“You guys are a mess,” she mutters, surveying the damage.
“Tell me about it,” Shelby says, not even trying to hide the wince in her voice.
She turns to Seth. “I saw the video online and got back from my parents as soon as I could.”
“As I said on the phone, I’m fine. Got hit in the ribs, but they aren’t too bad,” he reassures her.
“Did you get hit where you were already injured?” she says, her hand grazing over his upper chest.
“Must have.”
She frowns in worry.
“Seriously, I’m fine. Come home with me after this, and I’ll prove to you that I’m still in perfect working order,” he says, flashing her a quick, depraved look.
She blushes because she isn’t like most girls. She is shy, doesn’t drink or do drugs, and is easily embarrassed. But overall, she’s a really cool chick, and I get what Seth sees in her.
“Okay,” she agrees, turning back to look at the rest of us. Her black hair falls around her face as Seth slides his arm around her shoulder and pulls her in close to his body.
“Geez,” she lets out again, looking around at all of the black-and-blue faces.
“I have a boo-boo here…” Mitch points to his busted knuckles. “Can you kiss it better,” he says, holding it out toward her, mocking her concern.
“Fuck off, Mitch!” she says, rolling her eyes at him and pushing his hand back across his side of the table. Georgina can also be a little firecracker and knows how to handle the guys. She knows the group well and spends a lot of time around us even though she and Seth aren’t actually dating—his choice, not hers.
Mitch laughs at her reply as the waitress drops off platefuls of food to our table, refilling our coffee and eyeing our injuries. Christian and Seth both ordered for the girls, and it isn’t long before we are all scraping the last of the food off our plates. I throw back Advil that Georgina grabs out of her bag, watching it get passed around the table, and now I’m ready for my afternoon classes.
Seth clears his throat from the head of the booth, and I follow his line of sight to the group of girls walking in. Rachel. The whole table looks, and I’m thankful she doesn’t notice us as she slides down onto her chair. “Way to be subtle, guys,” I say, sipping at my drink.
Lewis shrugs. “She intrigues me. A woman who actively and repeatedly has turned you down and avoids you like the plague, I like her.”
“Yeah, well, I said some pretty shitty things,” I say, dragging my eyes away from her.
“I heard Mullins asked her out,” Mitch says, shoveling his last spoonful into his mouth.
Well, that got my attention. “What?” I ask in anger, choking on some of my drink, my fingers tightening around my cup. That son of a bitch. I introduced him to Rachel on New Year’s night asmy fucking girl.
Mitch finishes the last of his coffee. “That’s what I heard; don’t shoot the messenger!”
“I’m going to break his face,” the words roll out of mouth so easy, so primal, like a possessive caveman over a woman who wants nothing to do with me.
“Not on my watch,” Christian says, looking at me from across the table.
I glare back at him. “Are you telling me this as my best friend, or as captain of the team?”
“Both,” he says back without hesitation, his gray eyes deadly serious.
I shake my head at him, agitation radiating through my body. I know he is right, but right now I’m just angry.
What a shitty thing to do from a friend and teammate.
28
Rachel
“The fight was full on! Police were called, and I heard some people got taken to the hospital,” Jade says from beside me as we walk across the grass toward the café for brunch.
The numerous videos of the fight made me nauseous, and in every video, you could see Randy rolling around on the ground as fists flew. Seth got his shirt ripped, but hit a guy so hard he fell straight to the ground. Christian with his not yet fully healed shoulder swinging punches like a mad person, and it wasn’t just the Raptors. Merrick broke his thumb, and Travis got a busted lip; plus, whoever else was at the party who was sober enough to fight.
