Preston is my boyfriend.”
I didn’t even know what to say. “I didn’t know you were into men,” I said eventually, shrugging.
He smiled then, glancing over at Preston, who was doing hamstring stretches at the side of the pitch. “I’m into him.” A sigh escaped him. “Really, really fucking into him. I asked him to keep it quiet. It was all new to me, you know? But—” He broke off and waved Preston over. When Preston reached us, Kian stepped forwards and put his arm around Preston’s waist, then planted a hard, possessive kiss on his lips. Preston stumbled in shock, but then a huge smile spread across his face. A couple of the guys on the team wolf-whistled in the background.
“I take it the secret’s out?” Preston looked between me and Kian, and I couldn’t help grinning. The news had shocked me, mainly because I’d never had any inkling of Kian being into guys, let alone being in an actual relationship. A relationship with anyone, for that matter. But looking at them right now, anyone could see how happy they were together, and that was enough for me. Kian was one of my best mates, and he deserved happiness, and Preston was a good guy.
“I’m happy for you both,” I told them, and I meant it. “How long has this been going on?”
It was Kian who answered me. “Since Fright Night.”
Now it was my turn to smirk. “I wasn’t the only one to have a secret hook-up over Halloween, then.” Kian grinned at me, and I returned it, suddenly feeling lighter.
We continued the second half of training, and somehow my unexpectedly serious conversation with Kian had helped more than anything else had so far. My concentration was back, and the team gelled, working together instinctively. We didn’t always manage it, but when we did, it was pure magic. We were untouchable, unstoppable.
I kept an eye on Kian and Preston until practice was over and we’d showered and headed to our cars, needing to make sure there’d be no trouble from any of our teammates after their announcement. After seeing how no one on the team seemed to have a problem with Kian coming out as openly being with Preston, or at least, not to his face, I realised something. We were the kings of the school. We had power. People wouldn’t dare to go up against us—they didn’t want to risk a drop to the bottom of the food chain. If Raine wanted to be with me, I’d protect her. Shield her from any hurt. Try my fucking hardest to make it better.
My head was clear for the first time in weeks, and I knew what I had to do. First, I needed to have a talk with my dad. Next, I needed to check out what exactly was going on with Raine and Cassius Drummond. And then…then, I needed to come up with a plan to make Raine Laurent realise that she was mine.
33
“I really don’t want to do this,” I muttered under my breath as I reluctantly opened the door of Imogen’s car. To say I’d been completely shocked when she’d invited me to go with her to watch the football match was an understatement. Aside for the fact that we’d never actively hung out before outside of school, she was most definitely part of Carter’s group of friends, and therefore not someone who would ever choose to hang out with me. Carter and I… I closed my eyes briefly. The photo hadn’t worked. He’d kept his distance from me all week, not even sparing me a look despite my constant glances in his direction.
Imogen had cornered me after drama club on Monday and asked me how I was doing, with all the gossip that had been flying around the school about Cassius Drummond, and I’d told her nothing was going on and Cassius and I were just friends. She’d made it a point to come over and talk to me all through the school week, just little moments here and there, but I really appreciated the gesture.
Anyway, all this had ended up with me agreeing to go to the football game with her. Lena had flat-out refused to come, but she’d encouraged me to go. Maybe I was being a masochist, but the thought of seeing Carter in his element, running all over the field, was a mental image that I definitely wanted to replace with the real thing.
Unfortunately, what I hadn’t realised was that I was