Page 111 of Love at Second Down

“Hey.” Chris pats his stomach. “I’m a growing boy.”

Jace rolls his eyes while the others snicker.

“Besides, we had a late night,” he says as he shovels potatoes in his mouth. “My girlfriend kept me up. Late.” He wags his eyebrows while the wordgirlfriendsits in the pit of my stomach like rotten fruit.

Is Avery my girlfriend?

Fuck if I know. Even though I told that reporter she was, we never really got around to the relationship status talk before we had our first fight. And already, she’s pulling away from me.

“What’s gotten into you?” Brandon lifts his chin in my direction, eyeing me.

I duck my head and take a sip of my coffee, saying nothing.

“It’s her again, isn’t it?” Brandon groans.

Sighing, I rake a hand through my hair, knowing they’ll just push until I spill. “We had a fight this morning before she left. I’m sure it’s nothing,” I say, hoping it’s true.

We can’t be over before we got started.

Jace snorts. “It’s because you spent the night with your father, isn’t it?”

I shake my head. “She’s not like that. She didn’t care that he and I went out for drinks.”

Did she?

“Well, you missed out. Postgame victory sex is the best.”

“Some of us wouldn’t know,” Brandon says, sounding more pissed than he has a right to be.

Across from me, West snorts as he quietly sips his coffee.

“Did you do something to piss her off, then?” Jace asks.

“No. It wasn’t that kind of fight,” I say, shifting in my seat. “It was just stupid. A misunderstanding, and then I got mad and said something insensitive.” I shrug like it’s no big deal, even though the truth is it’s eating me alive.

“Well, then I’m sure you’ll work it out.” Chris chimes in as he finally puts his fork down. “And if she’s still pissed when we get back, grovel.”

Jace snaps his fingers and points at him. “Yes. If all else fails, groveling is always the answer.”

“Hell, even if you did nothing wrong,” Chris says grinning, “groveling is the answer.”

Chapter 33

AVERY

The plane’s wheels hit the tarmac with a jolt that matches the sickening lurch in my stomach. I grip the armrests, my knuckles white, though it’s not from fear of flying.

I’m all keyed up—about my parents and my fight with Damon, his father, and whether he’ll make good on his promise.

“Hey, you okay?” Brynn’s voice cuts through the fog of my thoughts, concerned eyes studying my face from the adjacent seat.

“Yeah, just tired.” I manage a weak smile.

But I’m not tired. I’m hollow, scraped out, like someone has taken a spoon to my insides and scooped until there’s nothing left but a hollow shell. The memory of Damon’s face, disbelieving and angry, replays in my mind for the hundredth time since we left Houston.

“My dad has his faults, but he wouldn’t blackmail anyone. He’s not that guy. Unlike your father, mine actually has a moral compass.”

I can still feel the tightness in my chest, hear the bitter laugh spilling from my lips at my reply.“Right. And what about me? You just think I’m lying for the hell of it?”

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