Page 45 of Enemies Off Camera
I’ve heard of flag football. Can’t they just pull a ribbon off someone’s waist and call it a day? Why does it have to be...this?
No wonder Jaxon’s body is built like a granite sculpture. He has to endure this kind of violence regularly.
Another lineup. A whistle blows. Everyone resets.
I sigh, frustrated.Why are they stopping now?
Something about “offside” is mentioned. But no one explains what it means in a way I understand. The ambient noise, the shouts, the commentators chattering—it’s all beginning to blur. Add in the comforting hum of the TV, the plush couch, and my post-lunch food coma, and...
I feel it coming.
The cappuccino I made earlier was supposed to keep me alert. Clearly, it failed. I tell myself I’ll just close my eyes for one minute. Just one.
I will open them again.
I will.
But just like Sunday night at the stadium, sleep creeps up on me—and wins.
THIRTY-FOUR
JAXON WILDE
The TV is blaring when I step into my apartment. I’d been wondering what Zara had been doing all day. Watching football wasn’t anywhere on my list of guesses.
I walk into the living room and stop cold.
She’s on the couch, head back, chin up,snoring. The Jacksonville versus Cincinnati game from yesterday is playing on the screen.
Is she a Bengals fan? Jaguars?
I spot the remote beside her on the cushion and press mute.
“Zara?” I say softly.
Not yet. I don’t really want to wake her. Not right now.
What the hell was that earlier? Why did I push her like that in the elevator?
Did I want her?
Yeah. I did.
But I have to keep that shit under control. She’s not safe. She’s selfish as hell. Always infuriating. An actress, playing a role—but sometimes, damn it, she gets to me.
Like in Anne’s office. That apology was real. I could tell.
But in the elevator? When she said,“It’s a nightmare”? That stung. Is that how she sees me?
I glance back at the screen and it hits me—football put her to sleep again.
She doesn’t like the game. Still, she’d better not fall asleep in the arena again. We can’t afford that kind of attention.
“Zara,” I say louder this time.
Nothing.
I reach down and gently shake her knee. “Zara!”
