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"You guys, where are you?" Rhys's question drifted into the hallway.
A silent communication passed between D and me—something we had developed over the last few months since all our lives had been turned upside down. Besides what happened to Lilly, Den had lost her longtime boyfriend, and I had found out that Lilly hadn't been the only one lied to. Rhys had kept me in the dark as well, and used our friendship to his advantage.
Den turned toward the opening. "Go ahead. Sheats needs to take a shit. We'll take one of the other cars and meet you."
I couldn't even muster a remark to herexcuse.
"You sure?" Lilly called, concerned. She wasn't stupid.
"Positive, babe. See you in a few." D faced me again and held out her hand. I grabbed it without a word and let her pull me up.
We never met up with Rhys and Lilly that day.
After the initial shock had worn off, I started making calls.
Den and I were sitting on the bed in my room—one of the many guest rooms the place held. "How can they justreevaluatethe funds? You were their number one player. That's what your coach kept telling you since you got signed for the team," she asked out loud what had been reverberating through my head. I wanted to know the same fucking thing.
Scrolling through my contacts, I pulled up Jonah's number. I had met some of the players during an early meet and greet a few months ago. I hit dial and waited.
After three rings, my ear was assaulted by bass and word fragments I had to piece together in my head to complete the sentence.
"Wes—…—fuck happened? How—…—tell us—…—off the team," he yelled into the phone. "Catfish Billy" by YelaWolf was blaring in the background.
"Turn that shit down, asshole." Probably not the politest greeting since I wanted something from him, but I had zero patience left. Jonah and I had hit it off during the M&G, so I knew he wouldn't hold it against me.
The music cut off, but was replaced by several female giggles. "Be right back, ladies," his muffled voice came through the earpiece, and I curled my lips.
"Sorry, man. You kinda interrupted something." The smirk on his face was audible.
"Well, I feel honored that you still answered," I replied, forcing a lightness into my voice that I didn't feel.
Jonah laughed. "After what happened to you, of course I answered."
What happened to me?
"What are you talking about?"
"Dude, you serious? The Babysitter? Lilly McGuire? Ring a bell? Your name was mentioned several times in the news. The friend of… Coach almost had an aneurysm."
What the—?
Jonah continued, oblivious to my rapidly increasing heart rate. "When the school found out, they had an emergency meeting. Coach left in the middle of us running drills. You would've thought his ass was on fire."
The sophomore, junior, and senior players had already started practice a few weeks ago. The freshmen were supposed to arrive in a couple of days. "The next day, he called all of us into the locker room, announcing that you're off the team. Duuude, you should've seen the guys. They almost started to cry. You were supposed to bring us the title this year. Coach refused to give us anything else, but it wasn't hard to figure out. Dex is banging this chick who works at the office."
J paused, and my free hand balled into a fist. "Spit it out!"
Myformerteammate drew in a long breath. "The school doesn't want any bad press. And you being associated—well, more than associated"–Jonah chuckled–"with the case and people involved, you would bring a lot of negative attention to us. Star player and all."
I pressed the phone harder against my ear, as if causing pain would make me un-hear his words. Make them not true.
When I didn't say anything, Jonah sighed, "I'm sorry, man. If you ask me, it's complete bull—"
I ended the call before he finished his sentence.
I lost everything I had worked for because of my…friends.
I didn't leave my room the rest of that day. Den made up excuses, which everyone knew were horseshit, but no one questioned The Bulldog.
