Page 2 of Let You Love Me

We’re gathered outside the Bowman Center on campus for what I hope will be the last hazing ritual of the season. Shot-gunning beers, streaking across campus, and waking at the ass crack of dawn to run bleachers are all good and fun, and we’ve done them all, but none of them will get us any closer to a NCAA Division I Football Bowl championship. We’re one month into our season, and our record is good. We’re strong as fuck, but I don’t see how a gaggle of rookies loitering on campus on a Saturday night, post-win, is going to help us any.

When I signed on to play with the Wildcats last year, I’ll admit, Chandler a.k.a. Chance the Chancelor Lockhart was half the reason. He’s known on campus as the God of football. Who wouldn’t want to play with him at the helm?

But I’m quickly growing tired of his egotistical shit. The douchebag plays games both on and off the field, and I don’t like it.

“What are we doing here, Lockhart?” I ask, tone weary.

“Oh, I’m sorry, Nichols. You got somewhere else to be?”

Actually, yeah.

I keep my mouth shut, jaw locked.

Pissing Chance off is a bad idea.

Beside me, my roommate Tommy, stiffens. “So, you called us here after a game, on one of our only nights off, for another initiation stunt?”

Chance smirks. “We do this every year with the rookies. Do you want to be a part of the Wildcat family or not?”

Tommy scratches his head, the crease in his forehead deepening. It’s clear to me he thinks this is as stupid as I do. Hazing and pranks like drinking and running naked through campus are one thing. Dicking around with the cars in the staff parking lot, like Chance wants us to do, is quite another.

“But if we get caught,” Tommy continues, motioning to the cameras on the lampposts above us, “we could face suspension.”

Chance rolls his eyes. “They’re not going to suspend you. It’s a simple prank, but if you’re too much of a pussy–”

“Come on, man. We’re not rushing,” I say, my tone lazy as I add, “this isn’t a fraternity. We’ve already made the team. What’s the point here?”

A few of my teammates shoot me a nervous glance. I know they seek Chance’s approval, but Coach Turner runs a tight ship, and I can’t imagine a world where get caught dicking around with a professor’s car would go unpunished.

“Are you questioning me, freshman?” Chance’s dark gaze snaps to mine and I shrug.

I have a lot of things I’d like to say, but I don’t out of prosperity. I might be dumb, but I’m not that dumb. Making an enemy of your quarterback is a bad idea, especially one as powerful as Lockhart.

“Listen,” he sneers, “you can either participate or not. Just know we’ve earned our place as a Wildcat family. The rest of you have yet to prove yourselves. And don’t forget Coach relies a lot on my insight as captain, especially when it comes to the rookies.So, do it or don’t. Just know, we’re taking note of who therealteam players are.”

I grit my teeth, the muscle flickering in my jaw.

This is stupid.

“Come on, man,” Greene, one of our running backs, murmurs from behind me. With a nudge, he adds, “Just . . . play along.”

“Yeah. You’re pissing him off,” Ben, one of our defensive linemen, mumbles under his breath.

“Tommy started it.” I shrug.

“Listen up!” Chance snaps. “If you wanna be a pussy and leave, fine. Do it or don’t, but you have exactly ten minutes to remove all four tires of the cars in this lot, place the vehicle on cinder blocks, then dispose of the rubber in the courtyard fountain. That’s your mission. Anyone bailing, do so now.” He eyes us through narrow slits.

I mash my mouth into a tight line and turn to face the other freshmen. “What’ll it be, boys? I say we either face it together or walk, but we’re a team.”

Tommy lifts a shoulder. “It’s just a harmless prank, right?” Then quieter, so Lockhart can’t hear, he says to me, “If Chance wants to pretend we’re back in high school trying to be part of the cool kid club, I say we just fucking do it and get it over with.”

The other men, nearly two dozen of them, all nod their agreement.

“All right, then. We do this, and we do it as a team.” I point toward the six guys closest to me and bark out their names. “Stand guard, let us know if anyone is coming. The rest of us will remove the tires, two on one car, so pair up. Let’s get this shit done and get the hell out.” I turn. “Tommy, you’re with me.”

I spin back around to find Chance smiling. “Me and the boys will be at Patsy’s Pub across the road. You have only ten minutes to complete this mission and send us photographic evidence. Then another five to get your ass to the bar.” Chance lifts hishead to the sleek black Jaguar in front of us. “This one’s yours, Nichols.”

I arch a brow.

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