Page 181 of Cruel Steps
“I can’t see her,” I said to Colter. He frowned and searched for himself. When he came up empty, too, fear stole my breath. Did she not want to say yes? I thought her hesitation was from shock, not that she would say no.
Colter and I shared a look, breaking away from the guys and running to the Wolfettes. I spotted the girl Emerson hung out with and tapped her shoulder.
“Where’s Emerson?”
“Huh?” She looked around, her brow creasing when she didn’t find her. “She was just here.”
I spun around, searching the crowd. In all the exhilaration of the game and the halftime crowning, I’d forgotten about the threat against her.
But no matter how many times I looked, it never changed. She wasn’t here.
“She’s gone. He’s got her.”
Falling to my knees, fear engulfed me at the thought of losing her. I couldn’t do it. Having just found her, I didn’t want to live without her.
“You son-of-a bitch,” someone screamed, shocking me out of my daze.
My father stood nearby, held back by a few of my teammates. “You always have to ruin everything.”
“The only one who ruins things is you. Speaking of, I informed the NCAA about your history. I wouldn’t be surprised if you didn’t have a job by the time you returned to Virginia.”
“You’ll pay for this! I’ll tell everyone.”
“What? That you emotionally berated me before games so I’d lose? Yeah, go ahead and let everyone know you’re an emotionally abusive asshole. I’m tired of keeping your secrets. You’re dead to me. I don’t ever want to see your face again. That goes for Mom and Hope, too.”
I turned on my heel and ran off the field, Colter at my side. We had our woman to find.
CHAPTER
FIFTY-FOUR
EMERSON
With my hand to my throat, I watched Holden throw the ball long downfield. My heart pushed back into my ribcage as I waited. It felt like an eternity as the football soared through the air before it landed in LeBlanc’s hands. When he stepped into the endzone, the stadium erupted, and a frenzy of feelings surged.
Everyone next to me jumped up and down, screaming and shouting in glee. My heart thumped louder, Holden’s words echoing in my head.
“Do you know how tempted I am to drop down to one knee and propose right here? When I win this game, I’m doing just that.”
The things that man said. He couldn’t be serious. Right? We were so young. He had his whole life ahead of him. No. He was joking.
Wolfie bumped into me, breaking my trance and stealing my focus from the team as they lined up for the two-point conversion.
“Sorry,” I said, then chastised myself. I hadn’t bumped into them!
Wolfie tilted their head, and a sick sensation curled in my gut. I couldn’t remember who the mascot was now that I’d left the position. In fact… no one extra had been at practice.
The stands erupted, and I returned to the game to see if the two-point conversion was good. Jenny grabbed my arm, screaming and cheering at the comeback. Leigh pulled her into a hug, and they jumped together in celebration. I watched Holden as he jogged off the field, and I smiled. I couldn’t wait to celebrate with him tonight.
Wolfie bumped into me again, but this time, they lifted me over their shoulder. It took me a second to register, and they were at the tunnel entrance before I fought back.
“Let me go! This isn’t cool. Put me down.” Wolfie ignored me while I kicked and beat on their back. “Help! Help!”
But it was already too late.
We were in the dark corridor, and the stadium was so loud that no other sound seemed to exist. I didn’t stop fighting, my throat raw as I belted out my scream.
“Stop! You don’t want to do this. You’ll regret it. There will be people looking for me! Just let me go, and we’ll forget this happened.”