Page 69 of Frozen Hearts
“And what are you suggesting?”
“Two-week suspension from school, including football, for the time being while this is sorted. At which point, we will reconvene to discuss Royce’s continued education at Halston.”
“You’d expel my son?”
A muscle in the Dean’s jaw ticks. “I will not have a student at my school who has… who is a risk to other students.”
Frustration and anger coil around my father like a cape, and I know I’ll have to face his wrath after this little meeting is over. I’d laugh at the irony of this being the first time we’ve been in the same room together since I was in high school, except there isn’t a damn thing about any of this that is funny.
“Andwhatexactly, Dean Reynolds, would I have to do to change your mind?”
“Mr. King, you cannot—”
“How much?” he barks, causing the Dean and my coach to jolt in their seats.
“Money is not sufficient to sweep this under the rug,” the Dean persists. “Mr. Mountbatten has explicitly stated that he wants to see action taken.”
“He has insisted that Royce be removed from the football team,” my coach interjects.
His admission is met with a tense silence. My palms sweat against my jeans, my mouth so dry it’s a struggle to swallow. That can’t happen. Football is my future. It’s who I am. I don’t know what I’d do if I couldn’t play any longer.
“Fine,” my father snaps, unaware of the devastation he is wrecking. “The boy is off the team, and I’ll donate ten million to the university. Will that be sufficient?”
“Mr. King.”
“Twenty million,” my father counters, cutting across the Dean, who is now blinking at him in stupified silence.
I will her not to agree, but I know it’s useless. No one says no to my father.
“Your generous donation is appreciated,” the Dean responds slowly, eyes darting to me before returning to my father. “And Royce is removed from the Football team and won’t be allowed to rejoin.”
With a curt nod, my father spares me no more than a passing glance as he stalks out of the room, leaving my world in shambles at my feet.
Shaking off the memory, I stomp across campus with a newfound tension hunching my shoulders. As I’m passing the quad, I dare to look up. My hasty retreat slows when I spot a familiar head of reddish-brown hair up ahead.
I can only see part of her face. Her expression is pulled tight, and she looks like her day is going as well as mine is. She bisects the path in front of me, and instantly, my plans to head directly home alter.
Rather, I turn to follow her, remaining a healthy distance behind as I track her across campus and out onto the street.
“Where are you going, James?” I mutter as she crosses the road, moving further away from campus.
She should have no need to leave other than for work, and I know it’s too early for Lux to be open.
Trailing her across town to the outskirts, I step into a doorway when she stops outside a shabby apartment building.Who does she know that lives in there?No one from Halston U would be caught dead living in this part of town.
When she slips inside, I look both ways before jogging across the street. Approaching a door that looks like it’s one bad winter from rotting away, I peer through the small, smudged pane of glass etched into the center of the door into an equally shabby lobby. I try the handle, but the door is locked. Spotting a buzzer system, I scan the list of names until I come across one that saysJames.Huh, unexpected.
I hang around for another few minutes, too curious to leave but unsure what else I can do. As I step away from the entryway, she pops into view. Her head is lowered as she hits the bottom of the stairs and moves toward me, now wearing a pair of skin-tight lycra leggings and a workout crop top.
“Shit,” I mutter to myself as I scurry across the street and back into my hiding place just in time for her to emerge from the building.
Looking up and down the street, she turns and walks in the opposite direction, and unable to resist, I follow.
She doesn’t go far, only a couple of blocks until she reaches what appears to be a dance studio. Letting herself in, I count to five before approaching. By the time I’m at the door, I hear the fast-paced tune ofLet’s Go Nowby Rayelle, and shifting so I can peer through the large window that looks into a studio without being seen, I watch mesmerized as she moves around the dance floor like a woman possessed.
Even from out here, I can feel the energy radiating from her. She’s a storm, unleashing on the room as her body twists and contorts in an alluring, entrancing way that makes it impossible to do anything other than stare.
I swear I hear the crack of thunder. The flash of lightning.
