Total pages in book: 76
Estimated words: 72542 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 363(@200wpm)___ 290(@250wpm)___ 242(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 72542 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 363(@200wpm)___ 290(@250wpm)___ 242(@300wpm)
I barely noticed.
I walked to the bathroom and turned on the cold water at full blast and splashed my face. Wiping it off with my hand, I glared at myself in the mirror.
Tate came to the open door, his voice calm. “She’s gone. You okay?”
I gripped the edges of the sink and looked at him. “I could let the daisy thing go. And the car—it’s just money, and I know he wants me to get mad. But locking her in a fucking basement? Hell no.” I tied my hair up in a man-bun.
Tate frowned. “What are you going to do, mate? Do I need to call Coach?” I heard the worry in his voice, and it reminded me that he needed this game too. It was his senior year, and with the draft coming up, every single play counted toward making your stats look good. I rubbed my face.
I could tell Coach, but at this point there was no proof, and I’d seen his reaction already. Maybe Coach didn’t want to believe it. Maybe Coach needed this win so bad he was past caring what happened off the field. Plus, it was hearsay and he’d tell me he couldn’t do jack about that. I had to come up with how to handle Felix. And it had to be good—good enough that I didn’t lose the game or get kicked off the team.
I got in the shower and let the hot water wash over me while I mulled it all over. I couldn’t come up with any scenario where I came out smelling like roses.
One risky move and it could all go up in smoke.
The night air was crisp and cold with not a cloud in the sky, perfect for a game. I felt loose and ready after letting one of the trainers work on getting the kinks out of my shoulders. The only rule I needed to follow to keep my cool was to pretend I didn’t want to rip Felix’s head off. Fool him. I stared off into space and zoned in on the game and what was waiting for me. I imagined the opposing players, their weaknesses, and how to beat them. I visualized every play, every hit I might get, and every touchdown pass I was going to throw. I used every single trick Coach had taught me.
Felix waltzed in, his beady eyes assessing me as he walked by. I waved, making him start before picking up his pace and going to his locker.
He opened it and froze.
I smiled behind my hand, even as Tate shot me one of his warning looks. Okay, okay, he’d talked me down from beating the shit out of Felix, but that didn’t mean that I couldn’t fuck with him.
I knew what he saw. My pearl-handled knife stuck in one of his practice jerseys. I’d practically shredded the material. It had taken me getting here early and picking his lock—payback’s a bitch—but I’d managed.
It was a far cry from my eighty thousand dollar vehicle he’d ruined, but it made me feel better.
He’d thought he’d make me crack; but I was in control. I had to be.
On the other hand, I was taking a hell of a chance that he wouldn’t run straight to Coach, but I had my lie all ready to go.
I’d lost my knife a while back.
Maybe it belonged to some other player with an M initial.
Plus, this was the most important game of the season, and I was counting on the fact that if Felix did run his mouth, Coach wouldn’t want to hear any shit before we took the field. Not to mention, we were the two best quarterbacks on the team. No way in hell would he bench us and put in a third-string player.
Felix shot a quick look over his shoulder, but I made sure to be cleaning my shoes, my expression easy going. Calm. I trash talked with the other players.
Later, Coach called us all together, and I was exceedingly polite when I asked if Felix could pass me a water bottle during the pre-game talk. He eyed me warily.
If I wasn’t so angry, I’d be enjoying this.
We headed out to face Taylor University, one of the top-rated schools in the country.
The hometown crowd was insanely loud, homemade signs and cheers from every direction. I looked up into the packed stadium stands to send Sunny my two-fingers kiss, but she wasn’t there. Neither was Mimi. I saw my dad, though, sitting in the seat he’d managed to find that was behind the two he kept each season. I’d told him when he said he wanted to come that he’d have to figure out a way to sit near Sunny because his seat now belonged to Mimi. So where were they?
I slowed my run, and the football player behind me bumped into me as we were running out, and I quickly stepped out of the way to let them pass. I jogged to the bench, my eyes searching the student section, thinking perhaps she’d decided to sit with Ash and Isabella, but then I remembered it was Thanksgiving weekend and they’d gone home to see family.