Page 9 of Game On

Ryan breaks rank and comes toward me. The others fill in behind him, so I can’t even make a break for it if I tried. Not that I would dare to anyway.

I don’t wait for Ryan to get all the way over to me. I throw the car door open and step one foot out. “What the actual fuck?” I cry out, gesturing toward the rest of the Ballers. They’re all smirking now.

“We don’t want you here,” Ryan says coolly, his voice like ice.

“And that’s my problem because…?”

A horn beeps behind us, but I ignore it.

“Take the hint, Dale. Go back to Broadwell.”

“Not happening,” I say, laying my forearm casually over the door of my Mustang.

“Damn,” Lake crows. “Tell Tessa she can park here if she’ll bend over the hood of her car for me.” He makes hip thrusting motions, drawing a chorus of laughs from the crowd.

I give him the middle finger without even looking at him.

“I warned you,” Ryan says.

“Yeah, it was nice to get the texts from you, Ryan. Really sweet. Now, move.”

He moves closer, reaching out to put a few strands of my hair around my ear. My body responds to his touch, shaking a little. Ryan and I have always been wound tight like a rubber band. We’re either at each other’s throats or…

Do not go there, I warn myself.

“No one wants you here.”

“I don’t really care about that. You should know that about me, Linc.”

He crosses his arms again, staring me down as if he knows I’m going to be a big problem. His blond hair is styled in that messy way. His muscles coil and retract from the tension, but it’s his gray eyes that catch on and don’t leave me alone. “I know that you’re a pain in the ass, and I won’t have you fucking up Rockport. It’s my school.”

We’re drawing a crowd again. More people honk. I look around to find that there are quite a number of cars behind me waiting to get into the school. It must be pushing it to first bell. “Come on,” someone shouts. “Get the fuck out of the way.”

Someone else calls out, “Move bitch.”

I don’t know where the insults are all coming from, but I know where the root of them started. From these five right in front of me.

I glance over to find Lake. He isn’t smirking anymore. Nope, he’s looking at me like he’s already undressed every piece of clothing I’m wearing. He licks his lips, making me shudder.

Sloan is dressed in a polo shirt and crisp khaki shorts. He’s the only one who could get away with that here. He looks bored, staring out at the line of cars like he’s already counting the number of registered voters he can gain from this.

Alec’s black hair gleams from the sunshine. His stare collides with mine as soon as I move to look at him. He’s more muscular than the others, perfect for his power forward position. He has elbows made to grab rebounds. I should know, I’ve been on the receiving end a time or two.

Hayes glares down at me. He’s tall for high school. He’s so tall he should be awkward, but he’s not. Instead, he moves like a gazelle. His dirty blond hair falls over his forehead as he makes eye contact with me. Hayes isn’t one to start fights, but he sure as fuck ends one if he needs to. He has a quiet, imposing air about him.

All five of them are having the time of their lives making me squirm, but that doesn’t stop me thinking how incredibly gorgeous they all are. From cruel sexiness to dark beauty, they have it.

“Run along, Dale,” Ryan says, his voice low. “I’ve seen you run before.”

I step out from behind the car door. The others move in around Ryan as I storm right next to him. “You’re an asshole.”

The corner of his mouth quirks upwards. “From what I remember, you liked it.”

The rest of them snicker except for Hayes. He casts a shadow over me that makes me wilt away from him.

“Come on, Academy Bitch. The rest of us need to get to class,” someone shouts.

Then, there’s a cacophony of car horns. I turn my head to see that even more cars have found their way in line. Some people are hanging out windows, throwing their arms in the air at me. More people are shouting now, telling me to move my ass.

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