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“Is it because of Tanner Joyce?” I slowed but didn’t stop completely. “Because if he’s brainwashed you into believing that he’s a different kind of athlete than me, then I’m sorry to break it to you, but he’s just using you for his grades too.” It wasn’t true. I knew as much because every time I looked at Tanner, I could feel the connection between us. He saw me.
“Goodbye, Connor.” That was it. I was ready to go.
“Are you giving him the same treatment as me?” Gone was the jovial Connor that I initially bumped into. Now his words had a sinister undertone to them, and I didn’t like it. “I’d watch your back if I were you. No one cares about a second-string hockey player cheating, but if the golden boy of football was found to be cheating in his classes, with his girlfriend helping him, no less. Well, that would be a scandal.”
I could hear the threat in his tone, but I wasn’t afraid of him. Connor could make all the allegations he wanted about Tanner. None of them would be true, and it would be a waste of time.
“Good thing he’s not a cheat like you, then.”
“You sure about that?” As I walked away, he was walking beside me, so I tried to up my pace. “Because I heard he was on Covey Connections the other day, and I thought you should know.”
My pace slowed, but I tried not to show it. “No, he wasn’t.”
“How do you know? Didn’t you hear about the shit Aiden Matthews did last year with the team?” I’d heard a few rumors about pranks, but wasn’t sure what Connor was getting at. “They had a bet on that app over who could hook up with the most girls.”
“So, what? Tanner wasn’t even here last year.”
He raised his hands, shaking his head as I came to a stop. It was what he wanted, and I was smarter than this usually, but I was determined to get one thing straight with Connor. “Hey, don’t shoot me. I’m just telling you what I heard.”
“Keep living in your delusions. I’ll live in reality where the person who should be afraid in this conversation is you, because I could bury you with the amount of evidence I have.”
He stepped back. Good. I was bluffing. I had nothing that would show he was cheating because it was all on his computer, but I didn’t care. I wanted him to know that I wasn’t intimated by his empty threats. He couldn’t manipulate me the way he did before because I’d grown wiser to it.
He stepped back, watching as I walked away, and I added a little sass to my step in defiance.
Chapter 17
“So, who’s the girl?” Jackson drawled out. With his elbows on the kitchen countertop, he had his hands resting on his chin, and he was looking at me wistfully, like we were teenage girls talking about our first crush.
His hand slinked across the counter, and I swatted it away with my spatula. “None of your business.”
“Ouch!” He flapped his hand flagrantly. “Are you sure? Because I had to lie for you when you showed up late for practice today. Ergo, she’s become my business.”
“You told coach I had hemorrhoids.” I stared at him blankly before layering some cheese on the chicken parmesan. Jackson made another attempt to swipe some cheese, but I pinned him with a look. This was a dish I didn’t share on a normal day, let alone a day when I was trying to woo the hottest woman on campus.
“What’s wrong with that? He didn’t ask any questions.”
I looked at him with a raised brow. “But you could have said anything, and that’s what came out of your mouth. Besides, you owed me one after I lied to Coach about you getting a black eye from an overly aggressive fan instead of Aiden a few months back.”
He nodded, taking a long swig of his drink, pinching his lips together. “Technically, Aiden could be consideredan overly aggressive fan. So, you didn’t have to lie for me.”
I stirred the sauce, coating the chicken one last time before placing it on an oven dish. “If that’s what you want to believe, who am I to stop your delusions.”
“In all seriousness, I didn’t realize you were staying out of the house because you were dating someone. I just assumed it was because of Aiden’s sex habits. They’ve gotten so bad since he and Lyss decided they didn’t hate each other anymore.” He shook his head. “Couldn’t they go to her place once in a while?”
“No,” Matty said from the recliner. “She doesn’t have soundproof walls.”
“And we do?” Jackson said, high-pitched.
“You know we do.”
“Then why does it still feel like I’m in the room with them?” I asked, putting the dish back in the oven.
“Just be thankful. Imagine how bad it would be if we didn’t have soundproof rooms.”
“That doesn’t make it any better.”
As if on cue, a slow, melodic thud bumped against the ceiling. Jackson looked up, crinkling his face in disgust. “That can’t be them again, can it?”
