just as goofy.”
“Yep. But she’s not dating me.”
“I’ll definitely ask her for those pictures. But just because I’m dating him, doesn’t mean I won’t make fun of you too.”
I look at Mia, who already knows where I’m going with this, and she jumps in, “Don’t you think his adoring fans would love to see him in his awkward phase?”
Struggling to hold back a laugh, I chime in, “Oh absolutely. I know June will have everything we need to give the people what they want.”
We both look at Sebastian noting the panicked look on his face and we lose it, which makes Beckett and Spencer laugh.
Bastian looks at his cousins, in abject horror. “Your women are cruel.”
“Yes,” Spencer smirks before kissing the side of my head. “But they’re ours.”
Mia smiles as innocently as she can muster. “Your turn to claim me, Clark. ”
Once again, he’s flustered with her attention and mumbles out an excuse about going to the bathroom.
Sebastian looks at Mia with a smile. “Like I said. Cruel.”
“Nah. I just like to see him blush. Besides, we’re only friends,” Mia tells him, lifting a shoulder.
“Yo Maxwell! Time to go.”
Sebastian turns, holding up a finger at whoever’s yell interrupted him, before turning back to us. “Looks like we’re getting ready to head back to the hotel. It was nice to meet you both and I can’t wait to see what comes from these pairings.”
After we say our goodbyes, we wait for Beckett and then head back to Meadow Springs.