The Red Zone (The League, #2)

by Meg Reading

I wasn’t one to call people profane names often… but what a fucking bitch.

“I’d rather be trapped at the bottom of the ocean without an oxygen tank.”

“Why suffocate down there when you could suffocate on my cock instead?”

Man, I hated to admit how good she looked wearing

my shoes… and there she was in my head again. This girl was going to be the death of me, I swear.

“This thing between us is toxic, you know.” My tone was sharp and my breathing grew heavier. “You’re telling me.”

“Because, ‘Mae Garten is the meanest, ugliest girl in second-grade, and the only reason October got stuck with her was because he was the last person who got to choose’.” Her face remained impassive. “Then, Chester followed up with some remark about how he’d wished you’d gotten Molly Goldberg instead since she was your crush.”

“That’s not true,” I replied curtly. “You can continue making me the villain in your story all you want, but you’re done being the villain in mine.”

Now, what I hadn’t planned for was the surge of jealousy at her mentioning another person taking my place.

“A lot can be solved with a hate fuck. Just get it out of your system,” in

“You know my brain inside and out. In the span of a minute, you can make me feel a rainbow of emotions. You know exactly what makes me tick. You can read my facial expressions like you memorized them a thousand lifetimes ago. So, while you might not know my favorite color or how I take my coffee… you know me. Far better than I’d like to admit.” “Blue.” “What?” “Your favorite color is blue. Light blue to be specific. And you don’t drink coffee, you drink tea. Ginger tea twice in the morning and chamomile once at night. If neither of those are available then you’ll settle for green.”

I shouldn’t be doing this, but fuck, I really want to.

“It’s brand new… I wouldn’t give you a jersey someone else has worn. You deserve better than that.”

“You’re gorgeous, Mae. More gorgeous than my thoughts from the last seven years led me to believe.” He ran a thumb over his bottom lip slowly as he looked me up and down. “Like it or not, I’ll never apologize for admiring how beautiful you are.”

No, maybe we should just end it while things are good. Before our feelings get caught up in this. Before the potential for another life gets caught up in this. But did I really want that? For all of this to be over for good?

it. “You’re mine. Do you understand that?” I leaned in, sealing my words with a kiss. “I can’t stop thinking about you. I never stop thinking about you. Even when we lived a thousand miles apart and I hadn’t seen you in seven years, you consumed my thoughts more than I’d like to admit. Don’t you get that?” Mae gulped. “For a long time, I hated that I wanted you. I hated that you drove me fucking crazy, taking up space in my head at all hours of the day. I hated that when you joked about not sleeping in my bed tonight, the first thought I had was how awful my day would be tomorrow because I wouldn’t get to wake up next to you.”