The Revenge Pact (Kings of Football #1) - Ilsa Madden-Mills Page 0,96
her and she says yes, she’s seen her before, but not tonight.
“Try Big Star,” I murmur as I get back in the truck.
We leave and drive the two miles to the grocery store, my eyes scouring the sidewalks and businesses along the way, wishing it weren’t so late.
Big Star is closed with no cars in the parking lot. River drives up and down the front of the building, then goes to the back. He stops and parks and I’m out of the car, checking behind a dumpster and under the loading docks. He helps me, running from one place to the other. He slips once on the ice and I wince, but he rights himself and sends me a smile. “Can’t catch a ball this year, but I’ve got great balance.”
We’re on our way back to the truck when he throws an arm around me and pulls me underneath one of the overhangs from the store. “Don’t worry, I know this town inside out.”
“I can’t go on the ski trip until she’s safe.”
He nods. “We’ll look all day tomorrow if we don’t find her. I’ll skip the trip and fly home from here. I won’t rest until she’s safe, Anastasia.”
A wave of emotion slams into me as I look at him.
He doesn’t have to know June; he just cares.
Tears prick at my eyes.
“What?” he asks softly.
I swallow thickly. “Aren’t you going to ask me why I came to the Kappa house?”
A hesitant look crosses his face. “I was waiting until we found June.”
I crane my neck to take him in, the chiseled jawline, those sapphire eyes dipped in smoke. “He called me to apologize. He wanted it public, and those guys are important to me. I wanted them to hear. That house has felt like home to me for a year. It does me no good to dwell on how he broke up with me.” I pause. “He offered to go to Brooklyn Law. He said he’d go against his parents and work on us…”
“How do you feel about that?” He studies me intently.
The answer is automatic. “Bad for him. I never considered it, River, not even a little. He isn’t mine.” I hold his eyes, wanting to be sure he understands where I stand on this. “He and I, we never would have lasted, with or without your interference. You gave him good advice. You feel guilty because you had a motive.”
A few seconds pass.
“Did you touch him?” he growls.
“No. We said goodbye, and I gave him his pin.”
He breathes out slowly. “I see.”
Do you?
I don’t think River really gets how I feel.
Even now, I’m terrified of the strong emotions I’m experiencing.
From the moment I met him, something shifted in my heart—and never left.
“He isn’t the person I’m meant to be with.”
He looks away from me for a moment then comes back to me. “Okay.”
“It’s you, River, it’s you,” I say softly.
“Okay.”
“If you say okay one more time—”
He kisses me, ravaging my mouth, rough and hard. His lips are rough, his tongue stroking, sucking, and taking. His mouth slants over mine, slick and hot, and I groan, my hands snaking around his neck. His go under my skirt and pulls me up as my legs go around his waist. His lips, his scent, his strong arms, his every touch…it’s home, home, home.
Benji lays on the horn and we pull apart. River presses a kiss to my forehead. “It’s cold out here. Come on. Let’s find your grandma.”
By the time midnight arrives and we still haven’t found her, I’m biting my nails.
I look out the window as we pull up at Henning Park. “She mentioned coming here with Oscar,” I tell them.
Benji is still animal-sitting, so River and I bundle up and split up as we walk the park. The streetlights don’t illuminate the area well, so River pulls out two flashlights from a tool chest in the back of his truck. I head for the monkey bars to the right side while he goes left toward the hill we climbed last week. I call out June’s name and hear him doing the same.
A few minutes later, he shouts my name, and I take off running through the wet grass.
He’s next to a snack area. It’s a small building, obviously locked up, but there’s a bit of an overhang and a small form is huddled there, her head bent down as she clutches her knees to her chest.
Relief comes so swiftly I have to grasp my chest. “June,” I say