The Revenge Pact (Kings of Football, #1)(47)

“Romance—bah,” I said, and she pretended to be mad.

She showcased her British accent, which sucks, and I did my interpretation of Rhett Butler’s “Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn.” (Mom’s favorite movie is Gone with the Wind.) She begged for more.

“Bond. James Bond.”

She hooted.

“E.T. phone home,” I said in my best raspy alien voice.

“My precious,” was her Gollum from The Lord of the Rings.

“I’m the king of the world,” I shouted with my free hand out the window.

Then I looked at her and did, “Show me the money,” and she countered with “You had me at hello.”

She’s more random than I realized.

Maybe it’s the late night, maybe it’s her heart breaking.

“We have more than just The Outsiders in common,” I told her.

I see you, Rainbow.

We got quiet during the last hour, one of those easy silences where you don’t have to say anything at all. I don’t have a lot of those. I talk to keep the world turning, and sometimes my head never shuts off, but with her, it’s different. She stills the erratic side of me, and I’m not sure why that is.

Maybe I do, but…

It was me and her and the dark road.

Now we’re parked at Henning Park, a rundown place near campus with old swings, rusted monkey bars, and seesaws that are falling apart. I glance around. This place needs to be cleaned up, new equipment and a fence, some landscaping. The frat needs a new project, and this is perfect for the pledges.

“This place needs some love,” she says, and I glance at her, taking in the tangles in her hair, and smirk.

“I was thinking the same thing.”

She tilts the rearview mirror at herself and gasps. “Holy shit. I’m shocked you didn’t chuck me out on the side of the road hours ago. Sorry I got us lost. Those backroads all look the same.”

“Mhmm.” It might have been one of the best nights I’ve had in a while.

She sighs and looks out the windshield to the park. “The east is that way. Up on the hill—that’s where we’ll go to watch the sun come up.”

“It’s kind of cold. You sure?” I ask, bemused at her idea.

“Heck yeah, Snake. Let’s go. Race you to the top.”

She dashes out of the truck and runs in her heels across the playground I hang back and let her win, then join her at the top. I slide in next to her as she looks out over the rolling hills and trees. “How are we gonna do this?”

She checks her phone. “The weather app says it should come up any minute. We’ll do what Ponyboy did. We’re going to hold our breaths and wait for the sun to come up. You’re an athlete, right? You can go for, what, thirty seconds?”

“Baby girl, I can go way longer.”

She sends me a smirk. “You act all I’m a bad boy when you’re deflecting your emotions. You’re not fooling me. There’s depth to you.”

I hide my face and smile.

She sighs. “Thank you for doing this with me.”

“Yeah. No problem.” I stick my hands in the pockets of my jeans, not sure what else to say. There’s an intimacy between us that wasn’t there before, a fragile thread that feels as if it might disappear at any moment.

A red-tailed hawk swoops past us and lands on a tree. “They mate for life,” I say. “Crows too. Weird, right? Swans, bald eagles, barn owls, beavers, gray wolves, coyotes—now that’s an interesting one. There’s this website with videos of coyotes, showing them nuzzling each other…” I stop at her expression. “What? I watch Animal Planet.” I twist my ring. “Why are you staring at me like I just grew an extra head?”

“I like you. Who you are.”

“It’s the weird stuff that sticks in my mind.”

She hums. “Did you not try hard in high school and now it’s catching up with you?”

“Yeah.” I sway on my feet, part loopy exhaustion, part No, that’s a lie.

“Thank you, you know, for indulging me. I needed this.”

Any time is on the tip of my tongue, but I shut it down.

She points at the horizon. “It’s coming! Go!” She takes a breath in, her cheeks puffing out as she faces the east.

I suck in air, and she startles me when she clasps my hand and laces our fingers together. We face the sunrise as it peeks over the horizon, a soft gleam of orange illuminating the dimness, slowly brightening the day. I count out thirty seconds in my head.

She lets out a long exhalation and we stand there for another minute or two, not speaking as we hold hands and watch as the glow inches higher. She faces me, too close, and I stare down at the smudges of black under her eyes, the delicate slope of her shoulders, the rise of her breasts in her dress.

My jacket that engulfs her.

Neither of us speaks for several moments.

Ten.

Twenty.

Thirty.

Forty.

Fifty.

Sixty.

Her voice is soft. “New day. New beginning. Life’s full of possibilities in this moment. It’s a fresh start. It’s like a book when you open it to page one. Can you feel it?”

Rainbow… I feel everything.

“Be a football star. Live your best life. Take chances and have no regrets. Those are my three things for you on this new day,” she says, her face tilting up to me. Her hand squeezes mine.