Chapter 71
CONNOR
Fuck.
Fuck Theo Brennan.
Fuck him and his perfect smile, and for being the motherfucker who knows exactly how to set my pulse racing.
As I pick up speed, feeding off the roar of the stadium and pumping sound system, I find my way to the spot just in front of our goalposts. I’m keeping my eyes firmly on the grass beneath my feet, keeping my vision in check, because right now, all I see is her.
All I see is the number 13.
He knew what he was doing, perfectly lighting a fire in my veins as soon as I saw that text from Theo. One with her and a jersey on. A cascade of silky blonde hair tied up high, and yet it’s not my number she’s wearing.
My girl is at my game, wearing a jersey for the very first time, and it’s not mine.
That crafty bastard knows how to make my competitive animal come out to play.
All he had to do was send that image, and he knew just how much it would fuel me.
He’s already well aware just how much I’m low-key jealous of their bond.
Right now, Theo Brennan is playing a very calculated game, and I can’t hate him for it.
I can’t hate him, because I like it too much. I like him too much.
This isn’t the moment to get lost in thoughts of what we are, or aren’t, because he gave me one vital piece of information.
Scouts.
I might not be in the running for national team selection like Ace, but if there’s a prospect of international scouts being here, I’m damn grateful Theo has done the one thing he knows will galvanize me into a whole new level.
He’s poured jet fuel into my veins and lit the match to send me blazing across this pitch from the minute the referee signals kickoff until deep into overtime long after the final hooter if necessary.
Have I ever felt this keyed up? Like I could take on this whole team single-handed?
Goddamn, does Wren look stunning. I know I’d fall to my knees seeing her in a jersey for the first time, but the fact that it’s Ace’s is hot as fuck. Hotter than I ever pictured it being.
What it does make clear is that one day I want it to be my fucking number. Green looks incredible on Wren Murphy, but one thing I know for certain is that Scottish blue would be a spectacular match for her eyes.
If that doesn’t give me a reason to show any scout out there that I’m the number one pick for national honors, I can’t think of any bigger reason to put on the show of my career.
I’m craving the closeness and way of being able to feel my girl at all times.
I crouch down on my haunches to touch the faint dew of nightfall clinging to the grass. The spotlights hit, and flares blast flames high into the sky in time with the pulsing beat. As I rub my palms together, my gaze drags up in the direction of the box where I know Wren will be.
I wonder what she’s thinking right now? This is one of the moments I wish I could feel her.
A jolt of yearning for my own mate bond with her.
My thoughts are clear, my focus is lasered in, but I’m struck by a vision from last night.
Having her in my arms, soft and sleepy, dangling somewhere on the precipice of dreaming.
The moment I brushed a thumb over the site of her bond mark from Theo, and she shuddered, eyes glassy with emotion I desperately wished I could feel as she stared up at me.
“I want that with you too…” Wren’s whisper and tiny smile were enough to leave me feeling like I could fly. “But I know it has to be the right timing.”
My heavy exhale was followed by a kiss to the tip of her nose. “I want that more than anything, Bambi. I want the air to be clear. When I bond with you, I don’t want anything lingering over us. It’s not an if, or maybe, it’s a when.”
When I said that, I was thinking at the time that it would maybe be something we’d commit to after the season ends. But now? Now I don’t think I can go another minute.
The referee’s shrill whistle blast signals kickoff, and the opposing team’s number ten sends the ball into the sky.
And every spine-tingling second that my brain slides into concentrating on making the catch that is coming my way, I’m imagining what it will be like.
I’m fixated on the future situation where she’s able to share this with me down our bond, where we can support each other in such an intimate way.
I call the mark, claiming that catch as mine and it all unfolds before me under the stadium lights.
I can see all of us being there.
I’m gonna make sure it happens, no matter what.
I refuse to let this moment pass me by.