The Nerd Who Stole The Quarterback (Astra and Zayne) novel Chapter 26

Chapter 26

ZANE

Sunday afternoon and I was supposed to be anywhere else,

Gym. Home, Meeting the guys. Anywhere but here.”

6b vanthara

Yet here I was, sitting in the same corner booth at The Gridiron, half–hidden behind a menu I wasn’t reading, eyes glued to her like a fucking addict.

Astra moved between tables with that nervous little smile she gave everyone but me. The black skirt still looked illegal on her, her ponytail swayed with each step, and when she laughed at something a customer said, my hand tightened around my glass until I thought it would crack.

She was smiling too much.

Especially at him,

He was sitting in her section like he belonged there, watching her with those soft violet eyes as she passed by him. She was laughing at something he said, that real, warm laugh she almost never gave me. Her cheeks were pink. She looked… happy.

It was killing me.

I wanted to rip that smile off her face and replace it with my name on her lips. I wanted every single thing about her to revolve around me. Her attention. Her fear. Her fucking happiness. All of

1. it.

And she had called him her boyfriend

The memory made something dark and ugly twist in my chest.

Boyfriend.

The word tasted like poison.

I didn’t want to be her boyfriend. I didn’t do that soft shit, dates, flowers, holding hands like some lovesick idiot. That wasn’t me.

But the thought of her being officially someone’s… of someone else getting to claim her, touch her, own every soft curve and shy smile…

It made me want to break something,

Preferably Jason’s face.

I pushed the thought away hard.

1/6

11:35 am P P P P

Chapter 26-

#don i like her

65 vouchere

She was Trash–tra. Acharity case: A temporary obsession I’d get over once I broke her completely. That’s all this was.

Still, my eyes followed her relentlessly as she moved around the restaurant. Every time she leaned over a table, every time that skirt rode up her thighs, every time she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, I felt it like a punch to the gut.

She was mine to torment.

Mine to ruin.

And the fact that she was smiling at someone else right now made me want to drag her into the back alley and remind her exactly who she belonged to.

Jason said something that made her laugh again.

My jaw clenched so tight it hurt.

I took a slow sip of my drink, never taking my eyes off her.

*Keep laughing, Trash–tra.*

*Soon enough, the only person who’ll make you smile… or cry… will be me.*

A few minutes later, my phone started vibrating on the table.

Maya.

I answered without thinking, eyes still locked on Astra.

“Yeah?”

“Baby, where are you?” Maya’s voice was sweet but edged with annoyance. “We were supposed to go on that date today, remember? I’ve been waiting for you for twenty minutes.”

I barely heard her. My gaze was glued to Table 14, Jason’s booth.

Astra was standing there, smiling at him again. Laughing softly at something he said. She looked too comfortable, Too happy.

*She’s supposed to be working, not flirting.”

“Yeah… something came up,” I muttered, voice flat.

Maya sighed dramatically. “Zane, seriously? You’ve been distant since the game. What’s going on with you?”

2/6

11:35 am P ppp.

Chapter 26-

Across the room, Jason suddenly stood up.

My entire body went rigid.

55 vouchers

He stepped closer to Astra, one hand sliding casually around her waist, pulling her in. He leaned down like he was about to kiss her on the lips.

For a split second, pure rage blinded me.

Then he kissed her cheek instead.

Astra went bright red, all the way to the tips of her ears. She looked stunned, flustered, frozen in place.

Jason pulled back slowly, but his eyes flicked straight to me across the restaurant. He smirked. A slow, knowing, *fuck you* smirk.

*That little shit.*

He said something to her I couldn’t hear, then sauntered out of the bar like he owned the place.

Astra stood there for a moment longer, fingers touching the spot on her cheek where he’d kissed her, looking dazed. Like she was still feeling it.

Then she turned.

Our eyes met.

Her face flushed even deeper. She scurried away toward the kitchen like she couldn’t get away fast enough.

“Zane? Zane, are you there?” Maya’s voice snapped through the phone, irritated now. “Hello?”

I didn’t answer right away.

My hand tightened around the phone so hard the screen might crack.

All I could see was Jason’s hand on her waist.

His lips on her cheek.

Her blush.

Her fucking *smile* at him.

The rage was so sharp it tasted metallic on my tongue.

I wanted to break something.

3/6

11:35 am P p p p.

Chapter 26-

55 vouchen

And then drag Astra somewhere private and wipe that stupid blush off her face and put mine instead.

“Zane!”

*I’m here,” I finally said, voice cold. “Something came up. I’ll call you later.”

I hung up before she could protest.

My eyes stayed on the kitchen door Astra had disappeared through.

I stayed in that booth for another hour, nursing the same beer, eyes never leaving her.

Every smile she gave a customer or bent over.

It was eating me alive.

Eventually I couldn’t take it anymore. I threw cash on the table and left.

But I didn’t go home.

I parked my car across the street from The Gridiron, lights off, and waited.

Like a fucking stalker.

When her shift ended a little after nine, I watched her walk out, ponytail slightly messy, looking exhausted but determined. She kicked her scooter to life and rode off.

I followed at a safe distance, far enough that she wouldn’t notice the headlights.

She didn’t head toward the mansion.

She turned toward St. Mary’s Hospital.

My frown deepened. What the fuck is she doing here?

I parked a little ways away and watched her hurry inside, shoulders tense,

Fifteen minutes later, she came back out.

She looked… destroyed.

Head down, arms wrapped around herself, shoulders shaking as she stood next to her scooter. She didn’t get on. She just held the handlebars like they were the only thing keeping her upright.

Then her shoulders started trembling harder.

4/6

11:36 am P p p p

Chapter 26

She was crying

Gă voucherS

Silent, broken sobs that made her whole body shake. Tears streamed down her pretty face, glistening under the hospital lights. Her full lips trembled. Her cheeks were flushed and wet. She looked so small. So fucking vulnerable.

Something twisted sharply in my chest

I’d bullied her for years. Made her cry in hallways. Made her life hell.

But I had never seen her cry like this.

Not this raw. Not this helpless.

A dark, fucked–up part of me found it disturbingly hot, the way her tears made her look even softer, even more breakable. The way her chest heaved with each sob. The way she tried so hard to hold it in but couldn’t.

I was already reaching for the door handle, ready to get out, find whoever hurt her and make them bleed, when a young man in a doctor’s coat came running out of the hospital.

“Astra!” he called.

She turned.

The doctor, probably early thirties, kind face. I vaguely recognized him from somewhere and he looked at her with genuine sadness. He said something too quiet for me to hear, then pulled her into a hug.

She buried her face in his chest and cried harder.

His hand stroked her hair gently, comforting her.

My vision went red.

Don’t touch her.

The urge to storm over there and rip his arms off her was so strong I had to grip the steering wheel until it creaked.

Who the fuck was he?

Why was she crying in his arms?

And why the hell did the sight of another man comforting her make me want to destroy everything in sight?

I stayed in the car, breathing hard through my nose, watching them.

5/6

11:36 am

Chapter 26-

Watching her.

And for the first time, the obsession felt less like hate…

…and more like something far more dangerous.