Playing With Fire

CHAPTER XVIII (18)

CHAPTER XVIII
Christian

"I want to fucking sleep," Smith grunted behind me, and a chorus of agreements followed from the rest of my team as I unlocked the front door.

"Cap, I think you killed us today," Ambrose, a second year, hissed in pain next to me. My lip rose in a smirk, satisfied. "We better win tomorrow's game."

I was starting to enter the house when I froze. "What's with the attitude? Of course we'll win." Looking over my shoulder, I stared at the guys one by one. A few nodded in agreement, but others seemed nervous. "We won the national championship last year, and you think we're gonna be defeated by the Sharks?"

Logan started smirking while I reached out to slap my hand against Ambrose's back. "We're the fucking Tigers." His lip quirked, and I grinned mischievously. "You all train well. Now get your asses in the house and drink a beer before you head out."

The guys started grinning, and a few whooped out loud before we stampeded into the house I shared with Logan and Cree. Since I lived in the dorms first year, Cree had been my roommate. When I was looking for a place to rent a year later, I offered Cree a bedroom. Even though he was buff, intimidating and sharp, he never tried out for the football team. But I had to give the man credit, he could draw a fucking great sketch.

I figured he was on campus now, even though it was almost nine o'clock.

My gym bag was resting on my shoulder, but as I stepped further into the dark living room, my feet faltered. Something felt off.

"Yo, why the fuck is the back door open?"

My head shot to Amir, who was standing in the middle of the kitchen, eyes drawn to the open patio door. He slid the screen to the side and popped his head out, trailing his gaze over our backyard.

"Nobody's there," he said warily seconds later. My grip on my gym bag tightened, and I felt myself baring my teeth.

"Fuck." My team stared at me, their postures straightening as their expressions cleared, waiting for my orders. "Look around. See if anyone's still here. Check if there's anything missing."

They all nodded once before they all spread out to different corners of the house. It shouldn't take that long to see if there was anyone hiding, seeing as though the house was semi-detached. It would probably take ten minutes to get the all clear.

I started lowering my gym bag to the grey L-shaped couch next to me, watching as a few guys stomped up the stairs. The floorboards rattled from their weight.

"Shit," I could hear Smith hissing, and my back straightened, realizing it had come from the opposite side of the wall across from me. The only room on that side of the house was the dining room, but we used the space for our ping pong and pool table. Not only that, but our display case was there—the same case we used to store our trophies.

"Kane, come here!" He hollered, and I didn't wait any longer. I rounded the wall in quick strides, already starting to feel my face burn in rage. Standing in between both tables were Smith, Gray and Logan, who was rubbing his hand against his buzzed head in disbelief.

All their eyes were focused on the display case against the far-left wall. I needed to take a slow breath before I forced my gaze in its direction.

When I saw an empty spot instead of where the national championship trophy was supposed to be, I grinded my teeth together. "You've got to be shitting me."