Page 173 of Forever Relentless

“I do.” He didn’t give one fuck that I was faking sympathy. “I also duck out of them a lot. The arts building in particular has a lot of places to, well, let’s not beat around the bush, hide.”

I dreaded what was coming next, but I kept my face a mask of calm.

“I’ve only been in it once, Coach.”

He smiled. “I saw you sneak away with the dean’s daughter, and I knew Spence is too damn possessive to share, so I thought she might have a spot for you to hide.”

Share?

“And I know where I like to go, so I went to the bathroom, and on my way there, I saw the media girl, Briar, walking down the hallway.”

Fuck.

“And I saw the dean’s daughter come out of that small study right down at the very bottom of that hallway.” He watched me closely. “And then I heard . . . nothing.”

Thank you, Jesus.

“And isn’t that strange? That two people could be in the same room, two people who know each other, and not speak one word?” He cocked his head to the side. “Unless, of course, they weren’t talking.”

I held his stare, saying nothing.

“And I thought, okay. It’s not my business. Maybe in my old age, I’m going deaf. It’s a party, people do dumb shit at parties all the time.”

I almost choked on the bubble of hysteria that was slowly rising.

“So I went back to the party.” His eyes gleamed. “And then a very freshly fucked Ms. Holmes came back to the party too.”

“I didn’t have sex with her.”

“Then.” His tone was final. “But I also know where she lives.” He opened a drawer and pulled out a print. It was me going into Briar’s building the night of the party. The next picture was me coming out of her building the next day, in the same clothes, looking a little rough for wear.

“I think they call this the walk of shame? Is that right?”

I looked at the pictures. “You always creep around at night taking pictures of your players, Coach?”

His eyes twinkled. “Only the stars. You wouldn’t believe what some of my team do when the sun goes down.”

He took the picture of Dustin? Fuck. Did he take Jason’s?

“It’s hard keeping a locker room in check,” he said softly. “Some need a strong word, some need a strong incentive.” He tapped the picture. “What do you need? I show this to the dean, your girl’s gone.”

“I—”

“And then you know, I thought about it,” he cut me off. “Maybe it’s love.” He shrugged. “Who am I to interfere with young love?”

“Fuck you.”

He laughed.

“But I had a niggling gut feeling about her. First, my QB gets involved with the Cole girl. Then my wide receiver with the girl that should have been off this campus the minute she printed her lies, but Dean Cole protected her. And then he brings me another girl, and this one gets dangled in front of my linebacker. Three of my stars, three girls all dancing to Cole’s tune.”

I blinked. “You think the dean is orchestrating dating?” I asked him scornfully.

“No. Even for me, that’s far-fetched. But all my trouble started within the last few months. And you know who’s new here, in the last few months? A PT and social media girl. The PT is involved with Hembry, and he’s not shy about sharing details. I don’t care about her. But you and the media girl . . . You see where I’m going?” He didn’t wait for an answer. “I had a friend look into Briar Holmes.” He pointed at me. “Tell me what I found.”

“That you need more hobbies? You’re clearly bored in the evenings.”

He laughed. “You’re funny. I never appreciated that about you.” He watched me carefully. “Her name is not Briar Holmes. In fact, Briar Holmes didn’t exist until five months ago.”