The Revenge Pact (Kings of Football #1) - Ilsa Madden-Mills Page 0,99

in the library. It all happened so fast, and I was looking out for Donovan…then you showed up in my bedroom, and I figured out your name, and I knew I’d fucked up. Watching you with him nearly killed me, it did, and I pushed through, but that’s done. You, you…slay me, baby girl.”

Emotion whips at me, sneaking in and wrapping around my heart. A tear slips down my face, and he wipes it away.

“Ah, don’t cry.”

I fell for him a long time ago, the feeling born that moment in the library when he dropped his pen. The way he gazed at me, like he couldn’t take his eyes off me, the way he pretended to be reading a book. Oh, I tried to push him to the back of my mind, to forget him, because it was the right thing to do for Donovan, but I couldn’t. He’s always been part of my thoughts, lying in wait, itching to bubble to the surface. That feeling blossomed and grew solid the morning he shared the sunrise with me.

You stay gold, Anastasia, breathe every breath, read all the books, get into law school, fuck the haters, and stay beautiful.

Who says things like that? HE DOES.

He believes in me. Accepts me the way I am.

I’m in love with his random personality, the tender way he talks about his mom, his complexity as a person, his vulnerability, his three things that guide him…

The truth is, I never had these feelings for Donovan. This consuming need. This feeling of being connected by something bigger than me.

“I love you, Snake.” Another tear escapes and I bite my lip. “Sorry. It’s just…” I pause, circling back to some of what I think has been worrying him. “I know we haven’t spent a lot of time one on one, but we didn’t have to. Sometimes big moments happen in a heartbeat, like the library. I believe in destiny and fate, I do. Even when you pretended to hate me and wouldn’t look at me, my body knew the exact moment you got on the elevator behind me. I’m saying stuff that feels too soon, I know, and I don’t want to put pressure on you. I know you have enough, you do, and I do too, but things are moving fast, it’s the end of the term, and we feel so fragile, but…”

“But?”

“You and me? We’re going to stay gold—together. Can you see it?” My breath catches.

A slow smile curls his lips. “When all this is over, I’m going to tell you about a dream I had once about my dad—maybe not a dream, whatever—but yeah, I see it. Gold. It feels good, baby girl.” He kisses me soft and easy, taking his time, his tongue tangling with mine as my hands curl around his neck.

24

The next day, I head up the steps to class. I can’t stop smiling. There’s a girl in front of me, lingering on the steps. She’s wearing a mini skirt and heeled Chucks that match her hair. I slide in next to her, feeling the tingles at her proximity. We don’t speak, our hands brushing as we walk inside and head to the elevator.

I let her get on first, then follow. She slaps the button for our floor. I drop my bag, back her against the wall, and tilt her face up. We kiss, my lips eating at hers, my hunger ratcheting up, to feel all of her, to consume her. I want to take it slow, to savor us, but it’s hard.

We didn’t leave Carl’s until after three in the morning, all of us loopy with exhaustion. Anastasia was hesitant to go, but June was exhausted after a tour of the RV. Carl had it parked on the back of his property surrounded by trees. I knew about it because he’d told me about how he’s always wanted to drive it out west to find Area 51. It had been vacant for a while. Anastasia changed the sheets on the bed and shook out rugs while Carl, Benji, and I moved some of the comic books he’d stuck in there to his garage.

June was quiet, always watching, but I saw hope in her eyes, that look of It’s going to be okay. She worked out a deal with Carl for ‘rent.’ She said she’d keep a watch out for spaceships, and he said that would work. Is it a permanent place for her? Time will tell. It’s a good start, and