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Weird. “How do you know that?”
“Because Riley can’t stand her. They give each other shit outside of practice, but the girl is no threat, especially on the team.”
“No one can do what Riles does,” Damon said. “I mean, she’s an Olympic hopeful. All she has to do is mention that the other girl is a problem, and I bet the coaches would kick her off the team.”
“Probably,” Cole agreed. “But Riles has never been bothered by stuff like that. She finds it entertaining. You know that.”
Cole’s girlfriend was good people. It hadn't sat right with me when Cole had it in for her senior year, effectively freezing her out at school. We’d had a few words over it. I was glad for how everything turned out. Those two would go the distance. If they could work out, maybe things could be good for Aspen and me. I pushed the thought away. I needed to focus.
“If you’ve got time now”—Damon slammed his locker—“I can go to the ring with you.”
“Yeah, that would be good.” The three of us headed out together, separating when we got to our cars. Damon and I went to the gym off campus where we sparred, and Cole went to find Riley. The gym was a hole in the wall, but it was the perfect place to fight away from our coaches’ eyes—I doubted they would agree with what we were doing.
Damon and I got our gear on and went at it. Sweat rolled off me, and with each punch, I felt my head clearing. An hour must have passed when the owner flagged us down. My body was sore by the time we stopped. He was closing early, and we needed to clear out.
I grinned at Damon after pulling off my headgear and mouthpiece. He laughed, seemingly having needed to spar as much as I had. Cole hadn’t shown up, and when we went to the locker room for our bags, a glance at my phone told me why. Tracey was out with Dominick Reynolds, and he couldn’t find Shane anywhere.
I checked the finder app, but Shane’s phone must’ve been turned off, so I couldn’t find his location that way. Whatever. We would have it out eventually. He didn’t usually hold a grudge this long.
Outside, I was surprised by how dark it was. A cool breeze swept along the street where we were parked. But I wasn’t ready to go home. The only thing waiting for me there was my failing homework.
“How’s Skylar?” Damon was in a serious relationship with a chick from our high school, which surprised us all. The girl had once had a serious hate-fest when it came to athletes. Her attitude had changed, though, at least for the most part.
“Great. She was promoted to editor last week.”
“I bet she loves that.” Skylar was one of those super nerdy hot girls involved in current events and had the intelligence to argue politics and global policies with anyone—and win.
“We should all grab food after the game. It’s been too long since we’ve hung out.”
“Yeah, let’s do that. Say hi to Sky. I’ll catch you later.” I got into my SUV at the same time Damon did, but he headed toward Sky’s dorm, and I pulled a U-turn to go to the football house.
Life had been so much simpler when we were in high school. We ran the school—not that we weren’t top-tier at Thane, but it was different, and I couldn’t help but worry that my secret stupidity would come out. The tutor could run his mouth or something. I frowned. If he did, I would hunt him down and beat his ass.
It wasn’t until I parked and went inside that the scent of strawberries and vanilla stopped me. Then the sight of Aspen’s gorgeous face almost took me out at the knees. But it was her expression and what came out of her mouth that delivered the knockout punch.
CHAPTER EIGHT
ASPEN
“What happened?” I touched the side of Phoenix’s bruised face with fingers that trembled. “What are you doing to yourself?” I didn’t understand. I’d just seen him that morning, and he’d had so much to drink the night before that I didn’t think he even remembered confessing to me about failing his classes. And then fighting. What an idiot.
It wasn’t as if I didn’t know he was involved in the underground fights, but there was something so self-destructive about his behavior that red flags were going up all over the place. I was afraid he would take me down with him when he inevitably crashed.
He jerked back from my touch, wearing that permanent scowl that I’d come to know too well. “Why are you here?”
I crossed my arms over my chest and glared, matching the look he shot Devin, the defensive lineman who’d let me in. “Fine. I came to see if you need help studying, but I'm outta here since you’re back to your jackass ways.”
I pushed past him and raced out the door. The fine hairs on the back of my neck stood, and I suppressed a shiver, my flight instinct intense. He was behind me. I knew it. When his hand closed around my arm, I jerked to a halt, my heart in my throat despite sensing him there already.
“I’m not stupid.” He growled between clenched teeth.
We stood under one of the strategically placed sidewalk lamps throughout campus, and the only reason why I even considered walking it alone. “I’ve never said that.”
“You’re thinking it.”
He loomed over me, but I wasn’t afraid. Maybe I should have been, but he’d never made me feel intimidated. Not in that way. Our problems stemmed from miscommunication. “I’m not. What I think is stupid is that chip on your shoulder that’ll screw you out of your pro football dream.”
A curtain dropped over his face, making it hard to read his emotions, and I wanted to claw at it. I hated feeling like he’d shut me out.
