Page 82 of Resilient Love

I quirk a brow at her, and she rolls her eyes, crossing her arms over her chest.

“What? Can’t a woman enjoy sports other than football?” she asks, her tone sounding accusatory.

“I had no idea you were such a fan, I’m sorry,” I say, chuckling with my palms up in surrender.

She swings her gaze toward the field and then back to me. “You listen to porn,” she says before shifting her gaze between Letty and Chelsea. “You watch porn, andyouread porn. I watch rugby. I’m not ashamed to say that those thick thighs do it for me too.”

A startled laugh passes my lips, and I’m joined by Letty and Chelsea, who can’t seem to catch their breath. Chelsea’s making a wheezing sound reminiscent of a tea kettle as her laughter dies down.

“I can’t argue there.”

“With only thirty seconds left in the game and one try left to break the premiership world record, can the Wyvern make it?!”

These last few seconds are the most hair-raising of them all.

My skin is tingling with electricity as I dig my nails into Chelsea’s arm this time. The Wyvern are commandeering the ball, and the crowd is shouting, counting down every last second. All the while, my pulse is hammering!

The rain continues to fall, leaving the pitch slick as the players slide across the field, several going down, giving others the opportunity to slip in for a chance at gaining possession.

“Come on!” I find myself screaming, if not for any real reason other than to get some of the energy that’s threatening to suffocate me out of my body.

“Step your pussy up!” Chelsea practically screeches, and if I had any idea what that meant, I might even adopt the phrase right now.

The sound of my heart pounding in my ears covers the voice of the announcer as I see one of the Wyvern’s players kick the ball down the pitch before being tackled. My eyes ping-pong to the lock who’s being hoisted up by his shorts in an effort to catch the ball.

The moment his hands make contact, he wraps his arms around it as he’s quickly lowered to the ground. One of the Wolverines players tackles him, his fingers digging into his waistband, and as he takes off toward the goal line, shaking the other bloke off with complete abandon, he’s got not a single care that the Wolverine’s defence dragged his shorts so far down his arse that the crowd is getting an unobscured view of his untanned cheeks.

With every passing second that the Wolverines grow nearer and nearer to him, my chest squeezes, as do my lungs, but that beautiful moment as he falls to the ground, sliding over the line and pressing the ball firmly into the ground, is like nothing else.

The rush of adrenaline sweeping through me as the announcer shouts about their world record-breaking win; it’s incredible. Simply bloody incredible, and the sore ass I’ve got from these seats was absolutely worth it.

Rafael and his team rush to the centreline, sprinting off to my dad and piling on top of him. They break away with wide smiles on their faces, a mixture of sweat and rain dripping down their foreheads. It doesn't take long before I’m honed in on Rafael’s face as he searches the stands for me. If I thought his smile before was bright, I was absolutely wrong because nothingcompares to how this one lights up his whole face like a ray of sunshine as our eyes meet.

Maybe that nickname is sort of fitting.

He tears his eyes away from me, turning to speak with Jelani, and heads toward the locker rooms, but I don’t miss the sly smack he gives his own ass, instructing me to keep my eyes where they belong.On him.

I huff out a laugh as Chelsea makes a show of Adhira’s current predicament. “Someone needs to get her some water—she’s nearly fainted after seeing a set of perky cheeks!”

“Shut up, will you?” Adhira rumbles beside her, smacking her shoulder hard enough that Chelsea slams against my slide with more force than I’m prepared for.

“Sorry,” I tell the guy beside me, pushing Chelsea off of me.

“Yeah, Chels. Let off on Adhira. I think the more pressing matter is what’s going on with Elise and Coach,” Letty taunts, leaning forward to focus her big brown eyes on my quickly reddening face. She wiggles her brows, a sly grin spreading her full, mauve lips.

“Nothing’s going on,” I say, choking the words out.

“Mhmm,” Letty says, leaning back in her seat. Once the three sets of prying eyes are off of me, I can finally drag in a deep breath.

As nice as it feels to get to hang out with all of my favourite people in one place, it would be nicer if I got to be open with them about Rafael and me, but since I don’t, not yet, this will have to do.

My best friends and I walk behind Rafael with his closest teammates, leading us into a small pub between campus and where we were for their game tonight. The place is clean but has the charm of a building that’s been filled with people every night for longer than I’ve been alive.

The bar is in the centre of the large room with wood flooring and high-top tables lining the walls. The guys push a few of them together, giving us the space we need to accommodate everyone.

Nakoa and Jelani head over to get a round of beer for everyone, and as the table begins to buzz with conversation, it finally hits me that I’m about to graduate, and this is our last big hurrah.

The outside of Rafael’s thigh brushes mine, dragging me from my thoughts. He leans on his elbow, his head propped up on his hand as he smirks down at me.

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