Page 62 of The Draft

I nodded.

“Thank you.” She turned to Scotty and grinned. “Your girlfriend is so pretty.”

“She’s not his girlfriend.”

A spike of pleasure ran through me when that grouchy voice filled my ears, and I instantly relaxed. Feeling his presence behind me, I tried not to swoon in front of these girls. Then, I felt him raise his arm, and it was getting harder to hold back my excitement. He was going to wrap his arm around me and claim me in front of everyone.

Only, that didn’t happen. His arm went above my head, and he pointed to Scotty’s other side. “She’s that guy’s sister.”

Urgh. All those swoony thoughts went away with that one sentence. Relegated to Cade’s sister again. Not the girl he slept with the other week.

After helping the girl with the Scotty selfie, I turned to Dash, refusing to look at him. I plucked the Wildcat juice out of his hand and slouched into my seat.

I hated it here. I couldn’t speak to Dash. I couldn’t concentrate on the game below, and as I took a sip of my drink, I realized that also tasted terrible.

When Dash took his seat, I immediately pulled my phone out, hoping I’d see someBaseball Wivesspoilers so I could get lost for the rest of the night in an online forum.

“What are you looking up?” Dash asked, and although his face was staring straight ahead, his eyes were glaring down at my phone.

I brought it to my chest, clutching it tightly. “Why are you so obsessed with me?”

“Why are you always teasing me?” he muttered under his breath.

“Ooh, am I getting to you, Big Man?”

“No. One night, remember?”

Did I remember? Ha. It was all I’d been thinking about since it happened, but I was seemingly getting further and further away from my goal of making it happen again. Like Icarus, I’d played too close to the sun and got found out. Dash now knew I wasn’t being chased by the football team, so why did he need to chase me? I was essentially there for the taking if he wanted it, and I hated that for me.

I wanted to make Dash feral. Like he couldn’t live without me. I wanted him to realize that he didn’t want anyone else but me.

Suddenly, the fans around us started to stand, and I breathed out a sigh of relief. “Oh, thank goodness. It’s finished.” Two hours had gone by and I’d learned nothing about football except that I hated it. Even sitting next to Dash the entire time hadn’t made the experience worth it.

Cade, Scotty, and Dash all laughed at me.

“It’s only halftime,” Scotty informed me with a wince.

“Halftime? We’ve only watched half of the game? Does that mean I have to watch the same thing for another two hours?” I waved my hands at the field as I felt disappointment slither through my veins. This couldn't be happening, could it?

Another two hours?

With Dash gloating.

Not going to happen.

I was tired. I had no idea who was winning, not that I cared, and I was cold. So very cold. I didn’t want to do this, so I needed to come up with an excuse to leave. The guys wouldn’t care. They had each other, and they got the tickets free, so they should be thanking me.

“You know what? I didn’t realize the game was going to be so long. I completely forgot that I have an essay to finish tonight.”

“Really?” Cade threw me a questioning brow, and I didn't blame him. It was completely out of character for me. I pretty much got my work done the night I was given it, but excuses needed to be made.

I nodded vehemently. “Yes, I completely forgot about it until just now.”

“That's convenient,” Dash said under his breath. I stepped on his toe in retaliation. He didn’t seem bothered. “I guess I’ll have to walk you home.” The reluctance in his voice irked me, and frankly, as much as I liked Dash, I didn’t want him gloating the entire time.

“You’re good. It’s still early.” I then turned to Cade. “If you need to see where I am, just check the app.”

That seemed to be enough to get Cade off my back, and as I stood, I purposely brushed the side of my body against Dash.