Her loud laugh haunted me long after she was gone and I’d moved to her pink velvet couch. Maybe she was right. I’d panicked the night before when things started feeling a little too…right, as Cash called it. They were strangers, men I’d planned on using, but I’d felt better with them than I had with Cole in years, maybe ever. It felt like there could be something there between us but that was impossible. It was all impossible.
I just needed to focus on finishing college and avoid men. Focusing on men was why I’d needed to transfer to another college the year before I graduated. It was the reason I wasn’t finishing my senior year at UCA.
Then there was the fact that I’d partially come to Texas to hurt their sister and them. That wasn’t exactly a solid foundation for anything healthy.
So, school and cheer and work it was. I’d just keep my head down.
7
***Weston***
“Fucking stupid.” I scowled at the field below as cheerleaders faced off with the second-string. Every year we had to sit in the bleachers and watch the guys flirt and tease the cheerleaders while they all pretended to play football. It was a waste of time and I had at least sixteen other things I would’ve rather been doing, including taking a shit.
Hayes shot a look my way and cracked his neck. He’d been doing it more often, a sign that he was giving himself an ulcer worrying about everything and everyone. “It’s tradition. And hardly a chore.”
Cash stretched out between us and pulled his hat lower. The sun was out and it was fucking steamy out. “You normally enjoy getting to see the cheerleaders bouncing around. I wonder what’s crawled up your ass for you to not care about all the tits and ass.”
I turned my scowl on him. “You fucking know what crawled up my ass. I’ve had blue balls for two days and if I jack off one more time, my dick is gonna fall off.”
It washer. Cassidy. She’d run away from us so fast that none of us had been able to catch her or even get more than her first name. I wanted to know why she’d run. And I wanted her back in my bed. She’d been the only thing that made me feel less angry in months.
“Thanks for that.” Hayes sighed and was sitting back when he grunted. “Look at number eleven. She just launched a rocket down the field.”
I watched her throw up her hands when her receiver shied away from the football like it was a fucking bomb. I grimaced for number eleven and was about to look away again when they lined up but the ball was snapped and she was sprinting down the field and scoring before I could. “Damn.”
Cash was still leaning back, unconcerned about what happened or didn’t happen on the field. “No one knows anyone named Cassidy. If she was new how’d she already know about us and our injuries?”
“She said she was a sports medicine major. I doubt anyone in that department isn’t aware of us. They’ve been using us as fucking guinea pigs for a year now.” Hayes stood up with his hands on his hips, his classic coach pose, and whistled. “We might need to recruit number eleven. I think she’s faster than most of the guys on the team.”
An involuntary shout left my mouth when she ran through our guys’ defense and shouldered one of them who tried to grab her. He finally got her down, defying what had always been a game of flag football, just for her to throw her elbow into his chest and spring back to her feet. I couldn’t hear what she shouted at the guy but when he got up he was rubbing his chest and staring after her like he’d just met his soulmate.
“It’s flag football, asshole.” Hayes sat back down and we watched number eleven dominate the field before she sat out to let the other girls play. Without her the game went back to being dull so Hayes looked back at me. “The campus is only so big. We’ll find Cassidy. And then she’ll realize that I’m the Ford she’s interested in taking home.”
I adjusted my hat and kept my eyes on the field, doing what I could to not get pissed at him. If and when we found Cassidy I wasn’t letting him or Cash take her away. It was me, all three of us, or nothing. Really, the last one didn’t feel like an option.
“Nobody let Sam know that there’s a woman in the state with a taste for Ford men.” Cash scoffed and brought his hat even lower so it was covering his face. None of us called the man who’d fathered us Dad but since he was busy pretending to be a teenager again, it was fine by him. “But let’s be real. Cassidy is mine.”
“His new girlfriend is Savannah’s age.” The distaste in Hayes’ voice was clear. “Cassidy might be too old for him.”
“What the fuck is wrong with our family? Honestly? Sam is working his way towards finding a child bride and Savannah is dating three of the biggest fuckwads in the world.” I took off my cowboy hat and ran my hand through my hair. “Nothing feels right anymore.”
Nothing but Cassidy. It was bizarre how right she felt.
“Savannah… I still can’t believe she’s proudly dating those assholes. The Apex Three. What a fucking joke. They take cheap shots and nearly fucking ruin our careers but she’s in love so who cares?” Hayes let out a string of curses and stood up again. “Sam’s dating children. Everyone is looking at us and expecting us to play better than we did before. Coach, Sam, the entire fucking school. Everything feels fucked right now and I’m doing my best to keep shit together but it isn’t easy.”
Cash and I both stared at him, surprised that he’d let so much slip. He normally kept his cards closer to his chest.
I looked away, feeling smaller than I ever wanted to. I knew I’d added to Hayes’ stress. I was drinking too much, doing shit I had no business doing. Despite Sam’s disgusting behavior the Ford name held a certain image and I was pushing limits right and left.
“Fucking hell.” Hayes rolled his eyes when I looked back at him in alarm. “The game. I’m talking about the game. Number eleven just body checked Casey John. She’s a vicious little thing. Who is that? She’s got skill.”
Cash and I were both glad to get away from the emotional shit. Cash found number eleven on the field and leaned forward. “Damn. She just juked our guy.”
We watched her play, mostly in silence, only commenting on how talented number eleven was. She was entertaining on the field, with a showmanship that would’ve been great during rival games. She didn’t just play hard, she taunted the guys on the other side of the line. I could see her motioning at them and then watched as they responded with their own taunts or catcalls. The catcallers got her shoulder to their chests as she charged past them.
“Seriously, who the fuck is she? She’s making me enjoy this shitshow.” Cash called down to one of our first-string teammates. “What’s the deal with number eleven?”
The guy shrugged. “She’s new, I guess.”
