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“I saw him give it to you right after I heard Frank Delaney talking to him about getting someone some special help for an English exam.”

If that was a punch, it would’ve knocked the air right out of my lungs. For a second I froze, thinking that she might’ve already blown the lid off all this and of course she had to see that too.

“You’ve been busy,” I said blandly, hoping my tone would conceal my turbulent emotions.

She shrugged. “Not really. I’ve just been paying attention.”

I let out a short breath and stepped away so I could put some space between us. “I think you need to learn a thing or two about boundaries. Whatever you think is going on, it’s not your business.”

“Everything that involves this team is my business, and since this definitely involves you…”

Of course she was going to play that game. She had been assigned to the team, so technically she was right, but I was pretty sure there were people in this school that wouldn’t be happy about her angle. That had to carry some weight, right?

“You really don’t know when to quit,” I said, shaking my head.

“No,” she gave me a sweet smile. “I really don’t. That’s what makes me so good at this job.”

She took a few steps closer, and her eyes actually softened. I was even more amazed when she didn’t even try to hide the emotions she felt. For the first time ever, she just let me see.

“Do you even know who you’re dealing with?” she asked, her voice laced with urgency.

Her words instantly hardened me back up again. “There you go again. Just another reporter who doesn’t know when to stop.”

“I’m serious. Frank Delaney isn’t just some generous donor who decided to take an interest in your career.”

“Since you know so much, why don’t you enlighten me.”

With a nod, Dakota flipped the door shut and took a seat at my small desk. Instead of pulling out her signature floral notebook, she got a tablet from her bag and opened some news pages I didn’t even know existed.

“Frank Delaney went to Trinity and played football there, but he barely made an impact. He didn’t have any standout stats and never built a legacy,” she said as she flipped through the pages. “After that, he tried to get onto their coaching staff. Not once, multiple times, and each time he was met with rejection.”

My expression didn’t change, but she got my attention, and she knew it. I looked at the pages she flipped through and paid careful attention to what she had to say, but the question still remained: how could I trust her?

“So he pivoted,” she continued. “He went into real estate and made a shit ton of money. Then he bought a few gyms and sporting equipment chains. So essentially he was building himself a really good reputation.”

I shrugged slightly. “It sounds like he worked hard to get to where he is.”

“Yeah, and while he was busy with that, he also built a reputation for inserting himself into college football programs as a sponsor. He’s known for throwing money at schools so he can get access, influence decisions and pull any strings he wants pulled.”

The thought that I was one of those strings rang through my head like an alarm bell.

“According to whom?” Humiliation sounded a lot like anger coming out of my mouth. “Some site nobody has ever heard of? Is this really how low you need to stoop to feel special?”

Dakota flinched at my words, but I wasn’t going to take it back. Unfortunately for her, I had a right to know who her sources were. All of us did. So if she couldn’t even get that right, she was going to have bigger problems than my attitude.

“According to records,” she scoffed, motioning to her tablet. “According to the pattern. Schools he’s been involved with suddenly made questionable calls. Players were getting ‘support’ they didn’t earn, and coaches started bending strategies around specific names.”

I shook my head in disbelief. “Maybe those players were just good.”

“Do you really believe that?” she asked, pinning me with her gaze.

“I believe I earned my spot because I worked hard to get it. And I believe Frank saw that. That he saw my true potential and isn’t just looking at me as a pawn in his own selfish game.”

Sadness passed over her gaze as she closed her tablet cover and slipped it back into her bag.

“I’m not saying you didn’t, but I am saying he’s using your talent to his advantage.”

“To get what?”