"He's insane. How many times do I have to tell him to leave?"
"Look at me, Ella." Maddox's deep voice soothed at my frazzled... everything.
I stopped before I collided with him.
He tipped my chin. My whole body vibrated, but his hold on me…
"I'll protect you."
And he had. He'd kept his promises, spent nights on the couch "like a gentleman."How much worse would it've been if we'd slept together, andthenhe?—
A rushed breath caught in my throat. I found him again with my eyes. He stared back.
Did you leave that night because you wereprotectingme?
Back on the field, Sato found out what "not allowed to block" actually meant, and had to settle for being a glaring, immovable roadblock. The rest of us ran around pulling flags and trying to pick off Seager's throws.
He threw a long ball from the center of the field to Nixie, a freshman basketball player, in the endzone. Their scoring drive inspired banging and cheering from thestands. The sound was tame compared to packed stadium nights, but the fans made a good effort.
"Woo! Heck yeah!" The freshman team bounded around, splashing in the mud and muck. Their girls performed a coordinated touchdown dance.
"Ridic," Liesl groaned.
"Stop delaying the game!" Seager banged his cleats on the metal bench along the sideline. It rattled and clattered and hummed. "Go dance somewhere else. Or do us all a favor and stick to something you’re actually good at."
"Um, he does know that’shisteam, right?" Kanami arched an eyebrow.
Quinn shivered. "Maybe if we stood next to him, we could get some of the hot air he’s putting off?"
I couldn’t help but laugh.
"Line up on D, let's go!" Seager stomped on the bench again.
The game continued, our teams evenly matched. We were only down by six points at halftime—an event which held its own spectacle.
Misha led a group from both teams, including her "giant cinnamon roll," in a truly inspired cheer routine. The large man in the center of the line threw off all aesthetics, and no one could possibly see anyone else. Just him gyrating, going through the same snappy dance moves as the female stand-in cheer squad.
"Sato can really move his hips with some sass." I sipped from my water jug.
"You’re not dancing?" Maddox’s voice snuck up behind me. It hit that familiar note that reverberated through my ribs—at first warming, then chilling my insides.
I shut my eyes, waiting for the achy fluttering to pass. "I’m not nearly the dancer he is."
"Pretty sure he’s broken laws in several states moving like that."
I snickered. "Maybe just the laws of physics."
"Fair."
I didn’t dare turn around. My senses amped up on high alert, I could've sworn I felt the heat from his skin hovering inches away. My heart hammered, and it was all I could do to stay where I was.Don't look at him.
The halftime show lost its rhythm, morphing into Misha dirty dancing with Sato. Cat calls and shenanigans ensued. I laughed at the group, feeling tension and the still-present ache finally dissipate. I pivoted and almost ran right into Maddox.
He caught my arm before I could walk away. "Can we talk after the game?"
"Funny."
He shook his head. "I wasn't joking."
