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Jack laughed. He relaxed back in his chair and let out an honest to god laugh. “Dean, you scared the hell out of me. I thought you were being serious and I-”
Dean Ardell stood up from her chair and slammed her hand down on her desk. “Do I look like I’m making a joke? Cheating on any scale is unacceptable but helping dozens, if not more, students pass their classes without understanding the information is something I find repulsive. Nurses are sent out into the world every year from our nursing program. Have you been helping them pass their exams without knowing the course work? Have we been pushing nurses out who don’t know what they’re doing?!”
“You’ve got the wrong guys, Dean. This isn’t us.” I was shocked to even be accused of something so ridiculous but the seriousness of her accusations were real to me. I could see my career crashing and burning before I’d ever taken on my first case. “You can’t have any proof that this is happening since we aren’t doing it. Accusing us without proof, based on the word of some anonymous student, and doing it with this level of vehemence is wrong.”
Caleb sat forward and rested his elbows on his knees. “If you give us one guess about the complainant, I bet we could guess who it was.”
“I’ll be gathering evidence. In the meantime, you three are suspended from any and all activities on campus, outside of class.” She cupped her hands in front of her and shook her head at us like she’d watched us kick puppies.
“What? No. I’m on a football scholarship, Dean Ardell. If I’m suspended from the team, what happens to my scholarship?” Jack ran his hand through his hair. “This is ridiculous. I’m sorry, but it’s bullshit. You’re going to chance ruining my chance to graduate because someone accused us of something, without any evidence?”
“Expulsion will surely ruin your chance at graduating, don’t you think?”
I put my hand on his arm and motioned for him to stop talking. He couldn’t afford to piss her off. Caleb, on the other hand, had no problem with it and before I could get his attention to tell him to relax, he was flashing Dean Ardell his best ‘fuck you’ grin.
“You know, Dean Ardell, the Evers Foundation has donated a significant amount of money to this institution that you’re so passionate about.” He pointed out her window at the fine arts building. “I do believe that building was built after a particularly large donation from my family. I’m going to point a few things out to you now.”
She crossed her arms over her chest and scowled. “Your money won’t protect you from the code of conduct.”
“First, allow me to point out once more that my family donated enough money to have a state of the art building constructed for this university. As nice as my father is, he’s a huge fan of money. He caps his donations fairly low compared to the amount of money he brings in. It’s honestly pretty greedy, if you ask me. Why the hell would I be wasting time running a cheating ring for a couple of bucks when I have pockets deep enough to buy you, this office, and the entirety of this school? It makes no sense.” He tapped two fingers on her desk. “Second? Can you imagine being the dean who falsely accused students of a crime and cost the school its biggest donor? What a legacy.”
I sighed. “As much as he sounded like a dick just now, he’s right. Calling us in here and accusing us without any evidence and threatening us was a mistake. In our personal lives, we’ve found ourselves at the center of one person’s hatred. Like Caleb said, we pretty much know who accused us. The next time something like this happens, there should be an attempt made to gather evidence before threats are made.”
“Do not tell me how to do my job.” Red faced and furious, Dean Ardell stood up and stared down at us. “Get out. I’ll gather any and all evidence and we’ll go from there.”
“So, we’re not suspended from activities?” Jack wasn’t budging.
“For now, your football is safe.”
I stood up and pulled Jack up with me. When Caleb didn’t move, I grabbed him, too. Pushing them towards the door, I nodded at the assistant. “Have a good day.”
Once we were outside and walking towards the lot we’d all parked in, Jack growled. “We can’t tell Olive about this. She’d just feel guilty about Taylor and feel like she needs to fix it.”
Caleb and I both nodded. “Agreed.”
48
***Olive***
Afterabusyweekof work, the residents making fun of my limp from sex with the guys, school, and spending every evening with Jesse and the guys, I was excited for their football game. After our first game, Jesse and I were both fans. We’d both woken up Saturday morning to a note and donuts from the guys. They’d gone ahead to the stadium to prep for the big game but still took the time to think of us.
Jesse had caught me holding the letter to my chest and dancing around the kitchen like a moron. He’d laughed and danced with me for a minute before stopping to ask me why I was so happy. It’d been hard to not tell him right then and there that I’d realized at some point between sleeping on my guys’ chests every night and watching them treat Jesse like he mattered just as much as I did, I’d fallen in love with them.
I’d never been in love but I felt like characters I’d watched on TV. I was in a bubbly state of happiness, where the gooey feelings were too big to contain. I wanted to stop my neighbors and tell them I was in love. I did tell Kitty and Jerry and they both accused me of being dick blind. While I admitted that I was dick visually impaired, maybe, I wasn’t blind. As wild as it felt, I loved them.
That was what made sitting at the fifty-yard line at their game so much more exciting than the first. Even though it was just me and Jesse, we cheered just as loud and screamed for our guys when the team ran out of the tunnel. I held Jesse in my arms so he could get a better view and we both waved our foam fingers around.
The guys had told me about the game being against their rivals and I could feel the energy in the air. The crowd in the stadium just felt more alive. That energy seeped into my blood and I understood why people loved football so much. It thrummed through me just as strong as the beat of the chant the crowd was shouting.
I searched the ball of pads and helmets for our guys but I didn’t see them. Even when that ball thinned out along the sidelines, I didn’t see their numbers anywhere. Frowning, I went down the line of guys one at a time, but I couldn’t spot the guys.
“Where are they, Mommy?” Jesse looked up at me and pouted. “I don’t see them.”
Glancing down the sideline again, my eyes caught on someone staring right back at me. I got a bad taste in my mouth when I recognized that it was Taylor. He wasn’t just staring at me; he was leering. His mouth was stretched in a smile that a shark might wear seconds before it chomped down on your head. My lizard brain recognized the threat and dread filled me.
He started to move towards us but the coach grabbed the back of his uniform and started pointing at the field while talking rapidly. Taylor didn’t take his eyes off me until he was physically turned by the coach.
I sank into my seat with Jesse in my lap and tried to make sense of why the guys wouldn’t be on the field. I was reaching for my phone when Jesse screamed happily.
