Page 110 of Let You Love Me

TEAGAN

Practice kicked my ass.

Every single one of us is still catching our breath when we head through the tunnel into the locker room.

Tommy sidles up next to me, jogging to keep up.

“Shit, Nichols, where’s the fire?”

“Sorry, man. I’m in kind of a hurry.”

“You going to the party at Beta Tau tonight?”

I shake my head.

“Seriously, bro? You’ve barely hung out with any of us in the last month,” Tommy whines.

I glance over at him. “Isn’t Melissa going to be with you?”

“Well, yeah.” He shrugs. “So?”

“So, you won’t miss me.” I clap him on the back with a laugh.

Tommy rolls his eyes. “You got a chick you’re after or something?” he asks, and I can’t blame him for the inquisition. We may not be as tight as my friends back home, but we getalong well and are certainly closer than we’ve been lately. I have no doubt he’s starting to wonder what the hell’s going on.

“Something like that,” I mutter.

“Oh shit.” He sucks in a breath. “It’s Turner’s daughter, isn’t it?” he whispers. “I mean, I should’ve known, what with the whole bracelet thing last week, but I guess I thought you valued your life a little more than that.”

I snort at the same time Chance appears from behind, his blue eyes glacial on the side of my face before he slams into my shoulders and walks past.

Fucking asshole.

My eyes narrow like knives on his back as Tommy whistles. “You steal his Wheaties or something?”

Or something . . .

“Lockhart’s a dick,” I say, not giving a shit if anyone hears me.

Tommy’s eyes widen, and I break away from him before he can ask any more questions, making a beeline for my locker. I have no more than ten minutes to get my ass out of here and to the Turner residence or I’ll be late.

I enter the combination into the lock at the same time Coach’s voice calls out behind us. “Oh, boys, really quick.” I glance behind me, hoping this doesn’t take long. “Chance made a suggestion I agree with. Tomorrow we’re watching game tape for twice as long, so we start at one. If you have class, you’re excused. Otherwise, I expect you to be there. We’re this close”?he holds his forefinger and thumb an inch apart?“to taking the number ten spot. So, we’re going to give it our all on Saturday. That, and if you get wasted tonight at that Beta Tau party, it’s on you. I happen to have extra bleacher runs scheduled tomorrow.”

Everyone groans, including me, not because of the warning about bleachers or partying too hard, but because the extra session watching game tape means I won’t get to see Lane.

Shit.This keeping our distance fucking sucks when all I wanna do is spend every waking moment with her.

Too much too soon? Probably. But I can’t seem to help myself.

I turn away from Coach but not before I catch a glimpse of Chance, a smirk aimed in my direction. “Coach, can I have a word?” he asks, then turns away from me and to Turner while I try and push my paranoia aside.

Whatever he wants to talk to Coach about, it can’t possibly involve me.

I turn to face my locker, cradling the combination lock in my hands and quickly scroll through the numbers, then pop it open at the same time something falls off the top shelf. In a blur, the object careens toward me, hitting my mouth and crashing to the ground.

“Fuck!” I jump back at the sound and the sharp stab of pain in my lower lip.

The acrid sting of alcohol fills my nose. The room falls silent, and when I glance down, I’m shocked at the sight of a shattered whiskey bottle.

---