The Revenge Pact (Kings of Football #1) - Ilsa Madden-Mills Page 0,70

Harvard or maybe, um, I don’t know, apply to Brooklyn Law at the last minute.”

What?

I mean I knew his revelation was coming, but fuck me, it feels fast.

“You don’t sound sure, Donovan.”

He chews on his lips. “Hard to give up a dream, man, but I love her—”

“I need to call my sister,” I growl, stopping on the sidewalk.

“Okay,” Benji says as they stop with me. His eyes dart between us. “Come on, let’s hit the student center,” he says to Donovan.

“Hey. Are you okay?” Donovan grabs my arm, studying my face.

No.

My mom is sick.

I don’t know my future.

And guilt eats at me for what I did to them.

Without answering, I turn around and walk in the opposite direction. “Catch you guys later.”

And then I’m gone, running, running…

18

How’s it going? I write in my text to River as I come out of the shower. I’m going to see him in a few hours, but a yearning is there to check in and see how he is. It’s Tuesday and we’ve already checked off two sessions, one in the library and the one in his room.

Where he rejected me. Kind of.

Yeah, I was testing the waters.

He wouldn’t stop staring at my lips.

What else was I supposed to think?

Something is there.

It’s just…

A tiny thread was born at the sunrise, something real and tangible, and I want to see where it leads.

He sat next to me in class Monday, his leg pressed against mine, his hands tapping out a beat only he could hear. I watched the flash of his ring, taking in the silver, wondering what it would feel like to have those hands on my skin, sliding into my hair, up my thighs, parting my legs, then I was down a rabbit hole of him kissing me.

Heat washed over me, and I had to look away from the visceral pull of him, his magnetic aura that sucks me into his orbit. I brushed my arm against his more than I should have. I smiled at him. I honest to God have no clue what Whitman talked about. It’s like we have a secret, a little thing between us that only we know—or maybe it’s just me.

We left class and he walked me to my next one. I couldn’t tell you one person we passed or saw. We talked about Lady Chatterley’s Lover, his football season, his mom, his sister, his niece, and Crazy Carl. Turns out, he digs him as much as I do. I explained how anxious I was when I first came to Braxton, my first foray into a true campus with people my own age. It’s like… I wanted to tell him a whole year’s worth of things about me, trying to catch him up.

We walked slow, dragging out the minutes, and he stared at my lips when we said goodbye. And when I got inside my building, I looked out the window, and he was still standing at the bottom of the steps.

I wasn’t kidding about that connection.

Five minutes pass, then another before a ping comes in on my phone, and I wonder if he’s checking his spelling or using speech-to-text to reply. Dyslexia might make texting difficult.

Wrote intro. Stayed up late after our session. Be amazed when I meet you tonight.

A long sigh comes from me as I tighten the sash on my robe. A smile curls my lips as I sprawl back on my bed. You wow me already, River. You’re kind in small ways I don’t think others see, and you’re intelligent, not only intellectually, but emotionally. He’s tuned in, and when he talks about his three things, it makes my heart skip. I want to reply with all of that, but, well, I shouldn’t.

I prop my pillows up against the bed and impulsively FaceTime him. He doesn’t answer.

Where are you? I send.

Home.

Then why can’t he answer his phone?

Five more minutes pass.

Are you ignoring me because you’re “getting rid of a headache”?

Crickets.

I have some questions. How do you feel about sex on the first date? You know, for my rebound. Personally, I’ve never had a one-night stand, but my life is a little wacky right now. I could be persuaded.

Since the party, my filter has gone up in smoke.

He’s skating a razor’s edge too.

Monday in the elevator with River, when the Deltas got on, he plastered himself to my side like a guard. We leaned against the back wall and he ignored the girls, even Audrey, who kept looking over her shoulder at him with