that jackass on the Ludares field today,” Flint answers. “You owned his ass before it was done. He was clucking long before Macy turned him into a chicken.”
“We owned all their asses today,” Eden says right before shoving half a piece of pizza into her mouth. “Every single one.”
“But seriously? Best play of the game has to go to Macy. Not only did she save dear Xavier’s life, but did everyone see Cole’s tiny chicken body plop to the ground and cluck around for what felt like the happiest ten seconds of my life?” Mekhi laughs so hard, there are tears in his eyes. “And close second is when Grace was just flying down the field with Cole hanging off her foot.” He brings his fingers and thumb together to mimic Cole biting me.
“Oh yeah,” I tell him, totally deadpan, as the others crack up. “That was sooo hilarious.”
“Maybe not for you,” Jaxon tells me with the grin that always sets butterflies off in my stomach. “But it was pure gold for the rest of us.”
“I actually really liked it when you turned Seraphina to stone,” Eden tells me. “It was the coolest move I’ve ever seen on a Ludares field.”
“Yeah, it was,” Flint agrees. “And did you see when…”
He keeps talking, while I turn to Jaxon beside me. “Are all dragons such braggarts?” I whisper.
“You haven’t seen anything.” He doesn’t bother to whisper as he rolls his eyes. “Once Flint gets going, it takes hours to wind him back down again.”
“I’m not a cuckoo clock, you know,” Flint tells him, and though he’s wearing that goofy grin of his, there’s a flash of something that looks an awful lot like hurt there, too. “You can’t actually wind me up.”
“It’s not the winding up I’m interested in,” Jaxon responds, and suddenly I feel really awful, as I can’t help thinking about what Flint told me on the field this morning.
“Anybody need another drink?” I ask as I stand and head over to the table near the window. Eden and Flint both ask for a soda, while Macy requests a sparkling water.
I take my time gathering everything up, mostly because I need a minute before I head back over there.
I get that Flint doesn’t think I’ve connected the dots, and I know his heart is breaking over Jaxon, but there’s a part of me that wishes he hadn’t chosen me to be that person there for him this morning. Jaxon’s my mate. How am I supposed to feel except guilty as hell that he’s hurting and I’m the reason? Especially since they’ve known each other way longer than Jaxon and I have.
I’m the interloper. I’m the one who came along and probably messed everything up in Flint’s mind. But what am I supposed to do? Just give up my mate? I couldn’t even if I wanted to, and I most definitely don’t want to. Which leaves us where? With me breaking one of my closest friends’ hearts just by existing? Or me watching while he breaks that heart on Jaxon over and over again?
It’s awful just to think about, my soul hurting for Flint in a way that makes me ache deep down inside. I just wish there was something, anything I could do to make this better.
“There’s nothing,” Hudson says in a surprisingly serious voice as he walks over and flops down against the wall next to Jaxon’s bedroom, about as far from the group as he can possibly get and still be in the same room. I’d wondered where he went during the game, figured maybe he’d stayed away so I could focus. But now, I stare at the dark circles under his eyes, the fatigue hunching his shoulders, the hollowness in his cheeks, making his cheekbones look even sharper.
My chest is so tight, I can barely breathe. I glance from him to Jaxon, who is laughing at something Mekhi is saying, the picture of health and energy, and then at Hudson, gaunt and exhausted. And I know Jaxon wasn’t the one giving me his energy on the field. It was Hudson.
I’m about to mention it when I see his expression shift. He doesn’t want me to make a big deal about it…so I don’t.
Instead, I forget the drinks and walk over to where Hudson is and sit down next to him. I want to send him some of my energy, but I know he won’t accept it. So instead, I pick up our conversation again.