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“Yeah, I kind of got confused with my own comparisons there. But the point is, I just want you to be happy. And I hate that Mr. Halifax keeps making you so sad.”

I was pretty sure my own actions were making me sad. Because I’d been going about it all wrong. Even if it had felt right at the time. I liked older men because they didn’t play stupid games. And here I was...playing all the dumbest games in the book. I needed Mr. Halifax to see me as a mature adult, not as his student.

“And you should have seen the way you looked with mystery man on the dance floor. You looked really freaking happy, Soph.”

I nodded. I’d been so lost in that moment. “But a big part of that was Mr. Halifax watching me dance.”

“But not the only part. You just admitted it. You felt something with Mr. Green Eyes. And he’s here, somewhere in this stadium, searching for you. It feels like fate to me.”

“Feels more like a stalker to me.”

She hit my arm. “No. Fate. Don’t listen to the guys. Mystery man isn’t sinister. They’re just being overly protective because they love you. But don’t let them interfere with fate.”

“Well, if it’s truly fate, he’ll find me without us looking for him. So can we please just focus on the game?” I didn’t want my fate to be intertwined with my mystery man. I wanted my fate to be tangled up in Mr. Halifax. I glanced toward the field, looking to see if the mascot had come out yet. And I’d looked just in time. “The guys are coming out!” I pointed.

Scarlett turned toward the field and we both started cheering.

Axel, Jacob, Liam, and RJ all ran out, their helmets tucked under their arms. RJ put his helmet on and jumped around, lifting his hands in the air, pumping up the crowd even more.

Axel blew Scarlett a kiss and I melted for her. They were so freaking adorable.

But then he frowned as he scanned who was around us.

“He’s mad,” Scarlett whispered.

“He’ll get over it,” I said. “There was literally no room next to our parents.”

“I know that. But he doesn’t know that.”

“The stands are packed. He’ll put two and two together...” my voice trailed off when I saw him. Mr. Halifax in the Empire High Eagle mascot costume. I slowly exhaled. I’d been more worried than I’d even realized. But as he ran along with the team, he didn’t seem the least bit sick.

So...had he called out before Thanksgiving to avoid me? Or maybe he just had a little cold or something? My head kept ping ponging back and forth between the two possibilities.

But then the mascot’s head turned in my direction and my worries dissipated.

He was staring at me. He’d missed me too.

I slapped Scarlett’s arm. “He’s staring at me.”

“How can you tell?” she asked

Okay, yeah it was kind of hard to tell under that huge eagle head. But he was facing this direction. And I sure hoped he was staring at me. It had been four painful days of us being apart. And it meant the world to me that his eyes had immediately gravitated to me in the stands.

It was a little tempting to flash him. But I didn’t want to get expelled. So I just kept cheering.

And then I thought about what Axel had done for Scarlett.

So I blew Mr. Halifax a kiss.

He immediately turned around.

I smiled. Yeah, he’d definitely been looking at me.

Scarlett squealed and smiled at me. She’d seen it too. “He was definitely looking at you!”

Mr. Halifax liked me back. He’d missed me too. I knew it.

The Eagles won the coin toss and immediately started driving down the field. Jacob sidestepped a defender and ran twenty yards before he was finally tackled.