Chapter 29
***Cass***
It didn’t take me very long to push everything from my brain but the game.
By the final whistle I was a Texas fan. I was just another person in the stadium cheering like crazy when it ended and our team had come out on top.
It wasn’t just the win, though, it was the guys.
It would’ve been easy to hate the Ford brothers for who they were but seeing them play when I knew what Weston and Hayes had been through showed me a different side of them.
Sure, they were Texas football royalty but they’d fought for it. They deserved the hype.
I spun around, watching the stadium go wild, and caught a glimpse of the cheer team down the field.
A punch of sadness hit me. And loneliness.
Painful, gut-wrenching loneliness. All around me people were celebrating together, hugging and high-fiving.
Cheer wasn’t anything I’d ever truly wanted to do but it’d become a source of belonging for me.
Without it, I felt like the biggest loser in the whole state of Texas.
Just when I thought I should probably leave I was swept up from behind by a pair of big, sweaty arms. “Did you see that, Strawberry?!”
The sense of relief I felt was so huge that I instantly let out a wild laugh. Hayes tossed me in the air and then spun me around so I was facing him. He had black paint streaking down his face and his hair was stuck to his head with sweat but he had the biggest, best smile on his face.
“I saw! You guys did amazing!” I laughed again when he spun us around. “Hayes!”
He gripped me under my thighs and then crushed his mouth over mine. It was fast and I came away feeling like I was probably stained black but without a care in the world. I was still grinning down at him when Cash snatched me from his brother.
“My turn, sweet girl.” He pulled me in for a kiss that ended with us both smiling, faces still pressed together. “Think you might be our good luck charm.”
I ran my hands through his hair and shook my head. “Just pure, raw talent and drive. I’m so impressed.”
“With me, too?” Weston wrapped his arms around me from behind and pulled me away from Cash.
I twisted so I was facing him and stretched up to offer myself up and he didn’t waste his chance.
He gripped my head tight and kissed me like the world was ending.
The chaos around us faded for the few seconds he was consuming me.
It made me hungry for more and to kiss both Hayes and Cash again the same way.
When he pulled away I slowly realized there were cameras all around us and flashes going off close enough that my vision dimmed. The roar of the stadium came rushing back to me and I realized it was for show. The kiss, the hugging, the way they’d run to me… It was part of the PR plan.
Interviewers appeared to check in with the guys and I forced a smile and stood there with them like everything was fine, like I didn’t feel like a fool.
My heart was a tender thing in my chest with no idea that there was a masked killer standing behind it, breathing heavily and waving a knife back and forth.
It was definitely the type of heart that would go towards the scary sound.
By the time the interviews were over my face ached from forcing a smile and I had a splitting headache. More than anything I wanted to go home. I wanted to crawl into my bed and hide.
“Hey, we’ll get cleaned up and then meet you at the truck.” Hayes pulled me off to the side and it was clear from how wide his smile was that he felt amazing after playing a good game without any issues.
I wanted to feel that happy, and I had for a while, but I was done for the day. “I can find my own way home. Don’t worry about it.”
He laughed and shook his head. “Nope. Sorry. You’re not going home yet, Strawberry. There’s always a huge field party after the first game of the season. It’s tradition. You’re going.”
I wanted to throw a fit but I managed to keep my composure while shaking my head back at him. “No, no. I’m tired, Hayes. You guys go and have a blast. You’re the stars tonight. You deserve the spotlight. Alone. Without me.”
“Am I going to have to hunt you down after I hit the locker room?” He walked forward while I backed up and only stopped when I hit the bottom wall of the stands. Bracing his hands on the wall behind me, he leaned down and brushed his nose over mine. “Cassidy? Say you’ll go.”
I didn’t have to work that hard to find a frown. Even when he was being cute. Maybe especially when he was being cute because I knew it was for the cameras. “I can’t. Also, you stink. I don’t want your funk all over me.”
His grin stretched wider. “Liar. I think you like it.”
Damn him. Maybe I did but he didn’t get to know that. And it wasn’t just his sweat that I wanted to get more of. All the Ford brothers emitted some serious pheromones. “I don’t think anyone’s watching, Hayes.”
He blinked a few times and frowned slightly before moving back. “Right.”
I wondered how horribly my stomach could hurt from all the stress before the acid ate through my body. “Go party, nerd. Have fun. You deserve it.”
With a hard shake of his head he grabbed me and pulled me close. “If you’re not by the truck when we get out there I’m coming to find you.”
“I’m not dressed for a party, Hayes.” At least I didn’t think I was.
“Not an issue.” He let me go and started backing away. “Be there, nerd.”
“Not going to happen.”
“It’s happening.”
I watched him back into someone and laughed as he apologized and helped them up. I watched until he disappeared into the tunnel and left me standing there staring after him just like so many other fans standing around. Blowing out a sharp exhale, I turned and left through the opposite tunnel.