Dante Spence hugged me. Willingly. Without provocation. Like he wanted to. Why didn’t this make me as happy as it should?
“Hi, Dante.” My voice squeaked, but he didn’t notice.
“Did you see the game today?” he asked me, and for the first time in his college football career, I hadn’t. Because I’d been watching the Saints. Because I knew Jett would be watching alone.
“Mm-hmm.” Lie, lie, lie. Was I ever going to tell the truth again?
“So,” Dante teased, his smile easy, “hit me with my stats.”
“Yeah, Ava, tell me Dante’s stats from today’s game.”
Whoever I pissed off, whoever I hurt, I’m sorry. This is not good karma. I do not deserve this. I am a good person. Please, will you fuck off?
“Santo?” Dante lost his easy smile.
“You look surprised to see me.” Jett’s voice had no friendliness. “But why? I’m at a party in my college campus. Why wouldn’tIbe here?”
“You didn’t play today,” Dante answered as two more of his team arrived behind him. “Heard you were injured.”
“Heard wrong,” Jett answered tersely.
Dante and he held a long stare-off, and I had absolutely no idea how I was in the middle of this.
“The party seems big enough for both of us,” Dustin said with a forced casualness, and the two grunts from each quarterback could be heard over the music, which I was sure had been lowered.
“Good game you had,” Ash said to Dustin, reaffirming my belief that Ash was the only decent Santo there was.
“Yeah, everything was coming my way today,” Dustin told him. “Saw your catch in the end zone — good footwork.”
“Thanks,” Ash replied, and then they were silent again.
“I bet you know all the stats today,” Dustin said with a knowing smile at me. “C’mon, tell us who had the better passing rate.”
“Uh,” I stumbled. I had all the attention, and I never in a million years wanted it. “For your game?”
Dante frowned. “Yeah, although remember that night you told me all the stats for that weekend? That was impressive.”
I could feel Jett as he moved beside me. A hand touched my lower back, and I tensed. “How do you know, Ava?” Jett asked as his hand pressed into my back, his fingers twisting into my top, and I knew it was to stop me from bolting.
“Huge Lions fan, aren’t you, girl?” Dustin had no idea he was making this worse for me.
“I’m more a lover of the game itself,” I croaked out.
“Lions for the win?” Gray growled.
Prick.
“Oh man,” Dustin laughed. “Did you see that shit on Twitter?” He laughed loudly. “Dude, you were a genius with the trash talking,” he said to Jett. “Our upcoming game’s got so much hype around it. We already obliterated every other team this week in the press.”
I noted that Dante didn’t seem to be impressed at his wide receiver’s easy friendship with the opposition, and then my panicked brain remembered that Dustin had gone to the same high school as the Santos.
“Got to play to the crowd,” Ash spoke for Jett, who was still in a stare-off with Dante.
Dustin looked around the party. Many were staring at the small group that I was still the center of, but most were partying like normal people on a Saturday at a college party. “My kid sister’s boyfriend is here. We agreed to detour on the way home and pick him up.”
“All of you?” Gray asked as he looked over the four players.
“Well.” Dante looked at me. “I came hoping to see you.”
