Page 34 of Ruthless Blade

His jersey was ridiculously heavy. It smelled like a mix of laundry detergent, mint and a faint smell of ice. I bit my lip as I watched him respond to a text. There was a closed off look on his face, and I had a feeling it was his dad on the other side of the phone.

He looked up from his phone, stuffing it in his pocket. “Ready?”

"Yeah," I said, wishing I could be back in my dorm, hiding far away from him.

A smirk curved his lips. He didn't say anything else. He reached down, sliding his hand into mine, lacing our fingers together. My stomach flipped. Don’t do it, Lexi. Don’t fall for his fucking charm.

The moment our sneakers hit the top of the main staircase, the shift in the house was instant. It started with a few guys near the beer pong table in the foyer. One of them looked up, blinked, and nudged his friend. Within seconds, a ripple effect washed through the living room. The loud, booming bass of the music kept playing, but the chatter of the crowd died down to whispers.

“Is that Daniel’s jersey?”

“No way. He doesn’t let anyone touch that.”

I kept my gaze locked straight ahead, ignoring everyone around. You can do this, Lex. It’s all fake; just fake it til you make it. Every step we took, there were more whispers.

At the bottom of the steps, Dylan stood there, his eyes almost bugging out of his head. Hazel was standing right behind him, with a wicked grin on her face. She gave me two thumbs up, and I rolled my eyes. Leave it to her to brighten the mood.

Much to my dismay, Ivy and Garcia were still here.

Ivy looked like she had swallowed glass. Her green eyes darted from our joined hands up to the jersey clinging to my shoulders, her face heated. Next to her, Garcia’s smug smirk fell, his jaw tight. From what I’d heard around campus, he was doing everything in his power to make sure Kayden wasn’t successful. You would think someone like him would be focused on his own successes and wanting to put all his efforts into the team, not letting the Captain fail.

Kayden didn’t slow down, and he didn’t give anyone the time of day, especially the two who wanted the most attention. He led me straight into the center of the room. “We aren’t that interesting; get back to the party,” he barked, and as soon as the words left his mouth, everyone went back to doing what they did best.

Garcia took a slow step forward, his eyes boring into Kayden. His fingers tightened around the solo cup until the plastic crinkled. “So what, you’re adding more distractions to the mix? I thought you were focused on the combine and the draft, Daniel.”

My brows turned inward; seriously, what the fuck was this guy’s problem? I could see the issue with Ivy making a little sense, but it almost sounded as if this guy had the hots for him or something.

Kayden stiffened, but didn’t say a word. His jaw ticked, and his hand tightened around mine. He’s about to blow.

Torin stepped between them, “Maybe we need to calm down fellas.”

Kellan laughed next to him, “I mean yeah, Garcia. If you don’t want to get your ass kicked, I suggest you knock it off.”

I looked around, and everyone else was dancing or playing beer pong off to the side, suddenly they’d all lost interest. It’s too bad I couldn’t lose interest with them.

“Shut your fucking mouth.”

That’s when I decided to pipe in, but I really shouldn’t have, because as per usual, it blew up in my face. “Why don’t we all take a break? We’ll go to another room, and you can stay here. See, problem solved?”

Garcia’s gaze met mine, his eyes turned to slits. “Tell your girl to shut her mouth, or I’ll personally shut it for her.”

My brows lifted, my feet instantly taking a step back, letting go of Kayden’s hand. Now I’d gone and made another enemy. Great.

If Kayden and the guys weren’t pissed before, they were now. He got up close and personal to Garcia, literally standing right in front of his chest. Torin and Kellan flanked to either side, showing they had their captain’s back. Someone grabbed my hand and when I looked back, it was Hazel pulling me towards her and out of harm's way.

“I think it’s time you left, Garcia.” Kayden sneered, his hands curling to fists.

He lifted a brow, challenging him. “And if I don’t?”

“Then I will physically remove you from here and the team.”

Garcia scoffed, “You can’t do shit. Coach won’t remove me because the captain got his feelings hurt.”

Kayden crossed his arms, a sly smile appearing on his lips. “Care to wager?”

Garcia swallowed, looking around the room, his tough guy act vanishing quickly. “Fuck you, I’m fucking out of here.”

Kellan rubbed his hands together, a grin spreading across his lips. “Hell yeah, you took out the trash without lifting a finger!”