Anya hooted at something else the “nice man” said. It was then that the cheerleaders—in their infuriatingly tiny outfits—took to the field. Around us, the crowd began to roar. Any minute now, UT's chosen son would be coming out to claim what felt like the whole world's attention.
And yet, he loved me. Of all these thrilled, waiting, fans—I was the one he'd be looking for. The thought made my breath catch in my chest. I felt huge. Bigger than the Jumbo Tron.
“I'll tell you later, C. I promise.”
“Is it school?”
“No.”
“Is it…”—Carson ducked her head and lowered her voice in the direction of my other companions—“…friends?”
“Obviously not, dum-dum. You are basically my only friend.”
“Oh, har-dee-har-har.”
“Shhh!” Anya said, turning to us with an unexpected sharpness. “Babies, the game is starting! Woo, woo!”
It was then that I heard the beginnings of a skirmish in our section of the stands. The Longhorns, in their orange and white stripes, were running onto the field below—but all around us, heads were turning backward. Someone was thwacking his way through the crowd, down towards our little area. It didn't take a genius.
“That's not him, is it?” Carson murmured in my ear. “Jesus, kid. I figured you could be discreet for at least a while. Anya's barely...” But I couldn't hear the rest of her speech over the roar. People were standing, all around us, obscuring my view. I could no longer be sure.
“A-DRIAN!!!” he called. That's how I knew for sure. (I mean, speaking of Dad jokes.) People started to titter around us. I was dimly aware that on the field below, the cheerleaders had ceased their cheers.
By the time I'd crawled up on my chair to scan for his face, he was just a few rows away—apparently following the guiding light that was Anya's borrowed finger. Fans were shrieking, queuing for autographs. But the minute his eyes found mine, it was like we were the only people in that stadium of thousands.
“Landon!” I waved. It was a strange and unexpected joy, to shout his name out in a crowd. We'd had to be secret for so long. Finally, suddenly, he was at the edge of our row. He could speak to me over the heads of the wide-eyed Lotte and Melanie. I stood, then attempted to scooch past my friends and into the aisle.
“Something's come up,” he told me, when I reached him. The stands shushed around us. I tried not to think of my mother's face behind me, and what she might be thinking. “I can't play today. Or, maybe—probably—ever again.”
“FUCK NO!” someone cried. The chorus latched on. People started to boo and hiss. Notably, the “nice man” of Anya's acquaintance led the attack.
“I was faced with a fucked-up ultimatum, they basically made me chose: you or football…and I had to pick my girl!” Landon shouted at the stands. That seemed to shut everyone up, for a second. Then someone behind me cooed: Awww.
“But here's the thing. We might have to Bonnie and Clyde this shit. I mean—some people are threatening legal action. Against me.” It didn't seem at all appropriate, but he grinned a sheepish grin.
“Oh. Shit.”
“Yeah. It's bad. But, you know...you play the cards you're dealt, right?” He looked at me with expectant eyes. The University of Texas looked at me with expectant eyes.
I must've been stone-cold crazy. I mean, bad was the tip of the iceberg. For a second, what stretched in front of us was only a world of hassle—court testimonies and mediation, divorce papers, counseling, possibly transferring schools...but then, there were his stupid eyes, his stupid chin, and his stupid face, looking at me irresistibly.
“Fuck it,” I breathed. Ignoring the looks from the crowd, my friends, my sister, my mom—the rest of the world melted away. “We'll be bad together.”
A smile spread wide across his face and he jumped up into the stands, climbing over people and taking the bleachers two rows at a time. As I stood to meet him, he grabbed me around the waist and picked me up in a crushing embrace, pressing his lips against mine.
“I love you, Doll.” He said over the cheering crowd.
“I love you too.”
“Let’s do this.”
THE END
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READ BELOW FOR AN EXCERPT FROM
“Naked Choke (A Stepbrother MMA Romance)” by Celia Loren
Amazon TOP 100 Bestseller of September 2015
My 18th birthday gift was moving in with two of the hottest, cockiest guys I’d ever met.
Austen and Logan Riggens, my new stepbrothers, my walking nightmares. They’re both older than me, they’re both MMA fighters, and to describe them in a few words…they're charming, assertive, know-it-all, a**holes.
It’s like an unwritten rule in their house that they walk around without shirts on. Teasing me, mocking me, trying their best to make me squirm.
They don’t care that our parents are practically married, or that it’s totally unacceptable to steal a kiss from me as we pass in the hallways, leave the door open as they get out of the shower, or invite me into their bedrooms.
Inside the cage...inside our house...two brothers fighting over me.
But the more I play hard to get, the stronger their advances become. And the more they treat me like sh*t, the more I want them…
Full Length, No Cliff Hanger. 18+ Contains adult language and sexual content.
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Chapter Fourteen
When we get closer to our neighborhood, I fall back. I’ve been following Logan home, staring at the back of his head as he drives in front of me on the highway. Now that I know where I am, I turn left as he continues home. I don’t want to arrive back at the house too close to him, both so as not to arouse suspicion and so that we won’t be alone when we pull into the garage and walk up to our respective bedrooms.
I drive aimlessly through the residential streets. My skin feels like it’s on fire. That kiss, though it couldn’t have been more than a few seconds long, was something else. My body reacted so immediately to his, all of my nerves endings lighting up at once.