19. Fallon

“So Becca’s your captain, and Zoe’s her best friend, and Stacy’s her best friend, rounding out the bitch trifecta.” Lexie looks at me from the passenger seat, wearing a smirk that promises trouble and retribution. “Anyone else I need to remember?”

“I’m regretting telling you anything,” I confess.

“And I’m offended it took you a week to tell me you’re on a team with a bunch of heartless Bellatrixes.”

I shake my head, distracted by trying to rid the panic tightening my chest. “We’re here to play nice, not make waves. Kelly’s already here.” I tilt my phone so Lexie can read as I text Kelly back, telling her we’ve arrived.

“Do we really trust her? If she’s friends with the three bitches, shouldn’t we be practicing a little more caution?”

“She extended this olive branch.”

“But is it a deceptively dead branch that will break and have you falling on your ass? Has she ever stood up for you?”

I unbuckle my seat belt and slide out of the comfort of my car.

“That’s a no,” Lexie says as she meets me on the sidewalk. “Complicity still makes her liable.”

It hurts just as bad, too. Maybe even more.

Inside, the music is so loud it’s difficult to discern conversations. Lights show off blue, white, and silver balloons that cover most of the ceiling. A ‘happy birthday’ banner is strung across an archway. People are laughing and drinking. It feels so familiar and foreign at the same time.

No one stops us or questions why we’re here as we cross through the living room and into the kitchen, where I spot Kelly beside Margot and Alyssa, two girls on our team.

“Hey!” Kelly greets us with a warmth that visibly shocks my new teammates as well as Lexie.

I grin. “Hey. This is Lexie. Lexie, this is Margot, Kelly, and Alyssa.”

Lexie’s smile is hesitant. “Nice to meet you.” Her tone is friendly enough that only I notice her guard is up.

Alyssa and Margot turn their attention from me to Kelly, before taking their drinks and walking away without an excuse or explanation.

“See. You’re growing on them,” Kelly says.

Lexie’s eyes flare with anger at her first taste of my new world.

Doubt encircles my thoughts. “Are you sure this is a good idea? Maybe I’m forcing things too fast. It’s only been a week.”

Kelly shakes her head as she twists to face the keg behind her. She fills two cups and pushes one into my hand and the other into Lexie’s. “Trust me. The longer we wait, the worse it will be. We have to just rip off the Band-Aid.”

“Am I the Band-Aid, or is that our history?” I ask.

Kelly grins at me as she fills a third cup. “Nervous, Hale?”

“Like I’m in a room filled with assassins,” I admit, glancing over my shoulder.

Kelly laughs, drinking half her glass in one gulp before she peers around. Her gaze is sharp and bright as though looking for something—or someone. It puts me on edge.

“I didn’t realize this was a birthday party. Is it for someone on the team?” I ask.

“Does she always worry this much?” Kelly asks Lexie.

My cousin snorts conspiratorially but quickly recovers, spine straightening. She’s determined to not like her.

My heart thumps a soft, warm beat at her unwavering loyalty.

“It’s for Aiko’s boyfriend.” Aiko and Kelly are friends, but Aiko’s alliances stand resolutely with Stacy, Becca, and Zoe. “There will be some cute guys tonight.” She glances at Lexie. “You might know some. Fallon mentioned you’re a senior at Camden.”

“I don’t play a sport, and I don’t date college guys.” Lexie hasn’t dated anyone since meeting Asher.

“What about you?” Kelly asks, turning to me. “Do you have a boyfriend?”

Dark-haired stranger runs through my thoughts. I have no idea what to label him or our relationship, but explaining I have a crush on a guy I had a one-night stand with and still don’t know his name makes me feel more desperate than weird—neither of which is the spotlight I need to project currently.

I shake my head.

Lexie pitches her eyebrows at me.

I clear my throat and turn my attention to Kelly. “What about you?”

She takes another drink of beer and then glances around, inconspicuous as snow in the middle of summer. Her back straightens, and her eyes round, so wide that her lashes touch her brow bone. “Oh my God, he’s here!” Kelly whisper yells. “He told me he wasn’t going to make it.” She straightens her shirt, tugging to pronounce her cleavage.

“Ex? Crush? Who are we looking at?” I ask.

Kelly shakes her head. “The guy I’ve had a crush on since freshman year.” She adjusts her shirt again. “He’s gorgeous. Beyond gorgeous. He’s so fucking hot, and…” Another rough tug on her strained shirt. I’m amazed it hasn’t ripped. “I’m considering asking him out tonight.”

“Why haven’t you asked him out yet?” I ask.

“Bad timing and then terrible timing.” She bobs with the crowd, trying to look over someone before glancing back at us. “When we met, he was dating someone. Then he was single, and I was dating someone.” She sighs. “Then we were friends, and he was kind of seeing the same girl again… Plus, Becca will literally shit a brick when she finds out.”

“She’s not the girl he was dating, is she?” I ask, realizing I may be making allies with the wrong person.

Kelly pulls her chin back. “God, no. Becca would kick me in the vagina with her cleats if I tried to flirt with her boyfriend.” Her shoulders relax, and she resumes seeking out her crush in the crowds. “Becca’s been dating Murphy for over a year. He’s the captain of the men’s soccer team, and they’re ridiculously perfect and nauseatingly cute together.”

“Why would she care who you like?” Lexie asks, sounding bored as she eyes two guys fighting over a beer.

“Because he’s on the football team.”

“So?” I ask.

Kelly turns to me. “I forget that you’re new to everything here at Camden.” She releases a quiet sigh and turns to glance at our surroundings before leaning closer. “The football team and the men’s soccer team hate each other. And since Becca is with Murphy, our close proxy… complicates things.”

“Why do the teams hate each other?” I ask, looking at Lexie to see if she’s aware of the feud and what I might be walking into.

Lexie shakes her head, uninterested.

Kelly takes a sip from her glass as she glances around before leaning closer. “Their rivalry has lasted for decades, but it got worse last year when the guy’s soccer team didn’t have enough dorm rooms. The football team has more rooms than all the other teams. More than men’s and women’s soccer, volleyball, and tennis combined. So Murphy managed to get a couple of guys on their floor, and it sparked a territorial warzone. The football team flooded their rooms.”

“Flooded their rooms?” I repeat, shocked.

Kelly nods. “They’re ruthless.”

I peek at Lexie, but she’s as unimpressed as I expected. She hates drama and has always been more mature, which is why her draw to Asher didn’t surprise me half as much as I wanted it to.

“Why is a football player here if everyone here hates them?” I ask.

“This is neutral territory,” Kelly explains. “Aiko dates Pops, who’s on the football team, and this is his house.”

The feud suddenly sounds more like lore. “If Aiko’s dating a guy on the team, Becca hardly has a leg to stand on when it comes to caring about who you date.”

Kelly sighs. “I hope so because this year is my last chance, and I’m not going to let anything—or anyone—get in my way.” She laughs.

“Three years is a long time,” I say. “You should ask him out.”

“Here he comes,” Kelly says, cutting me off as she straightens.

I glance up, and the air leaves my lungs, and my skin warms. The house full of strangers fades, and he is the only thing I see.

His gaze is glued to mine, recognition, and what I’m pretty sure is stark relief, visible as he closes the distance. Amazement and kismet feel too simple of concepts for this moment.

“Corey!” Kelly calls as she launches forward and hugs my dark-haired stranger.