Page 24 of Framed

No matter how much my siblings got on my nerves, I’d be a ticking time bomb too if I lost any of them how Adams lost his. He was a damn good quarterback though, so I, along with most of the coaches, stayed out of his way for the most part.

In the team’s defense, they weren’t trying to braid his hair or sing kumbaya with the guy. They just wanted him to participate in the mandated team-building exercises.

It was weird; he wouldn’t participate in the exercises but he threw the best parties. Though oddly enough, I couldn’t say I’d ever seen him actually attend any of them. Considering they were thrown at his apartment, it was a little strange, but no one else seemed to notice or care, so I didn’t bother saying anything. It wasn’t my business.

“Why would he do that?” I reluctantly tore my gaze from the spot where the curly-haired girl would’ve appeared in a few moments, assuming she was still stuck on her loop. I stared at Thomas instead. His expression told me that the amusement and giddiness I thought I picked up in his tone wasn’t just my imagination.

As I said, Adams wasn’t a team favorite. I wasn’t surprised Thomas was ecstatic about the fact that he might finally get the chance to score his two seconds of fame. After all, he’d been waiting three years for this. He also may or may not have attempted to bribe Coach a few times.

That’s how most students here operated. Throwing money at the problem was all they knew. I was shocked at how often it happened and how often a blind eye was turned to it.

Contrary to popular belief, I was here on an academic scholarship, not an athletic one. My family didn’t come from money. They were farmers not heirs to successful business empires like many of the students here. They also didn’t come from a family line of famous football players like Thomas.

Thomas was a senior and the brother of three-time Superbowl-winning quarterback Chris Thomas, who played for the Falcons. His father was also a quarterback for the Falcons back in his day, winning four Superbowls instead of three. His family was full of legends, and for a while, everyone assumed David was going to follow suit.

To his credit, he did at the beginning of freshman year. Snagged a spot as the starting quarterback, and took the team into the mid-season undefeated.

Then Adams swooped in and stole the show. Thomas was good but Adams was better. He had a once-in-a-lifetime talent that came naturally and couldn’t be taught. That’s just how it goes. There’s always someone bigger and better out there and Thomas had to find that out the hard way. Money couldn’t buy that type of talent. Though that definitely didn’t stop him from trying.

“Coach mentioned something about him showing up with mysterious injuries or some shit. Administration was starting to ask questions. It’s a bad look for him and bad press for the school.”

I’d noticed the bruises and an occasional cut or two above his eyes, but I figured he had other shit going on. Shit that was in no way, form or shape any of my business. He showed up to the practices and passed the ball to me perfectly. That was all I cared about.

Adams wasn’t interested in the politics or behind the scenes of the game. It was times like this when I could understand why. It was exhausting. Some people were made to come to play the game and leave.

That was how I ended up being the captain of the team. When Coach Williams approached me about leading the team, I almost laughed. As a wide receiver, it was an unusual proposal, since being captain was a title that usually went to the quarterback. But when he explained how the team always looked to me for direction and how many of the freshmen came to me for advice about the game, girls, and classes, I thought about how, without even realizing it, I’d already been acting the part.

As expected, Adams didn’t care that I was chosen as captain over him. He actually went as far as telling me I was a better captain than he’d ever be. That might possibly be the longest conversation I’d ever had with him outside of the field.

You could say we had mutual respect for each other on the field. Out there, we were in sync. We didn’t need words. That was all I gave a damn about. If he was happy for me to hold the reins, then I’d do my best to keep this team playing well together and winning.

My brows furrowed at the latter half of Thomas’s statement, though. The press was banned from campus outside of sporting events. As captain, it was my job to pay attention to all of my players. Even Adams. From my observations, his injuries were normally cleared up by game day. “How did the media get wind of it?” I asked.

Thomas’ brow furrowed the same way mine just did, as if he didn’t think about that. “I’m not sure, but a reporter stopped him outside of some bar in Little Vegas.”

Little Vegas was a small town a few miles outside of campus. It was a strip of hotels, bars, clubs, and shops that all lit up with flashing lights at night. Hence, where the phrase “Little Vegas” came from. It was where many of the students went for a wild night out or for a break from the solitude of this fortress.

Unfortunately, it was fair game for the media, so it was best to be mindful of what you did when in Little Vegas or anywhere outside of campus, for that matter. Whenever the media vultures were involved, what happened in Vegas, definitelydidn’tstay in Vegas.

From the corner of my eye, I saw a flash of black and acted before thinking twice about it. “I’ll catch you later.” I cut off Thomas’s rambling and didn’t bother waiting for his response before striding towards the girl about to take her fifth lap around the quad.

I smelled her the moment I got within an arm’s distance. My nose was invaded and overwhelmed with the scent of sweet vanilla and brown sugar. It shot straight to my groin, making it uncomfortably tight in my jeans.

“Excuse me,” I said, hoping it was loud enough for her to hear. I didn’t want to startle her. It must’ve been because she stopped in her tracks. “Are you lost?”

I could see her body visibly tense before her head turned in my direction, causing all of the air in my lungs to leave my body. From afar I could see that she was pretty. But up close? She was the real deal.

It didn’t matter if she was dressed differently than the vast majority of students that attended this school. If anything it solidified my interest, enhanced her appeal. She was the type of drop-dead gorgeous that deserved to be on the cover of every magazine.

I wondered if that’s where I’d seen her before.

Her expressive brown eyes bored into mine. I didn’t know why but they appeared out of place, her black hair too. “Am I that obvious?” she asked.

Fuck,that voice. Her fucking voice was sweet and strong with a rich southern dialect. It wasn’t the country hillbilly you often encountered from the townspeople; it was the voice of a southern belle.

“You’ve passed this section six times.” I was slightly exaggerating but it didn’t matter. What mattered was the full yet shy smile that took over her facial features, revealing a set of perfectly straight and pearly white teeth.

I’d never been one to care much about teeth—as long as you had the front two, I was a happy camper. Low standards, I knew, but you’d be surprised how many women in my hometown of Marblehead, Ohio were missing their front two teeth because of an accident on one of the farms. Considering the population was only a couple hundred, your options were extremely limited.

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