Page 57 of The Striker
“Nah,” Terrance shakes his head. “You got it all wrong?—“
My back stiffens even though I knew this was coming.
“No.” Felix barks. “I don’t.”
Terrance doesn’t look convinced, and a part of me hates that. I don’t even have to voice the words to know he’d never believe me. I’m just a cleat chaser to him. A floozy. As far as he’s concerned, I got exactly what I wanted that night.
Felix makes a sound of disgust at the back of his throat and shakes his head. “¡Que te jodan, cabrón!”Fuck you, asshole.“Does her behavior line up with someone making shit up?”
He doesn’t give Terrance the chance to answer, but I can see that he’s thinking about it now. Probably replaying whatever stories he’s been told and trying to match them up with whatever he thinks he sees in me now.
Meanwhile, Wyatt’s gaze is flipping back and forth from me to Terrance to Felix and then back to me. I’m not sure if he heard the rumors or not.
He doesn’t look surprised like his friend. He just looks confused. Not that it matters.
This date is a disaster, and it’s obvious it won’t be happening again.
Felix turns his back on them, and warm brown eyes settle on mine in apology. “Lo siento, pequeñita.”I’m sorry, little one. “Te puedo llevar a casa?”Can I take you home?
I want to say yes, but suddenly, my throat is filled with broken glass and my limbs are locked. All I can seem to do is stare at Austin through Felix’s chest because even with him in the way, I know Austin is there. It takes every ounce of my being just to breathe.
17GABRIEL
My eyes dart over the words, and my heart jumps into my throat. What the hell did Felix get himself into this time?
Felix: Get to Zeta Pi. Now.
“Julio!” I call out, knowing he’ll hear me from his room.
I quickly type out a message in response to Felix’s cryptic text.
Me: All hands on deck?
“What?” Julio’s voice echoes from his room. Before I can answer him, Felix’s reply comes through.
Felix: No. But you need to come get your girl. Zeta Pi house. Now.
Fuck.
My heart pounds harder, and panic grips my chest like a vise. I rush to the kitchen and grab the keys to my motorcycle off the hook.
“Where’s the fire?” Julio asks as he sees me scrambling to shove my feet into my boots.
What the hell is she doing there?
“Cecilia’s at the Zeta Pi house,” I blurt out, my mind racing with a thousand different scenarios. None of them good.
“Fuck,” he curses.
My thoughts exactly. Grabbing my helmet, I sprint out the door. The need to get to her thrums through me. If anything happens to her, I don’t know what I’ll do.
Why is she there? We had a plan. Deacon is going to get the pictures to Jameia tomorrow.
Julio calls out at my back. “Want back up?”
“I got it!” I shout back, my voice firm. Felix didn’t say it was an all-hands-on-deck situation, which means between him and me, we can handle it. No sense in dragging Julio into the fray.
I throw my leg over my bike and back it out of the driveway.
