EJ and Wyatt go absolutely feral beside me, urging Carter on, screaming in support.
I risk a glance at Arden. She stays seated, shaking her head, but she doesn’t hold her breath or look away. We both know Carter isn’t losing this fight. He never does.
Rosden tries, bless him, but when he winds up flat on his back, Carter still swinging on top of him—the ref hauls my brother from his corpse. Carter, of course, is smiling like it’s school picture day. His face appears on the jumbotron as he winks down at his prey.
He gets hauled to the box, raising his arms to the crowd like some kind of god, and his fans erupt.
As if performing a miracle, Carter has successfully changed the mood of this entire arena. He’s always been good at that.
Danford does not play any better for the remaining seconds left.
“He needs to get out of his fucking head,” Wyatt mumbles, shaking his own.
“He needs to stay on the fucking bench,” EJ counters. He reaches over, slapping Wy on the shoulder. “Beer?”
Wyatt nods, glancing at us to see if we want anything. I decline, and so does Arden, but Penny goes with them. That leaves Arden and I in our row, with a bunch of empty seats between us and the other girls.
“Exams coming up?” she asks, offering me a sugared donut.
I pull one out of the bag. “Yeah, and my final project is due.”
“How do you feel?”
“Ready,” I admit. School has always been easy for me. It’s never been something I stress over, but it does exhaust me. I tend to overwork myself to achieve perfection. “It was a good first semester, though. I feel like I learned a lot.”
“That’s good,” she says, snatching another donut for herself. “You’ve barely been home. I’ve missed you around the house.”
I glance at her, a pleased grin pulling on my mouth. “I knew my presence was a nice reprieve from my brother.”
She laughs under her breath, shaking her head. “Your brother gets particularly annoying when he worries about you.”
“I’m just doing school work,” I remind her, uncapping my water. “Which he practically forced me into.”
“For your benefit,” she says, shooting me a look. “And you’re sleeping out a lot again. You’re letting him know, so he’s a bit more relaxed, but he’s starting to ask questions and it makes me want to scream. I feel like your keeper.”
“Questions?” I arch a brow. Not good.
“Yeah,” she says, studying my face. “Like if you’re seeing somebody, and if that person is Jared.”
“Jared doesn’t even live here.”
“Jared could be visiting.”
“I'm not so sure Jared is allowed to leave the state of California,” I admit, and she lets out a shocked laugh.
“I know, I know. I told him I doubt Jared is involved and that I think you’re just…having fun. Meeting people. Enjoying your time here.”
That’s exactly what I’m doing, except it’s only with one person and it’s a person I’m not allowed to do it with. That’s all need-to-know, and Arden definitely doesnotneed to know that information.
“There are only a couple of them and they’re both good guys,” I lie, sipping my water. “I’m sure I’ll cut them both loose eventually.”
“I’m sure,” she echoes back, and when I glance at her, her eyes are burning into mine, like she can smell every single lie that leaves my mouth. I smile. She smiles back. They both feel fake as hell.
“EJ insisted on buying you guys a round,” Penny says, shuffling back down the row. She hands me a glass of white wine and Arden a glass of red.
I lean forward, over Penny’s body, now intent on proving a point. I raise my glass toward him. “Thank you, handsome!”
He grins wide, winking at me, looking happier than I’ve ever seen him in a while. “Anytime, Little Fork.”
