Page 27 of The Fantasy League
My jaw clenched and my fists turned to stone at my sides. It was a miracle I didn’t break my own damn hand.
Scarlett wiggled herself out from under his arm and plucked a glass of scotch off of one of the server’s trays as they whirled by us and held it out to me.
I knocked back the glass and set it on another server’s tray who whizzed by. Scarlett gave me a faint smile and willingly drifted back into the comfort of my arms.
I’d be lying if I said it didn’t fuel my fucking god complex when she did that. All night, I had been the one to initiate contact between the two of us. She didn’t shy away from it, but she’d never been the one to initiate until now.
“Scarlett’s my girlfriend.” I looked October dead in the fucking eyes. I could feel my jaw clench as we stared at each other for an extended moment.
Not a single word passed between us.
Scarlett must have sensed the building tension, because she interlocked her fingers with mine before clearing her throat to speak. “Uh, October grew up on the same street as Mae and I.”
My shoulders relaxed at her words.
Childhood friends, huh?
How had I not put it together that October and Red were from the same small town a few hours west of here?
“How’s Hallie?” Scarlett asked, looking in October’s direction.
Apparently, his mom had an unhealthy obsession with Halloween. So much so that she named her kids October and Halloween. At least his sister had the brainsto go by a nickname.
“She’s good, getting ready for her freshman year of college,” he replied to Scarlett’s question but kept his gaze on me with eyes narrowed to slits.
I don’t know what pissed me off more, the fact that I was jealous over a girl who wasn’t mine or that he had picked up on my jealousy.
“Don’t worry, Abbott. I’ll tell you all the embarrassing stories you want to know about little Scarlett here.” October flashed a sly wink in my direction, nudging Scarlett with his elbow.
I wanted nothing more than to punch that smug grin off the fucker’s face, but it wasn’t worth unleashing the wrath of Coach and Lea. Orputting my contract in jeopardy before training camp started.
Scarlett slapped him playfully on the chest with the back of her hand. “You wouldn’t!”
“Looking forward to it,” I replied in a neutral tone, trying to settle the war that was raging in my mind.
“I take it you’ve been taking care of my girl?”
His girl.
He really needed to stop fucking calling her that before I smashed his face into the wall.
“He is,” Scarlett whispered, her eyes locked with mine and her cheeks flushed a light shade of pink.
October’s eyes followed a blonde in a black dress who walked past us and she gave him a knowing wink as she strode out of the ballroom.
“Unfortunately, I’m going to have to cut our reunion short. I’ve got a lanky blonde waiting for me in the bathroom. Scar, let’s catch up soon, yeah?” Scarlett smiled at him and nodded. “Abbott, take care of our girl.” October winked, clapping a hand on my back.
Scarlett and I watched as he picked up another woman and slung his arm around her shoulder before heading out of the ballroom and in the direction of the blonde.
Just as I was about to suggest we head out and grab a bite to eat, I spotted Lea making her way through the crowd toward us.
Could this night get any longer?
She wore a bright-red dress that matched her hair, and Fortune, the team’s wide receiver, had his eyes glued to her all night. Thank fuck Coach was too engulfed with talking to sponsors to notice or he would have had Fortune’s ass kicked off the team by morning.
Fortune and I played ball together in college at Yale and, aside from my buddy Carlo, he was arguably the closest thing I had to a best friend. Which wasn’t saying much considering we only hung out once a month… if that.
Who would’ve guessed that the forbidden Lea Sterling was his type? Huh, interesting.
