Page 199 of The Wrong Play

I glanced over, frowning when I saw that Matty had frozen on the field.

No sarcastic remarks. No eye roll.

Not even ashut the fuck up,Jace-face.What was going on?

“Hey.” I nudged him with my elbow. “Why aren’t you appropriately worshiping me right now?”

Matty didn’t evenlookat me.

His jaw was tight, his brows drawn, his gaze locked onto something in the distance.

Something out in the parking lot.

I exchanged a glance with Parker, who had also noticed.

“What’s up with you?” Parker asked, half-laughing, half-confused.

Matty’s scowl deepened, his voice quieter than usual. “She’s not here.”

Parker tilted his head. “Who’s not here?”

Matty didn’t answer right away. Instead, his throat bobbed, his stance stiffening, like something was actuallywrong.

And then I followed his line of sight.

Right out to the spot where that beat-up old car was always parked during every single practice.

Where that girl was always watching, always waiting—wasn’t.

The air suddenly felt heavier, like we had all just noticed something at the same time.

Matty clenched his jaw, his voice quiet but full of something I couldn’t quite place.

“Why isn’t she here?”

“Who?” Parker asked again, looking back and forth between the lot and Matty’s face, taking a minute to get it. “Your stalker?” He barked out a laugh. “Isn’t that a good thing?”

“Yeah, Matty-boy, maybe she just finally decided to trade up and stalk someone funnier,” I inserted helpfully, kind of loving how he seemed to be freaking out right now.

Matty shook his head. “Something’s wrong.”

I blinked, and then Matty was turning and sprinting off the field.

Like a maniac. Like he’d suddenly picked up a habit of drinking iced milk.

Coach Everett hollered at him, probably done with all the running away his players had been doing lately. The rest of our teammates just watched in confusion.

Parker whistled low under his breath. “Huh. Didn’t expect that.”

A grin stretched across my face. “Didn’t know Matty had it in him. He just gained some bestilicious bro points.”

Parker bristled. “For what?”

“For finally doing something cool.”

He watched Matty disappear from view and sighed in defeat. “True.”

Brooks, one of our running backs snorted nearby. “There is seriously something wrong with you guys.”

I couldn’t argue with that.

We believed in true love, obviously, and I was proud of that fact. It had gotten me my Riley-girl, after all. And for her, I’d be wrong, insane, and completely fucking psychotic every single day if I needed to be.

Because with her, everything was right.