Eli nodded, his grin widening. “Soon.”
“There’s my girls!” Storm shouted as he rushed over to us, wearing his post-game sweats and T-shirt, his hair still dripping from the shower as he hugged us.
“Well done,” I beamed.
“Damn good game,” Charlie agreed.
Storm peered down at Samuel lovingly. “Well, I had to play well, considering all the family is here. How did he enjoy his first game?” he asked me.
I scrunched my nose. “He slept through the entire thing,” I admitted, making Storm burst into laughter.
“Well, it’ll be a few years until he can really get involved, but it’ll be damn fun when he does.”
“Dada!” Charlotte cooed, reaching her arms out for Storm, who happily took her off Charlie.
“Hey, pretty baby,” he said, nuzzling her face, peppering her with kisses, making her giggle. “Did you enjoy watching Dada play?”
“She did—though she did confuse you with every other player with a helmet on.” Charlie chuckled.
Storm rolled his eyes. “We really need to?—”
“There they are!” a shrill voice shouted, making my blood run cold.
I had never wanted to hear that voice again.
Our heads all turned to see a very pissed-off Lorna pushing through the crowd. Her perfect hair was a mess, her face blotchy.
“Lorna, what an unpleasant surprise,” Storm muttered, his hands tightening around Charlotte protectively.
Next to us, Charlie pulled out his phone, taking a step back and muttering quietly into the receiver.
“This skank is the reason my mother got fired!” Lorna shouted, pointing at me.
I turned to Storm with a questioning look. “Her mother got fired?” I asked quietly.
He pursed his lips and nodded. “Turns out, she was doing a lot of sketchy things with the university funds to keep her daughter out of trouble.”
“She didn't deserve that!” Lorna screeched. “You’ve let this whore ruin my life, all because she couldn’t take a joke!”
Joke? What was she talking about? Did she consider planting drugs in my bag and getting me potentially expelled from the university a joke? Was that how she was trying to downplay what she had done?
“Your mother was also fucking several high-ranking members of the university to get what she wanted,” Eli pointed out. When I turned to him, agape, he shrugged. “We’ve been finding out a lot since she pulled her stunt.”
“How dare you talk about my mother like that! You owe me an apology for this, and you need to talk to the dean about reversing my expulsion!”
She went to take a step forward, toward me. All her friends watched from the side with varying degrees of confusion and unhappiness on their faces.
They didn't look outraged.
Were they no longer buying what Lorna was selling?
Eli took a step in front of me, shielding me from the angry woman. Even though he was a nerdy alpha, he was still much larger than both of us and very imposing and daunting when he wanted to be. Lorna’s steps faltered as she glared at me.
“You need to leave,” Eli said, his voice firm.
Lorna shook her head. “Not until that bitch fixes this!” she insisted, stomping her foot.
Yes, stomping her foot, like a literal child. It took considerable effort not to laugh at that. Her face was getting redder by the second, and if Eli wasn’t in front of me, I was certain she would have launched herself at me by now.