Elena could feel eyes watching them from all around as they sat waiting for the game to begin. Elena Gilbert with a mysterious, shockingly handsome, older man. Gossip would center on this for days.
No one approached them, though. Elena saw Meredith and Bonnie climbing the bleachers, Bonnie’s face brightening as she saw them, and sent a silent plea to Meredith with her eyes. Meredith cocked one elegant eyebrow—message received—and shepherded Bonnie toward a group of laughing girls in another row of seats.
As the team ran out onto the field to claps and cheers, Damon tensed beside her, letting go of Elena’s hand. His jaw was tight, and his eyes followed one red-and-black jersey across the field. Stefan.
She was surprised to see Stefan on the team. Perhaps she should have realized that, even without her intercession, Matt would have invited Stefan to try out for the team.
“My appreciation for football is fading,” Damon said dryly, his eyes still fixed on Stefan. “Let’s go somewhere else, Princess. I can show you all kinds of things better than high school sports.” He turned toward her, his lips twitching up in a wicked smile, and took her hand again, starting to rise.
“No, wait, Damon,” Elena said quickly, tugging him back down. “I need a favor.”
Damon’s eyes narrowed. Slowly, he sat back in his seat and fixed her with a steady dark gaze. “So you didn’t just want to expand my horizons when you brought me here?” He leaned closer. “You’re quite devious, aren’t you, Elena?”
Pulling her eyes away from his, Elena looked back at the field. Their team had won the coin flip, and Matt, as quarterback and captain, chose to receive the kickoff. The teams were lining up, and Elena gripped Damon’s hand harder as she leaned forward to scan the backs of their jerseys. “See those two guys?” she said, pointing. “Carter and Smallwood.”
Damon glanced at them, his face taking on the thoughtful look she associated with him using his Power. “A couple of all-American meatheads,” he said dismissively. “Nothing special about them.”
“I know,” Elena said. “I need them to fight. It has to be bad enough to get them kicked off the team.”
Damon’s eyebrows rose. “You’re more bloodthirsty than I’d realized, Princess,” he said.
“I need them to get suspended. They can’t be at the dance tomorrow,” Elena told him. The kicker was moving back, his teammates lined up on either side. “Please, Damon,” she said.
Damon leaned back and smiled lazily at her. “Why should I?” His eyes were locked on hers, challenging her. “What will you give me?”
“Anything you want,” Elena said recklessly. “I trust you. Just do it.”
Damon’s smile widened, and he flicked his eyes back toward the field. The kicker’s foot made contact with the ball, and it flew in a high arc through the air.
With a shout of fury, Tyler Smallwood launched himself across the field and tackled Dick Carter to the ground.
The stands broke out in screaming excitement. Tyler was punching Dick in the stomach, avoiding his pads to reach the flesh beneath. Dick bucked and rolled, and Tyler hit the ground with a thud.
“Good enough?” Damon asked.
Down on the field, the referees were blowing hard on their whistles and running toward the fight. Both boys had pulled off their helmets, and, as Elena watched, Dick punched Tyler hard in the nose. Bright blood gushed out, drops spilling onto the grass of the football field.
“That should do it,” Elena said, feeling a little sick. But this was necessary. If Tyler and Dick went to the dance, if they left the dance and went to the graveyard, terrible things would happen.
This was the better option.
The coaches were shouting as the other players tried unsuccessfully to pull Dick and Tyler apart. Tyler lunged forward and sank his teeth into Dick’s arm. There was more blood, running over Tyler’s mouth. Damon was watching, his face lit with pleasure.
“Damon!” Elena said sharply. “That’s enough!”
“Killjoy,” Damon muttered, but he glared at the fighting boys, and they stilled, then pulled away from each other. Matt and one of the running backs were holding onto them, tugging them farther apart. Both boys looked dazed, and Tyler wiped at his mouth, smearing dark red blood across his face.
A chill spread through Elena. The pleasure Damon took in watching the guys fight was something she hadn’t seen in years. As comfortable as she felt with him, she still needed to be careful.
Down on the field, Stefan was paying no attention to the aftermath of the fight going on all around him. Instead, he was scanning the stands, his eyes narrowed. He must be looking for Damon, Elena realized. Of course Stefan would suspect Damon was behind the fight.
Before Stefan could spot them, the referees called the teams back into place. Two second-string players ran out to take Tyler and Dick’s places, and the game began at last.
Elena was surprised at how much she enjoyed it. She had been to football games before, of course she had. But usually, what was going on in the stands had interested her more than what might be happening on the field. Even when she was dating Matt, she hadn’t really watched him play.
He was really good. Matt and Stefan made an incredible team, but Stefan had the strength, speed, and reflexes of a vampire. Matt was managing on pure skill. Calm and confident, he called the plays, his eyes scanning the field. He ran like the wind, and when he passed the ball downfield, it was in a long spiraling arc that landed safely in Stefan’s hands. No wonder he had been—was going to be—offered football scholarships.