Page 5 of Fighting Spirit

“I…don’t even have words…” I say. “Somebody just level with me and explain what you were thinking.”

I know that the guys barely see me as part of the team anymore, but I don’t need the reminder I’m getting as they all look at me like lost puppies. I look around, spotting one glaring absence. “Where’s Jed?”

A throat clears and I see Harley, a freshman defensive tackle, looking pointedly toward the door. Fuck. I sigh, realizing who’s at the heart of this fuckup. Jed’s a promising player, but he’s cocky. He came in this year as a legacy, his brother having graduated four years ago as a first-round draft pick, and he pretty much thinks he’s the shit. Coach Fitzpatrick has already had to have words with him a few times about his attitude, and we’re only a couple weeks into the season.

Darius steps forward, not quite looking me in the eyes. “He told me Taylor wanted us to steal Gunther from the Allbreck campus.” He sends an apologetic smile toward the girl on the couch. “He said that the freshmen do it every year.”

“We just wanted to fuck with them a little,” says Harley.

“Yeah,” Jasper adds, “those guys spent all last season messing with us. We needed to teach them a lesson.”

“We didn’t do anything like this!” Couch girl pipes up. “Besides, didn’t you idiots toilet paper every car in the sports complex parking lot?”

“That was fucking funny,” Taylor snickers.

“Your team put a traffic cone on the statue in our quad,” says Jasper.

“Aww,” she pouts mockingly, “were none of you tall enough to get it down?”

“Hey-” Taylor steps a half step forward. My arm’s out in an instant, ramrod straight, braced against his chest.

“Not another inch,” I growl.

“But she-”

“No.”

The room falls silent. I take a breath, lowering my hand. Only when Taylor steps back do I allow my shoulders to relax. I know him. I know he’d never get physical with anyone, but the last thing she needs right now is someone getting in her face. Not when tensions are already this high.

“So, where’s Jed now?” I change the subject. My hands twitch at my side, inching up to land on my hips the way my dad does whenever he’s disappointed in me. I only just manage to catch them before I’m pulling the same pose.

“He took off.” Darius rubs the back of his neck. “I think he knows how bad he fucked up. He’s gone to one of the other parties.” A couple of the fraternities are using our win as an excuse to have a rager. Coach keeps things pretty locked down during training camp, so the guys haven’t blown off any steam yet. I wonder if I should have tried to keep a tighter hold on things.

I knew that something like this was probably going to go down, but I wanted at least one night where I wasn’t on watch. I just want to be able to do my own thing for once without thinking that everything’s going to go to shit without me.

“Listen, Ro…” Taylor starts, looking uncomfortable. “I can’t get mixed up in this. You know Fitz is already pissed at me.”

“You got mixed up in this when you made the plan,” I reply coldly.

“Yeah but… You know…” he gives a halfhearted chuckle. “I’m gonna go, see if I can find Jed.”

“Hey! No. You don’t get to leave,” Couch girl yells, trying to stand up again. I go to help her up, but the glare she throws my way makes me think she might bite me if I get too close. “You have to take me back!”

“Sorry, babe, there’s no way I’m driving into Allbreck with their angry mascot in my car.”

I’m about to say something, but before any of us can reply, he gives an apologetic wave and books it out the front door, followed by three more guys. Harley starts to follow them, but I grab him by the back of his shirt.

“Hell no, you are not leaving me to deal with this.”

“Rowan, what are any of us gonna do? You’re just way better at this kinda stuff.”

“Don’t give me that shit. It’s not my job to keep cleaning up your fuckin’ messes.”

He squirms out of my hold. “I’m just gonna go check on Jed. I’ll be back later, okay?”

I clench my jaw, biting back the words I know won’t do any good as he joins the four other people ‘checking on Jed’. I turn back to Darius, the last one left in the room. He chews the corner of his mouth, eyes darting between me and the exit. I know he won’t bolt; he’s too good a guy, but that doesn’t mean he wants to be here either.

I sigh, not able to watch him stare plaintively at the door anymore. “Just go.”

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