Quarterback Sneak (Red Zone Rivals #3)(28)

I didn’t allow myself the time to even formulate a plan before I was pushing through the crowd toward her.

I watched them through the gaps in the people as I shoved my way past, and when Kyle bent toward her, hand finding her thigh as he spoke something along her neck that made her laugh in a way I didn’t know was possible — a way I’d never seen her laugh before — I nearly passed out from red invading my vision.

And I didn’t care that I didn’t have a right to be pissed.

I didn’t care that I shouldn’t have been watching her, that I should have let it go.

I didn’t care that I didn’t know what the hell to say or do.

I just walked right up to them, towering over where they sat, breathing like a fucking dragon.

I startled them both, Kyle stopping mid-laugh and glaring up at me as if to say, I’m busy here, fuck off.

But my eyes were on Julep.

Her smile slowly waned, those dark irises growing even wider as she took me in. She was buzzed, maybe even drunk, which would explain the carefree way she’d just been laughing. But now, those glossy eyes were trained on me, and they slid the full length of my body before slowly crawling back up, a cat-like smirk painting her lips when she found my gaze once more.

“Hello, QB1,” she purred.

That one little greeting set my whole body blazing.

“Hello, Polerina,” I said back, and somehow, the corner of my mouth tilted despite how I was two seconds away from Hulk-smashing my teammate. In fact, I somehow embodied cocky indifference, one hand sliding into the pocket of my athletic shorts while the other held onto my cup.

I thought maybe Julep could sense it, the way her smile crept up even more.

“Having fun?” I asked, as if Kyle wasn’t there at all.

“Yes, we were,” he interrupted, trying to block my view of Julep. “So, if you could just—”

“I’m pretty bored, actually,” Julep cut in, something of a challenge in her eyes. “I thought you said parties at the Pit couldn’t be beat.”

I ignored the drop of Kyle’s jaw at her comment, though my smile was smug when I said, “Maybe you just haven’t had the right company.”

“Or maybe this party blows,” she countered.

“Maybe,” I conceded. I looked out back at the garden, at the folding table that had been abandoned out there with cups littered all over it. No one else was out there, so I looked back at Julep before nodding my head toward the door. “Want a change of scenery?”

She didn’t take her eyes off mine as she peeled Kyle’s hand off her thigh. “Desperately.”

And then she stood and led the way, and I winked at a furious Kyle over my shoulder before following her out.

OceanofPDF.com





Julep



“You’re drunk.”

The corner of Holden’s mouth lifted at the accusation, and he simply shrugged, drinking from his cup — which was in bad shape, like it had been partially crushed.

It wasn’t right, how tantalizing he looked in the warm glow of the Edison lights strung above us in the garden. We were the only ones out back, and I took advantage of my lowered inhibitions, letting my eyes rake over him. His hair was mussed, curling over the edges of the backward baseball cap he wore. I’d never seen him in a hat before that night, and I felt like a fucking high schooler for how I wanted to take it off him and put it on my own head, to see his smirk when I did.

Idiot, I chastised myself, but it didn’t stop me.

It didn’t stop me from noting how unfair it was to every other man in the world that he could look that good in black athletic shorts and a heather gray NBU pullover that zipped down to his chest, showing a white t-shirt underneath it. He’d shoved the sleeves up past his elbows, showcasing his ridiculous forearms that only a quarterback could have.

I wanted to hate it. I wanted to hate him.

But I liked how cocky he looked standing there with one hand in his pocket, how he had marched over to where I’d been with Kyle and not thought twice before stealing me away.

“And are you?” he asked, arching a brow.

“A little buzzed,” I admitted.

Maybe that’s why I’m in such a “check out Holden Moore” mood…

I sighed then, folding my arms over my chest as I took a seat on the same white bench he’d sat on while I tended his flowers the week before. “I might have used red wine as a crutch to get through dinner with my dad.”

“That bad, huh?”

Holden sat next to me, and though there was plenty of space on that bench, the outside of his thigh pressed against mine.

“You know my dad,” I said.

“Not like you do.”

“No,” I agreed.

“Is he hard on you?”

“Not any harder than he should be.”

Holden frowned, not understanding, but I didn’t want to talk about my father any longer. “I really am surprised to see you drinking.”

It was his turn to sigh. “Yeah, well, I wouldn’t usually. But since I’m not playing…” He cracked his neck. “It’s just been a day. I try my best to be okay with this,” he said, lifting the elbow of his injured arm just a fraction. “But…”

“But you’re human,” I finished for him. “And you’re upset.”