Page 36
Delaney let out a soft chuckle. “Everything.”
My fingers tightened around my notebook. His guy… An English exam… A lot if he passes… My mind had connected the pieces before I could stop it. Trace. It had to be him because it lined up too cleanly to fit with anyone else.
The TA said something, but it was too quiet for me to catch, and then the footsteps shifted again. They moved past my hiding spot, so I didn’t dare come out until their voices faded completely. Then I pushed off the wall and my heart resumed its racing. My mind was still reeling, and disbelief still shrouded my thoughts.
This was it. It wasn’t a theory or a guess. Not anymore. This was something real that I could prove. My thoughts had already broken free, and they were moving ahead faster and sharper than ever before. If Delaney was pulling the strings here and if he was getting academic “help” arranged… Nah, this was more than something so simple. It wasn’t just about football. This was a lot bigger than any of us ever thought possible.
I quickly turned and headed back in the direction from which I’d come. My focus was so locked on the implications that I didn’t notice I was going to walk right into someone until our bodies collided. The impact was so hard that it stopped me cold.
“Watch it!”
I stared up and saw Trace looking down at me. Of course it had to be him, as if I didn’t have enough to work with for one day. He steadied me automatically by letting his strong hands catch my arms before stepping back. I shifted my gaze and blinked rapidly, wondering if what I was seeing was real.
“You look terrible,” I muttered, trying my absolute best not to reach out and touch his bruised face.
He huffed out a short breath. “You should see the other guy.”
The corner of my mouth twitched despite myself. “Do all of your jokes come from the 1900s, or is it just a special occasion kinda thing?”
“I can’t help it. I’m an old soul,” he said as he wiped a drop of blood away from his mouth.
I snorted softly before I could stop myself. It just slipped out unexpectedly, but he definitely noticed it. I could tell. Not irritation, but it wasn’t amusement either. It was something lighter than all that, and it only lasted half a second before it was gone.
I cleared my throat and straightened slightly as my brain caught up to the reason I was actually there to begin with. Right, I came to interview him and there were a bunch of questions I wanted to ask about the game and everything I had just heard, of course.
“I need—”
“Not now,” he said, already stepping past me.
I turned and followed him. “I wasn’t asking.”
“It sure sounded like you were.”
I couldn’t believe it. He thought he’d get away with a stupid excuse like that? I thought he had gotten to know me and my stubbornness by now.
“It wasn’t optional.”
He shot me a look over his shoulder and said, “With you everything is optional.”
I opened my mouth and then stopped because, once again, movement caught my eye. And as luck would have it, it was exactly the same TA Delaney had spoken to. Call it kismet, call it being in the right place at the right time… I couldn’t let the opportunity slip by.
The TA lifted his hand slightly. “Hey, Prescott!”
Trace slowed and then turned. The confusion on his face had me wondering how involved he really was in all this, but then again, no one was innocent in my books, especially not Trace Prescott. So I went still and waited for this to play out the way I knew it would, hoping it would give me some more insight.
“What’s up?” Trace asked.
The TA stepped closer, glanced around a couple of times, and then pulled a single sheet of paper out of the folder he was carrying.
“Here,” he said, but his voice was so low that I couldn’t catch the rest.
Trace’s confusion became even more evident. “What’s this?”
“I don’t have time right now. Have a look later, and then we’ll catch up.”
He pushed it against Trace’s hand, but he hesitated before actually taking it. The TA hurried off while Trace’s eyes moved over the sheet.
“Oh.” He folded it in half and quickly shoved it into his jacket pocket.
