Even from this distance, I can see the exact moment she notices me.
Her green eyes lift and lock with mine.
Everything inside my chest tightens so violently it almost knocks the breath from my lungs.
Livingston Rhodes is the most beautiful person I’ve ever seen in my life.
I’ve imagined this moment for years.
This isn’t the first time I’ve seen her, but it’s the first time she’s seen me, and nothing prepared me for the reality of it.
I can tell by the way she’s looking at me that she recognizes me on some level. I didn’t expect her to instantly recall the boy she met one time a decade ago, but the fact that she doesn’t, levels me in a way I didn’t expect. My girl is completely unaware of the way she owns every violent corner of my mind.
A defender slams into my side, and I barely feel it.
My entire focus is on my songbird.
I’m obsessed with the way her eyes widen slightly as he looks at me. Her lips part like she’s trying to figure out why the hell I’m staring at her like this.
Because you belong to me, baby.
“Vale!”
Jeremy’s voice snaps me back into the game.
The ball drops into my hands again.
I explode forward.
A defender grabs for my jersey, but I shove him off and cut hard to the left. Another player dives low at my legs, and I step over him before slamming into their defensive line like a wrecking ball.
They bring me down eventually.
They always do.
But I gain another ten meters before they manage it.
When I roll onto my back, I glance toward the crowd again.
Livy is still watching.
Still staring straight at me like she’s as haunted as I am.
The thought settles deep in my chest like gasoline on an open flame.
The next play resets fast.
Jeremy crouches beside the ruck, ready to pull the ball out again.
Kalen calls the next formation and some jackass on my team that I only know as McGuire jogs past me during the play. The field is loud, guys shouting, cleats tearing through the turf, but all of that is muted when he leans in just enough that only I can hear him.
“Dibs on the shy blonde watching us,” McGuire says, smiling like he hasn’t just signed his own death warrant. He thinks this is a fucking game. He thinks I won’t spend my night breaking every bone in his body. He has no idea the connections I have, the places I can dispose of a body even in a country I’ve lived infor such a short while. In this life, it’s never what you do, it’s who you know. I know this asshole would piss himself if he saw the fucking contact list I’ve built over the years with protecting Livy in mind.
I already knew he meant Livy before the sentence was fully out of his mouth. He can’t come back from this. I don’t give a fuck if he’s just messing around or if he thinks he’s being quirky or cute. Everyone’s got an expiration date, but his just got exponentially shorter.
I’m not surprised he noticed my interest in Livy. I’ve been aware of her since the moment she stepped up to the sideline. The way she stands a little apart from the others. The way her eyes keep drifting back to me when she thinks no one is looking. Everything she’s doing or isn’t doing has my entire body on fire. I’m sure it shows, but he should have minded his own fucking business.
He’s been a pain in my ass since I arrived at St. Killian. Always chirping. Always trying to prove something. He probably saw me having a staring contest with my girl and now he thinks he can use her to irritate me.
