Page 57 of Match Me if You Can

A hand lands on my shoulder, jerking me back so hard I nearly fall backward.

I manage to hang onto the ball, just barely.

But for long enough because the next second I’m free, Ace having knocked Lex’s hand off.

Yes!

I sprint forward, feeling the guys close in and⁠—

I’m there. In the end zone. Spiking the ball and grinning like a lunatic.

I’m also fucking exhausted, as pathetic as that might be, so I bend over, resting my hands on my knees as I catch my breath.

“Fuck yeah!” Noble cries. “Nice, Vi!”

“Noble! Language!” Joan cries, but then adds, “Great job, honey!”

“Fuck,” Beck and Steve say.

“Don’t!” Ace shouts.

That has me frowning.

But only for a second.

Because then I’m hit by a train—or what I would imagine a train would feel like. Pain explodes along my side, bursts to life on my knees, my palms. I hit the ground hard, all the air knocked out of me, unable to do anything except lay there and wait for my lungs to start working again.

“Can’t take the heat…” Oakes says with a grin, his big body pinning me to the ground. “Get out of⁠—”

He doesn’t get the chance to finish the asshole statement.

Because the next instant, he’s ripped from on top of me and tossed to the side.

“Fuck,” Ace says, crouching down next to me, reaching out his hands like he doesn’t know where to start checking me for injuries. “Are you okay, princess?”

No. I’m not.

I feel like I’ve broken every bone in my body, even though I know I haven’t. In fact, the pain is already fading, my lungs loosening, allowing me to draw in breath, allowing me to process…

That Oakes Ambrose might be the biggest asshole of them all.

And that thought has me lurching upright.

“Maybe you should take a second,” Ace begins.

But I’m fueled by rage and indignation. I’m not thinking of being calm and cool and carefully pulled together. My Conrad temper is boiling over.

I push to my feet, shove by Ace, and walk over to Oakes.

Who’s smirking at me.

Even though Ace tossed him to the side like a rag doll.

Even though Noble’s standing at his side, looking ready to commit murder.

So maybe they’re not all assholes.

“Problem?” Oakes sneers.