The Nerd Who Stole The Quarterback (Astra and Zayne) novel Chapter 51

Chapter 51

Chapter 51

ASTRA

Zane Ashton kissed me.

The words wouldn’t leave my head. They followed me all the way from the bus stop to The Gridiron, looping/like a broken

record.

My first kiss.

Stolen in the dark foyer by the same boy who’d spent years tormenting me. The same boy who used to call me Trash-tr and made my life hell.

And I’d kissed him back.

I still couldn’t believe it.

I hadn’t slept at all last night. Every time I closed my eyes, I felt it again, his rough, demanding mouth, the way he pinned my wrists above my head, the way his body pressed me against the wall like he wanted to claim every inch of me. The low growl against my lips: “You’re mine.”

My cheeks burned at the memory.

It felt like a fever dream, terrifying, shameful and Confusing.

I adjusted the strap of my bag and kept walking, legs heavy with exhaustion. Saturday meant another long shift at the bar. I needed the money. I needed to focus. I needed to pretend last night never happened.

But pretending was impossible when my lips still felt tender and my skin still remembered the heat of his hand on my neck.

The Gridiron came into view. I took a deep breath and pushed the door open.

Jade spotted me immediately.

“Damn, girl. You look like hell,” she said, raising an eyebrow. “Rough night?”

“Something like that,” I muttered. “Long game yesterday.”

She didn’t look convinced, but she let it drop. “Table 7’s already seated. Family of five. You got this.”

I nodded and got to work.

The shift started like any other Saturday, loud, chaotic, and packed. I took orders, carried trays, smiled at customers, and wiped down tables. But my mind kept slipping back to the foyer. To Zane’s dark green eyes in the moonlight. To the way he’d bitten my lip like he meant it.

Every time the front door opened, my head snapped up.

And every single time, disappointment twisted in my stomach.

Not him.

By two o’clock, I was annoyed with myself. I didn’t even want him to show up. If Zane walked in right now, my life would only get more complicated.

So why did my chest sink every time it wasn’t him?

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Chapter 51

“Earth to Astra.”

I blinked. Jade was standing beside me, tray balanced on her hip.

“You’ve been staring at that door for the last ten minutes.”

“I have not.”

“You absolutely have.” She narrowed her eyes, then broke into a slow, knowing grin. “Oh my God.”

“No.”

“Oh my God.”

“There is no boy, Jade.”

She pointed at me dramatically. “There is a boy.”

Before I could argue, the front door opened again.

My head turned on instinct.

This time, it was him.

El 58 voucha

Zane stepped inside with Tyler laughing beside him, Jax and a few other football players trailing behind. Just like they always did after games.

But nothing felt normal anymore.

His eyes found me almost instantly, like he already knew exactly where I was. Like he’d been looking for me.

The noise of the restaurant faded. For a second, neither of us moved.

Then Tyler said something, and Zane glanced away.

The spell broke.

I spun around so fast I nearly walked straight into a chair.

“Oh,” Jade breathed beside me, clearly enjoying this way too much. “Oh no.”

“Oh yes,” I whispered, grabbing a menu like a shield. “I’m quitting.”

Jade burst out laughing.

I risked one glance toward their usual booth.

Zane was already sitting down.

And he was still watching me.

My stomach flipped hard.

Yeah… I was definitely in trouble.

“Damn, if these weren’t high school boys, I’d be climbing that one like a tree,” Philemon said with a low whistle as he wiped down the bar, eyes locked on Jax laughing loudly at their usual booth. “Blond hair, blue eyes, that boy-next-door smile…

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Chapter 51

objectively very fuckable.”

1 almost dropped the tray I was holding.

“Philemon!” I hissed, cheeks burning.

He just grinned. “What? I have eyes. He’s hot.”

Objectively?

Yes. Jax was handsome. Classic golden-boy looks, easy smile, athletic build. The kind of guy girls wrote about in their diges

But my eyes kept drifting back to the one person they shouldn’t.

Zane.

He was lounging in the booth like he owned the entire restaurant, black hoodie pushed up to his elbows, showing those strong forearms.

And when our gazes locked…

He smirked.

Like he could read every filthy, confused thought running through my head since last night.

My stomach flipped violently.

I quickly looked away, heart racing, and adjusted the tiny black pleated skirt that suddenly felt way too short. It kept riding up my thick thighs no matter how much I tugged it down.The fitted white polo stretched across my chest, and I felt exposed and vulnerable.

Especially with Zane’s eyes burning into me.

“Table 12 wants another round of wings and a pitcher of Coke,” Jade called as she passed me.

Of course it was their table.

I swallowed hard, grabbed a fresh pitcher, and forced my legs to move.

Every step toward their booth felt like walking into a lion’s den.

Tyler spotted me first and grinned. “There she is! Our favorite president-slash-server.”

Jax leaned back with an easy smile. “Looking good in the uniform, Hawthorne.”

I forced a polite smile, cheeks warm. “Thanks. What can I get you guys?”

But my eyes kept flicking to Zane.

He was staring openly now, elbow on the table, chin resting on his fist. That smirk still played on his lips like he was enjoying how nervous I was.

His gaze dropped slowly down my body, lingering on the way the short skirt hugged my body, then back up to my chest where the polo stretched tight.

Heat flooded my face.

I tugged at the hem of my skirt again, trying to make it longer. It didn’t help.

Chapter 51

Zane’s smirk deepened.

“Another pitcher of Coke,” Tyler said. “And two more orders of wings. Extra spicy.”

I scribbled it down quickly, avoiding Zane’s eyes.

“Got it. Anything else?”

I stood there frozen for half a second, per hovering over my notepad, cheeks burning hotter than the kitchen fryers.

Zane’s green eyes were locked on me like I was the only person in the entire restaurant. That arrogant smirk played on hy lips as he leaned forward slightly, voice low and rough enough to slide under my skin.

“Yeah,” he drawled, eyes dropping to my mouth. “Stop biting your lip like that, Trash-tra. You’re making it real fucking hard for me to behave in front of my boys.”

The table went quiet for a beat, then Tyler and Jax burst out laughing, thinking it was just Zane being his usual cruel, teasing self.

But I knew better.

The way he said it, dark, intimate, sent a rush of heat straight between my legs. My thighs pressed together instinctively under that tiny skirt and I hadn’t even realized I was biting my lip again until he called me out on it.

I quickly released it, mortified.

“Got it,” I mumbled, barely audible.

I turned on my heel and practically fled back toward the kitchen, the short skirt swishing against my thighs with every hurried step. I could feel Zane’s stare burning into my back, my ass, my legs, every inch of me.

Jade was waiting by the drink station, grinning like a shark.

“Girl, the tension between you two is so thick I could cut it with a butter knife. What the hell is up between you two?”

“Nothing.” I lied quickly, slamming the pitcher under the soda fountain. My hands were shaking.

“Mm-hmm. Sure. And I’m the Queen of England.” She bumped my hip. “That boy looks like he wants to eat you alive”

I didn’t answer. I couldn’t. Because she was right.

Every time I glanced back at the booth, Zane was watching. Not laughing with his friends. Not checking his phone. Just staring. That same intense, hungry look from the foyer last night. Like he was replaying every second of the kiss in hus head

Loo.

I delivered their food a few minutes later, keeping my eyes down as much as possible. When I set the wings in front of him. Zane’s fingers brushed deliberately against mine as he reached for the plate.

I jerked back like I’d been burned.

His smirk returned, darker this time.

“Careful, baby,” he murmured so only I could hear. “You keep running from me and I might have to chase you into the back

room.”

My breath hitched.

I rushed away again, heart hammering, that shameful warmth growing between my legs.