his silence, I kicked him in the junk. The next day, he got his revenge by telling everyone I was so poor I dug food out of the trash can.
The guy was a waste of oxygen, clearly, but the food… Goddess, the food! Oh, how I missed the way his dad buttered and toasted the buns on the nights he worked concession.
“Adelaide?”
Fixing a smile on my face, I pivoted toward the voice. “Yes?”
“You don’t remember me?” A red-cheeked woman laughed. “We had homeroom together for years.”
“Ah. Yes. Right.” I snapped my fingers like I remembered instead of blanking. “How have you been?”
“Oh, you know how it is. You graduate, get married, start having kids. Where does the time go?”
No, not really. “Do you have a kid on the team?”
“We’re not that old.” She made sure to include me in her statement. “I teach sophomore math. I’m here to support the team.” She made a fist and raised it overhead. “Go Hornets!”
“Yeah.” I mimicked her. “Go team, go!”
“I haven’t seen you since graduation.” She glanced to either side of me. “What are you doing here?”
“I saw the lights and got nostalgic,” I lied. “I thought I might buy a burger or pom-poms or something.”
“The spirit booth is just over there.” She pointed to a gathering of women. “I’m working it tonight.”
“Oh great.” I eased past her before she hauled me to vomit money in her booth. “See you later.”
“I can’t believe I forgot to ask.” She pressed a hand to her heart. “How is your sister?”
Aside from kindergarten and half of first grade, Hadley hadn’t attended public school. No classmates remembered her, aside from her being the sick kid, but she rode with Mom to pick me up whenever she felt up to it. She smiled and waved, glad to see other kids, but I always had to hear the next day that my little sister was a freak.
Probably why I got into so many fights in school.
Which explained why bounty hunting felt like a natural fit for me careerwise.
Oh well.
“Hadley is…” I cleared my throat and stuck to the script Boaz and I agreed on, “…great.”
“I’m glad to hear she’s doing better.”
The tingle that announced yet another vampire left me antsy to get away from her.
“I should go.” I hooked a thumb toward the stands. “Find a good spot on the bleachers.”
“You do that.” She beamed. “Come see me at halftime about those pom-poms.”
“I’ll do that.”
Winking, she leaned in. “They’re half off then.”
“I…” I gritted my teeth at the subtle reminder of my poverty. “Thanks.”
“Oh, there you are.” Cass strolled up from behind the woman whose name I had yet to recall, captured my face between her palms, and kissed me long and slow. “I was getting worried.”
“Cass,” I hissed, ready to spit nails. “Knock it off.”
Hand to her throat, the woman backed away. “I’ll just let you two get back to…”
“You do that.” Cass flicked her hand. “Go on.”
The woman scurried away, thoroughly scandalized, and I glowered at Cass until she dropped her hands.
“It got rid of her, didn’t it?”
“You didn’t have to put on a show for that.”
“No,” she allowed, “but I do love performing for a crowd, and she was being rude.”
The weight of curious eyes on my shoulders hunched them. “I hate you.”
“Don’t be such a prude.” She wrapped an arm around my waist and tucked me against her side. “It was one harmless little kiss. I barely used any tongue. Besides, you can’t tell me you honestly care what these people think of you.”
“I’m engaged, Cass.”
“So you continue to remind me.”
“I can’t put on free shows with you in public without the risk of it getting back to him.”
“With a reputation like his, I doubt he would blink at his fiancée bringing a friend to the party.” She studied me. “For sex.”
“I get it.” I swatted at her. “You don’t have to break it down for me. So loudly. And in public.”
Leaning in, she smiled, slow and wicked. “I worry all that virginity is clogging your ears.”
Again, the temptation to yank her ponytail itched my fingers. “Did you find anything?”
“Other than you rekindling old friendships?”
“Yes, aside from that.”
“No.” She thinned her lips as we started walking. “There are several vampires in attendance, but they had the poor taste to wear booster shirts in public, so I must assume their wards are enrolled at this school.”
Most vampires in rural parts of the country blended with humans in order to survive. They kept their clans small, their