The Friday night air was thick with the scent of popcorn, hot dogs, and the faint musk of freshly cut grass. The high school football field was ablaze under the floodlights, the cheers of the crowd echoing across the stands. But down at the far end where shadows pooled thick and the noise blurred into a muffled hum Layla waited.
She leaned casually against the metal frame of the bleachers, her foot tapping against the dirt, pretending she wasn't counting the seconds. The beams above rattled whenever the crowd stomped, but down here, tucked behind the rusted latticework and the smell of damp earth, it felt like another world. Hidden. Dangerous.
Her pulse quickened when she heard his footsteps approaching measured, purposeful. Caleb. The star quarterback with a crooked smile and a reputati
