Once it was all done, we took the rest of the bakery boxes and headed inside to find our seats. We did have to buy tickets since a lot of supes wanted to come to the games like with human college sports but also, it was the rare chance they could have to be on Artemis’s campus.
The moment we sat, Darby had a cream puff ready for me. I wasn’t sure what that was about until I remembered the huge spread Lucca had given me as an apology.
Which was something Darby couldn’t do. He might not be a scholarship student this year, but he still worked in the cafeteria for money. His family never helped him with anything and especially now, he didn’t have anyone else to rely on.
“Please don’t think he can win me over with gifts, or you’re lacking,” I said gently in his mind. “The roses you’ve made me are maybe the best things I’ve ever received, and I love them.”
He flinched, but then sighed. “I didn’t realize I was worried about that, but yes, I am. I can’t give you what he can, what you deserve.”
“Yes, you can. You treat me better than any man I’ve ever been around has. It’s not a slight on Lucca, as I don’t know him well, but you always treat me well, Darby. You treat me like a queen and everyone knows it. It’s not just my feelings making me feel that way, but how you truly treat me, and that’s better than all the gifts or bought out bakeries ever.”
“I love you, Tamsin. I’m trying, but it’s hard not to worry they’ll take you from me.”
“Not going to happen.” It wouldn’t. I might not make it one fight, and life was uncertain, but I would never, not ever, drop Darby because I was mates with Lucca or Hudson. The gods or fate decided that, and they might not have been wrong.
But Darby was my choice and I wasn’t wrong either.
I opened my mouth like a baby bird, both of us chuckling when we made a mess by him feeding me. Just to be extra goofy and a brat, I peppered his face with kisses, knowing my lips were full of powered sugar. The look of love he gave me was totally worth my feeling stupid doing that in public.
Nice.
10
The game was awesome. Way better than human football, and I must have said that at least a dozen times. They weren’t kidding when they said the pace of everything was fast. The moment a play was over or a tackle happened, people raced back to their spots to start again, since the rules were as cutthroat as the supe world.
Like if they didn’t get to the line in time, they couldn’t participate that play and had to move offsides. And the coaches were not happy if a player did that, normally someone getting traded out lightening quick. There were whistles and flags and cards being drawn so fast, my head felt like it was spinning. Honestly, it was insane.
Yeah, the guys on the team deserved respect, like for real, and just for knowing all the damn rules. The warlocks who were doing the rune casting for the plays weren’t fucking around either. Two were on the field for each team, and they mostly took either side of the quarterback, or the right and left of the defensive team. They were whipping out runes as fast as I could, and I didn’t have to write them.
Un-fucking-real.
By the end of the first quarter, I was totally hooked. I was asking so many questions that I thought everyone around us was going to burst out laughing.
“The yellow cards are for penalties against players not keeping themselves in check,” Darby patiently explained. “So a vamp’s fangs come out, or someone’s claws. Yards are gained or lost by that. Flags are normal penalties, like in human football, like starting too early or that sort of thing, but they make the rulings faster. The red cards are for bad runes or using runes on players already down.”
“Got it.” That made sense, but the damn refs had to have eyes in the backs of their heads. Then again, I thought there might be more than in human college football, but I wasn’t sure. Keeping up with it all really had to be a workout.
And even those warlocks who were casting kept switching out all the time so they could recharge on an exceptionally large reservoir they all had access to. Honestly, I wanted to see that thing up close. I’d never seen one so large, and I wondered if I could get one, how much magic it could hold, if I could get one, how much it would cost, and if I could get one.
That would be so, so much easier than all the smaller reservoirs I kept bringing back and forth with me to Faerie. Plus, now with all the crystals, those were needed for… Something. Dean White had tried to explain it all to me several times, but it was still a bit over my head with my magical knowledge level.
And the crystals confused me overall. For real, I didn’t get them.
Right after the second quarter started, I realized I was out of drink. Darby offered to get it, but I wanted to hit the bathroom too, and my mind was still on that reservoir. Calloway would have to know who could get me one. I would definitely call her after the game.
I finished in the bathroom and once again walked into something. I was starting to seriously wonder if that was my shtick this semester, or if the gods were just trying to give me a helping hand
