Madison and Alex came running up and gave Emily a quick hug. “Guess Mr. Lovell here,” Alex linked her arm through Zach’s, “had all your attention, and you couldn’t remember about us lowly people.” Alex jokingly hung her head, awaiting sympathy.
“No. I…just…” Emily stuttered. She tried to find an excuse as to why she didn’t call.
Zach came up beside her and put his arm around her shoulders. “Hey, she can’t help it if she finds my company and presence more interesting than yours.” He stuck his tongue out at Madison and Alex.
Both girls started laughing.
“Oh yeah, Zach, you’re so irresistible. You’re as hot as..." Madison tried to think of the cute guy that played in the last movie she and Alex had seen. She looked behind the others and saw one person who could ruin her whole night. “Jacob.”
“I knew it. I knew it.” Danny started to bounce on his toes. “I knew you had the hots for him.”
“No. He’s behind you.” Madison pointed to Jacob, who was standing behind the group.
They all turned and saw Jacob behind them in his complete football uniform.
“And no to your assumption, Danny. That is so not happening here.” Madison ducked back into her car to pretend she was looking for something. She didn’t want to hear or see Jacob’s comment about what Danny had said.
“What’s up?” Zach questioned his brother. Jacob motioned with his head for Zach and Danny to follow. They met in a few empty spaces away from the rest of the crowd.
“Did you hear what happened?” Jacob asked in a hushed tone. They both looked at him like they had no clue as to what he was talking about. “Adam and his pack were out scouting around. Our best tracker picked up a scent of either Orfeo or one of the others over by the little community past Gibsonia Road.”
“No shit. Wow. Did they see anyone or anything?” Danny was all excited. His wolf was getting all stirred up, and he felt like going on a hunt. He looked over at Alex. She glanced at him from the corner of her eye and gave him a soft smile, which was enough to calm him down and gain more control of his inner beast.
“Nah. They didn’t see anything, they just got a faint scent. They wanted everyone to be on high alert.” Jacob snuck a glance at Madison, but she was busy talking to the other girls. He wanted to know more about what Danny meant by his comment when he first came over but he didn’t want to hear any ridicule about him being curious about her. “I gotta get back to the team. Keep a lookout in case something’s going down.”
Danny and Zach nodded they would, and walked back over to the girls.
Protectively, Zach put his arm around Emily, then started in the direction Jacob went, toward the field. “Ready?” He glanced down at her. She smiled up at him, looking quite content, which made him and his wolf more at ease.
It was halftime for the game before Emily got to talk to Zach again. The crowd’s noise and the excitement from the game kept it nearly impossible to carry on a normal conversation. Thanks to Jacob, Will, and Anthony, the home team was winning by three touchdowns. It wasn’t a boastful brag when they said those three could play ball well and sort of owned the team. They worked together on the field like they could read each other’s minds and knew what the other would do.
“Do you want a soda or something?” Zach asked as they walked over to the concession stand.
“That would be great.” Her face beamed like a little kid on Christmas when he offered to get her something. She pointed to the restroom to let him know where she was going and followed Madison and Alex.
“So, it seems you got the reclusive lone wolf Zach to show interest in a girl finally,” Madison questioned Emily as they waited in line to use an empty stall when one became available. “How did you work your magic?”
“I don’t think he’s romantically interested, he’s just being nice.” Emily tried to hide the fact that she was excited about Zach possibly showing interest in her.
Alex barked out a laugh. “Uh, no. He’s definitely showing interest. He’s never acted like this around another girl for as long as we’ve known him. He’s always polite but never touchy or wanting to hold hands like he is with you.”
Emily didn’t know what to think. She knew she liked him and felt a pull toward him, but she still didn’t want to get her hopes up.
Madison patted Emily on the back. “Let’s see what happens at the dance. I’m sure you’re going to be the only one he dances with.”
Zach got the soda Emily wanted and waited for the girls to return, which was like forever. Finally, after about five minutes, all three exited the restroom together. He had no clue why girls were like that. Guys could use the bathroom alone, but girls seemed to always have to hold each other’s hands to do things like that.
"It took you long enough.” He stared directly at Madison like he was accusing her of making them stay in the restroom.
“Sorry.” Madison rolled her eyes at Zach and crossed her arms. “We had girl things to discuss.”
"The game's about to begin again. Do you want to head in?” Zach turned his attention back to Emily and nodded toward the football field.
“Yep.” Emily’s voice sounded excited as Zach once again took her hand and led her back to the bleachers with the others following behind them.
The game ended with West Lakes winning. Zach grabbed Emily’s hand once more as they scrambled up the bleachers to go to the dance taking place in the school gymnasium.
“Do you need anything else?” Zach questioned her as they walked past the concession stands once again.
“Um, no, thank you. I’m pretty good.”
Zach gently squeezed her hand and led her in the direction the rest of the student population was traveling toward the school.
The group heard the band begin to do warm-ups as they made their way through the line into the gym. Zach already had the cash out for him and Emily and he made sure to push it forward when they got up to the person taking the attendance money. Danny was behind them and paid for him and Alex. Madison wasn’t with anyone, so that left her alone to pay for herself, and she had no one to accompany her to the dance.
“I guess we’re stuck here for the next two and a half hours.” Danny didn’t want to be at some lame dance. He’d rather be out on patrol with the rest of the pack, where all the adventure is happening tonight. But Alex wanted to come, so he had to go along with what made her happy.
“Danny.” Alex let out an exasperated sigh. “It will be fun.” She tiptoed up and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek.
“Hey, the band is warming up.” Madison pointed to the group that was in the front portion of the gym.
"It looks like they should be getting ready for bed. It's kind of late for people their age to be out partying.” Danny had to get one last snide comment in before he got shot with another evil glare from the girls.
One…
two…
three.
Yep, there it was. All three girls looked at him like he’d just announced Ben & Jerry’s went out of business. A look of total devastation and despair.
“We think older guys are hot, right, girls?” Madison questioned Emily and Alex, who both nodded in unison. All three girls moved toward the stage, swaying their hips to the rhythm of the music.
Danny and Zach both let out a low growl as their wolves got a little pissed at their mates’ suggestive moves and agreement with Madison’s comment.
There was a thunderous roar of excitement near the entrance as soon as the crew reached the front of the gym where the band was. They all turned around and saw the football team and cheer squad had made their grand entrance.
“All hail the king has arrived.” Madison rolled her eyes at the attention Jacob and his entourage received.
The deafening sound of guitar playing through the oversized amps halted the excitement from the local celebrity’s arrival.
The lead singer grabbed the microphone. “You guys ready to party tonight?” he screamed in a booming voice. The crowd erupted into a roaring frenzy. “We are going to kick your ass tonight with some good old ROCK AND ROLL.” The band started to play ‘Nothing but a Good Time,’ by Poison.
The girls began dancing. Zach and Danny stood around like they had no clue what to do. Danny tapped Zach on the shoulder and nodded over toward an opening on the sidewall where some of the other guys were hanging out. Knowing they couldn’t hear because of the band’s loudness, Zach placed his hand on Emily’s back and pointed over to where Danny was walking. She nodded and continued to dance with Alex and Madison.
It was a good spot they picked out to watch the girls. They weren’t right in front of the speakers, and they could keep an eye on the girls in case anyone tried to mess with them. A few moments later, Jacob and his whole group showed up.
“Where’s your girls?” Jacob questioned Danny and Zach as he scouted the room looking for them.
Zach pointed over toward the front of the stage where Emily and the other two were dancing around, obviously having a good time.
Jacob locked in on Madison. She was dancing rather seductively and focused her attention on the lead singer. He felt his wolf stir inside of him as a sense of possessiveness washed over him. “You guys left them by themselves with everything going on?” He knew he was making more out of the moment than it was, but he didn’t like the way Madison was showing attention to another guy. “We don’t know who or where the offspring is or anything else involved with Orfeo. I’m just saying you all need to be careful.”
Danny rolled his eyes but started walking back over to where they’d left the girls. Zach followed but with hesitation about having to dance.
“Jacob, can’t we go dance?” Brindle whined behind him.
He had totally forgotten about them following once Madison caught his attention. Will and Anthony, along with Brindle’s followers, were standing right behind him, waiting for some sort of response. He let out a deep sigh and pulled Brindle by her wrist in the direction Danny and Zach had gone.
“I don’t wanna dance with them.” Brindle tugged Jacob back by his arm. He gave her a little yank and continued over by Zach.
Madison was surprised to see Jacob had followed his brother over to their group. Of course, he had Brindle and the rest of his admirers following him, but she could at least watch him.
He was moving around with Brindle in suggestive movements that signaled what may be going on later. It was a wonder none of the chaperones weren’t stopping this type of behavior. Madison shook her head. Why the hell was she worried about what Jacob was doing? It seemed everyone was dancing with someone in their group like Jacob was with Brindle.
Guess it fit the title of the song the band had broken into playing, another Poison song, ‘Talk Dirty to Me.’ Madison turned her attention back toward the band and tried to block out what everyone else was doing and the fact she felt really alone right now.