“Sure,” Zane replies. “We’ll leave a little before five, if that works.”
“Okay. Thanks. I’ll be ready.”
I make my way back to Slate’s room to pick up and grab my phone. When I pick up my phone, there’s a message waiting from Slater.
Slater-I haven’t slept that good and that long in a very long time. Thank you.
I can’t help but smile at his words. I text him back really quickly before he puts his phone away for his game.
Me-You’re welcome. Good luck on your game.I wait, but I don’t hear back from him. My guess is that he’s busy now. I reread his text and smile again. The next two hours pass quickly, and soon it’s time for all of us to load up to get to Slate’s game. I remember at the last minute that we won’t all fit in Zane’s truck. His only has four seats.
“Tessa, you can ride with Reid and me, if you want,” Quint offers.
Evie turns to me. “Is that okay? Zane has to run to his dad’s house for a few minutes, so we might be a little late. I know you won’t want to miss any of the game.”
She knows me too well. “Sure. We’ll save seats for you guys.”
“Thanks.”
She and Zane head to the door, and Quint turns to me. “Ready?”
“Yes. Let me just run to the bathroom really quickly.” I’ll be thankful when this week is done. This particular week always makes me emotional. I remind myself that hormones are just that, hormones.
A few minutes later, I'm sitting in the backseat of Quint’s car. It’s surprisingly pretty normal. It's a four-door SUV that’s really comfortable. “Reid, do you have a truck?” I ask.
He shakes his head. “No.”
“You two didn’t want to keep the truck theme going?” I ask.
“Trucks are gas guzzlers,” Quint says. “I’m happy with my vehicle; I get way better gas mileage.”
“Same,” Reid says.
“What kind of car does Riley drive?”
“Riley?” Quint asks. “Zane’s sister?”
I catch my mistake right away. “Yeah. I was curious if she followed in the same path as her older brother.” I glance at the back of Reid’s head, but he doesn’t respond. Thankfully, Quint continues on without picking up on anything. I forgot for a brief moment that nobody knows about Riley being Reid’s mate. Evie figured it out and told me, and we both swore to Reid we wouldn’t tell anybody. I glance out the window cringing at my mistake. Riley is Zane’s younger sister and Reid’s mate. Evie gave me all the details. Riley doesn’t know it yet. That's because she isn’t eighteen yet. She’ll know as soon as she turns eighteen; Reid found out when he turned eighteen a few years ago. She’ll be here at FMU next year, and Evie and I have already promised to look out for her. Of course, I guess she won’t need much looking out for if she shifts into a wolf. I’ll have to ask Reid if she’s a shifter. I would imagine she is, since her older brother is; but I really don’t know. I still don’t know everything there is to know about their world, although Slater has been imparting his knowledge to me on our walks during nighttime security shifts.
When we get to the game, it doesn’t take us long to get through security and then to the bleachers. I’m happy to see it’s pretty full since it’s a playoff game. It always makes me sad that the soccer games aren’t as well-attended as the football games. But today is looking a lot better. We save seats for Evie and Zane, and I watch the field, waiting for the team to come out. Only when I finally lay eyes on Slater, do I find myself relaxing. He looks zoned in and ready. I’m really hoping that sleep did him some good today. Quint must be thinking the same thing, because he turns to me. “I’m so glad you got him to sleep,Tessa. We’re always fighting him to get more sleep, but he is so stubborn.”
“Why doesn’t he sleep?”
Quint shrugs. “He’s just always struggled with sleeping. Apparently, you’re the magic cure,” he says, nudging my elbow.
I laugh. “Right.”
“I’m hungry; I’m going to go get some snacks,” he says as he stands. “Want anything?”
“I can’t; I’m too nervous.”
“Why are you nervous?” Quint asks.
I stare at him. “Because this is the quarterfinals. If they lose; they’re done.”
“They’re not going to lose,” Quint says in response.
“I know.”
