Page 48 of The Golden Receiver

“Bring it to my room.” He said it like it was the most obvious solution in the world. “Maybe I’ll actually do my reading for once. You can be a good influence on me.”

“Alright, but I have to read this chapter.”

That was non-negotiable. He agreed, and we went inside.

I got the chapter read, but only after many distractions.

Chapter Sixteen

Evander

We lost our next game.

It was an away game at a college three hours away, playing the team that had won the previous year’s championship. I didn’t know what to expect from Kieran after we lost, even if it wasn’t his fault. Reyes had gotten tackled at the last minute, ending a drive that could have won the game for us. But I still knew Kieran. He could get moody about things like that, and I was fully prepared to find him sitting alone in the front of the bus, glowering at anyone who dared to come close to him.

Including me or Marlon.

I was surprised when I got on the bus first and a few minutes later, he slid into the seat next to me. “I’d ask if I could sit by the window, but you might want to roll down the window and put your head out,” he teased.

“I don’t do that!” I told him with a laugh loud enough that the people sitting three rows in front of us turned around to see what was going on.

I’d done it once when I was a kid, about six months after I’d joined the pack. I’d seen a dog do it when we were driving somewhere, and the dog looked like he was having the time of his life. I wanted to see if it was the same for werewolves.

It wasn’t.

There was no reason for Kieran to ever hear that story.

“Then you have no problem with me taking the window seat?”

“Normally, I’d say no, but I might have an uncontrollable urge to stick my head out the window.”

I was rewarded with a small smile. Mission accomplished. I was almost willing to give him the window seat after that, but it was a matter of principle now.

Kieran and I got comfortable in our seats while the rest of the team piled onto the bus. It took about fifteen minutes before we were on the way, driving into the night. The first twenty minutes or so on the ride was pretty quiet. I think we were all a little disappointed in ourselves for losing that game, even if we had gone in as the underdogs. But slowly, conversations started around us.

I looked over at Kieran, thinking that maybe I could draw him into conversation. What I saw was not encouraging me to try to get him to talk. His lips were in a straight line, and I could see the tension in his jaw. His shoulders were square, and his posture was incredibly rigid. Without thinking, I rested a hand on his thigh. I could feel the tension there, too.

And then I felt his muscles begin to relax.

His hand covered mine. It rested there for a second, and then he pulled it away. His head swiveled to the left and right, like he was making sure no one was looking. Did he think… Oh my god, did he think I was about to start something? Right there on the bus?

I mean, I could get the appeal, but a three-hour bus ride with my teammates chattering in the background did not sound like the smartest place in the world to get freaky. I had a feeling Coach Shaw would have something to say about it. I knew some of my teammates would. Judging by the panic in Kieran’s eyes, he might have something to say about it too. I wanted to tell him to relax, that I wasn’t trying anything, but how could I?

Someone might overhear, and we’d never talked about any kind of comfort levels with letting the rest of the team know that we’d been hooking up.

I pulled my hand away.

“You okay?” he asked, his voice quiet.

I nodded. “You looked like you were freaking out,” I whispered back. I leaned in closer. I knew it wouldn’t make anything less likely to be overheard, but it felt like it would. “I wasn’t trying to start something.”

“I know,” he told me quietly.

I wasn’t sure if I believed him, but I chose not to argue it. Especially not when he reached down and took my hand. He lifted it and placed it right back where it was on his thigh, offering me the smallest smile in the process. I didn’t know what it meant, but I knew that the only thing that would make me move my hand now was him physically moving it off him.

I liked it there.

Kieran seemed to like it, too. He relaxed a little when it was there, and that was what mattered.