Page 49 of Wild Card

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Five days later

Mallory had textedthe day after I blew her off, asking if I wanted to study with her, even sending a picture of a fresh bag of lime-flavored chips. The day after that she sounded more professional, asking if I had time to answer a few questions regarding her notes and the story. Still I fucking ignored her because I just couldn’t bring myself to text with her or see her or talk to her about how much of a coward I was being. The problem was, I had no self-control around the woman. At this point, I was worried if I saw her, I’d lose all sense and just start kissing her.

We both had to keep our heads on straight and remember that we had a deal.

Taylor for the story—that was it. I couldn’t blur, cross, or erase the lines…they were the only thing granting me revenge.

I walked toward class, pulling my cell free to shoot off a text to Daniel. He was my go-to guy for dealing information, and while it might have been more worthwhile to just head home and ask my brother for what he knew since he was obviously working with our Uncle Scotty, I preferred to keep him out of it. I needed to know if there was any update on the situation, or if Elias had made any changes or moves. I wanted to know what was going on with his physical therapy appointments in Pinehurst.

If there was a chance to exploit that or find out how he was getting through every game, I wanted to know. I had a feeling they were juicing him up, especially when scouts were going to be attending. I wanted to ruin his chances at having a backup plan, and that was why it was so imperative I close the deal with Taylor.

Once I sent the text, I pocketed my phone and slumped into my usual desk. Just as class was about to begin, Juan crept in, slinking down into his seat. He’d come in so late the past few days someone had taken his usual spot, so we hadn’t had the chance to catch up.

I waited for him to ask what he’d missed or what kind of mood our teacher was in today, but he didn’t say anything. In fact, he looked like he was completely ignoring me. My eyebrows caved as I thought through what I could have done to piss him off. Nothing came to mind, so maybe it wasn’t me at all…maybe there was just something else going on in his life.

“Hey, everything good?” I asked, eyeing the front of the class. Flynn was still organizing his slides.

Juan continued to ignore me, but his jaw tensed and his nostrils flared.

Shit, he was pissed, but about what?

I leaned over, folding my arms on the desk. “Seriously, man…we good?” I didn’t even know Juan outside of class; maybe I’d done something to mess with his grade in the class or something.

Suddenly his cell landed in front of me, the screensaver a photo of Mallory and him. His arm was around her, her petite frame tucked under him. They wore matching grey sweats…the ones I had seen her wear at her house.

Suddenly pieces fell into place as a dull throbbing filled the space between my ears. I didn’t like seeing her tucked under his arm. I didn’t like that those were his sweats she was wearing, and it must have been his house she’d been at that one morning at two a.m. Fury burrowed into me like a rabid animal.

I clenched my jaw as I stared at the phone.

“Fuck you, man—get that look off your face. You haven’t earned the right to wear that look.” Juan glared right back at me, his dark brows a shelf on his face. “Five days ago, you did something to piss off my best friend. I stood up for you when she heard rumors about you, but you ended up being a dick just the same. So no, we aren’t good. I don’t like when people fuck with my friends.”

I let out a sigh and sat back in my chair, unsure how to respond. I liked the dude, even if I was getting territorial over a girl I’d brushed aside. I was fucking tired of taking the coward’s way out, but there wasn’t really a way to salvage this.

“Look, man…I’m sorry if your friend got the wrong impression about me. We aren’t dating or anything, we’re just working together on something.” I was going to hell. It was official.

He laughed, shaking his head back and forth. “Wow…you don’t think she told me about the little party? Or the deal you made with her for Taylor?” He leveled me with a serious look, which made me curious if he’d hit me or not. He looked like he might. I’d deserve it and so much worse.

I didn’t know what to say to that. He knew I was playing Taylor…and fuck, I supposed I was also playing Mallory, and that wasn’t my intention.

“Okay, fine.” I watched the teacher as he flicked his gaze to where we sat in the back row. “I like her, but I’m trying not to…so I had to ignore her for a few days. I didn’t want to though. I feel like shit about it.”

“Well you should. If we weren’t in class, I’d kick your ass right now. Your deal doesn’t matter anymore anyway.”

I turned to him, feeling a strange panic start to blossom in my chest.

“What are you talking about?”

Girls in school watched Juan like he was one of those coffee milkshakes they all drank. They were always watching him. I could admit he did look half decent, but right now he looked like he wanted to murder me. Legit Mexican cartel shit. I wasn’t assuming he had connections just based on his skin tone; I’d heard rumors about him too.

“We went to a party last night.” He dipped his head, leaning closer. “That pitcher for the Devils was there, and his sights were set on Mallory the entire fucking time. He wouldn’t leave her alone. Dude was pretty obvious about wanting her.”

Was this what a heart attack felt like?

“He eventually wore her down, even with me trying to interfere. They talked for a bit, that was it, but after the party, I asked her about it, and she seemed excited. She said,‘because you fell off the face of the planet,’ this would be her new story source.”

Fuck me.

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