James Knight: Teenage Superhuman - Book Two

Thirty-Four

NOAH

Football practice... The root cause of my anxiety that consumed me alive all morning, and one reason my heart was halfway out of my bloody chest. We got through the second practice without Sebastian or Max starting shit. It wasn't just for my sake. It was because James's full running back was Max, and he enjoyed every second of striking fear and intimidating the shit out of us that day.

Luckily, we had Claire and my girlfriend in the stands cheering for us, looking like she had just stepped off a set of Wendy's commercials with her long, red, braided hair in pigtails. It was cute, in a sort of fetish way. It was something I could get used to seeing her do. She made it look seductive and gave me a slight ego boost as she and Claire bounced up and down in the stands like a couple of deranged fangirls, but it was fucking annoying, too. Would I instead have fucked my fierce little redhead girlfriend that evening? Maybe? But football practice was our priority. At least, that's what we wanted Coach Daniel to believe.

"Do you think he'll knock out if we all charged Max hard enough?" I grumbled, watching Max on the other side of the field with Mia, the cheer squad, and the rest of the jocks all get along. James scoffed, knowing that was wishful thinking. They were probably planning some ballsy to kick us off the team.

"James can barely take on Max, and he's much stronger than us," Bryce noted. It was unfair that James was the golden child when he didn't want to have his powers, but I'd take him over Maximus, my narcissistic brother, any day.

"I don't know. Max is your brother. Why don't you try it?" Mark grumbled, leaning against the fence, creating a boundary around the football field as he shoved me.

"I'm in," Bryce said. Mark shoved him forward, too, and my brother pulled back, huffing as he collapsed against Mark and flopped to the floor.

"Don't forget we promised Henry we'd work a shift tonight." James reminded us. We moaned, shifting our eyes to the fake turf below our cleats. They were already giving up our first real bloody hero job together. It sounded right to me.

"There you go with that superhero ego shit you do all the damn time, Knight. It's annoying," Mark snarled.

"Max is right there if you want to switch sides again," James pointed down the field at Sebastian, Max, and the other players watching us from a distance. They kept their eyes on us for a good minute before their attention shifted to the cheerleaders as they wobbled in their miniskirts. I had to pry my eyes away, or Pippi would kick my ass. My girlfriend was much hotter anyway and always turned me on. She did a bloody good job at it, too. She was the only thing I could think about. Life works in magical ways.

The girls sprung up behind us, scaring Bryce as he flattened against the floor to catch his breath. "Son of a bitch," Bryce swore.

"This is why I don't like girls," Mark added.

"Just suck it up, Mark," Sarah snapped, giving him a friendly shoulder punch through the wired fence.

"You boys can't get hurt, right?" After locking her eyes, Claire looked at James.

"Yeah, babe. We can get hurt if we're not careful but bulletproof. I promise you. We know what we're doing?" James replied, side-eyeing me before Claire reached over the fence and took his hand. Bleh. I didn't know who the worst was-whether my father got back with my mom or these two lovebirds. Suppose I had to choose between them. James and Claire stood out for more.

"You get yourself killed, and I-" she stopped herself, her sappy hormonal emotions taking over as she squeezed James's fingertips.

"I promise you we won't die." He spoke. I rolled my eyes and huffed. Good-fucking-grief.

"I'm so glad we're not like them," Sarah muttered. Fuck, I was goddamn ecstatic about it, too.

"Get off the floor, babe," Mark snapped at Bryce, lightly nudging his ribs with his shoe. Then there was Mark-my brother's unfortunate love interest. Wherever my twin's ex-boyfriend, Hunter, was, I sure hoped he was miserable for breaking Bryce's bloody, desperate heart. Relationships were rough. There were worse things to worry about.

"Henry's picking us up, so we should probably head out now," James noted.

"Yep," I agreed.

Mark saluted Claire and Sarah as he wandered past the bleachers into the locker rooms. Then Bryce peeled himself off the floor. "I'll meet you guys at the front entrance," Bryce declared, rushing off after Mark.

"We've got to go, too," I added.

"Are you going to kiss me, Superboy?" Claire asked. Again, blah, blah, blah. James scanned the field. The football stadium was vacant, and the jocks and cheerleaders were nowhere in sight. We didn't even see them go past us. We were too busy searching for our girlfriends' hot bodies. Or, at least, I did that. Then, James lifted off the ground, floating off the ground and over the barrier, and landed in front of Claire, his lips pressing against hers as he held her in his arms.

"Your turn, Hercules," Sarah said, winking at me. I groaned, rolling my eyes, and instead of floating over the fence like James, I chose the more complicated approach.

My palms pressed into the steel poles on the barbed wire, bending them under the pressure of my strength as I lifted my torso over it and swung my feet over, landing in front of my girlfriend. Then, Sarah grabbed my face, feeling my soft baby skin and sharp jawline, her eyes meeting mine before her soft lips locked against mine.

"I fucking love you," I muttered, pulling away from the kiss momentarily. Suddenly, Sarah pulled me against her and kissed me again as a cocky smirk tugged my lips apart, my fingers sliding through her hair, destroying Sarah's long, red braids.

"We're on the clock in twenty minutes, but Henry wants to talk to us before, Noah," James reminded me. I tugged out of the kiss and glared at James.

"You're no bloody fun, Knight," I grumbled before kissing Sarah one last time. James kissed Claire again, picking her up in his broad arms and holding her before putting her back on the ground.

"It's go-time," He announced.

"I'm coming, mate," I snapped, watching him watch me momentarily.

"I'll see you afterward, neighbor," Sarah tapped my nose with her index finger.

"I may or may not visit you," I admitted, tapping her nose back and ruffling her hair. I looked her in the eyes, ensuring we would be fine. Then James wandered to the edge of the bleachers.

"Are you coming or not?" James urged me.

"I'm coming," I snapped back, shuffling away from Sarah. Then, we were off to play superhero for at least my first time.

I never got to be a hero growing up. I was constantly destroying things and murdering people, innocent or otherwise. When things didn't go as planned, Bryce steered me in the right direction. It was great to have another half to keep you company.

Who would have thought I would be a hero to the family? Not me, anyway. Max knew he was destined to be a villain-poor guy. But people can change. You'd be surprised. You'd be amazed.