“Why were you touching Johnny?”
It took me a few seconds to catch up with his line of thinking. “Huh? Johnny? Oh! I was asking him to get you. Why? Are you jealous, Weston?”
He pressed into me and then paused. “You’re not in a skirt.”
“Um… No? I’m in pants…” I reached up and ran my fingers through his hair, searching for lumps. “Did you hit your head? I didn’t see you take any hits that-”
“I mean you’re not in your cheer stuff. Why?”
Libido crushed. Place remembered. “I’m not on the team anymore.”
“Why not?”
“I’m just not.” I tried to push him away so I could leave. “Come on, Weston, move.”
“Tell me the truth. Why aren’t you on the team?”
“I was kicked off!” I crossed my arms and scowled. “The day that picture came out. I was kicked off the team. Apparently, they didn’t want some skank from USC representing their team. Or as their friend.”
“That’s bullshit.” Weston gripped the back of my hair and forced me to look up at him. “Fight it. They had no right.”
“There’s nothing I can do. About anything. The PR team made it clear to me that that’s just my life now. The most I can hope for is enough name recognition and proof of my work to get a team to hire me but that’s not even guaranteed. I’ve been branded, Weston. I’m a whore. Not even a nice whore, either. I’m a mean whore. You guys are doing all this shit to make sure your pearly rep is kept pearly. I’m doing it in hopes of having a life after all of this.” I sucked in a sharp breath and let out a manic laugh. “All this and I’ve still only ever screwed one guy.”
The bathroom door swung open and Hayes stuck his head in. “Everything good?”
Weston shook his head. “No. Did you know they kicked her off the cheer team?”
Hayes frowned and shook his head no but I didn’t want to go through it all again. I forced a smile and pushed them both out of the bathroom. “I didn’t mean to distract you. I just wanted to help with your back before you go back out there. Focus on the game and kick their asses. What the fuck is a horned frog, anyway?”
29
***Cass***
It didn’t take me very long to push everything from my brain but the game. By the final whistle I was a Texas fan. I was just another person in the stadium cheering like crazy when it ended and our team had come out on top. It wasn’t just the win, though, it was the guys. It would’ve been easy to hate the Ford brothers for who they were but seeing them play when I knew what Weston and Hayes had been through showed me a different side of them. Sure, they were Texas football royalty but they’d fought for it. They deserved the hype.
I spun around, watching the stadium go wild, and caught a glimpse of the cheer team down the field. A punch of sadness hit me. And loneliness. Painful, gut-wrenching loneliness. All around me people were celebrating together, hugging and high-fiving. Cheer wasn’t anything I’d ever truly wanted to do but it’d become a source of belonging for me. Without it, I felt like the biggest loser in the whole state of Texas.
Just when I thought I should probably leave I was swept up from behind by a pair of big, sweaty arms. “Did you see that, Strawberry?!”
The sense of relief I felt was so huge that I instantly let out a wild laugh. Hayes tossed me in the air and then spun me around so I was facing him. He had black paint streaking down his face and his hair was stuck to his head with sweat but he had the biggest, best smile on his face.
“I saw! You guys did amazing!” I laughed again when he spun us around. “Hayes!”
He gripped me under my thighs and then crushed his mouth over mine. It was fast and I came away feeling like I was probably stained black but without a care in the world. I was still grinning down at him when Cash snatched me from his brother.
“My turn, sweet girl.” He pulled me in for a kiss that ended with us both smiling, faces still pressed together. “Think you might be our good luck charm.”
I ran my hands through his hair and shook my head. “Just pure, raw talent and drive. I’m so impressed.”
“With me, too?” Weston wrapped his arms around me from behind and pulled me away from Cash.
I twisted so I was facing him and stretched up to offer myself up and he didn’t waste his chance. He gripped my head tight and kissed me like the world was ending. The chaos around us faded for the few seconds he was consuming me. It made me hungry for more and to kiss both Hayes and Cash again the same way.
When he pulled away I slowly realized there were cameras all around us and flashes going off close enough that my vision dimmed. The roar of the stadium came rushing back to me and I realized it was for show. The kiss, the hugging, the way they’d run to me… It was part of the PR plan.
Interviewers appeared to check in with the guys and I forced a smile and stood there with them like everything was fine, likeI didn’t feel like a fool. My heart was a tender thing in my chest with no idea that there was a masked killer standing behind it, breathing heavily and waving a knife back and forth. It was definitely the type of heart that would go towards the scary sound.
By the time the interviews were over my face ached from forcing a smile and I had a splitting headache. More than anything I wanted to go home. I wanted to crawl into my bed and hide.
